The Sunshine Girls
A Novel
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4.4 • 141 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
“A breathtaking story of an extraordinary friendship. Molly Fader has penned an unforgettable novel that is sure to be one of the year’s best.” —Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Veil
Two friends. A lifetime of secrets. One sparkling story.
1967 Iowa. Nursing school roommates BettyKay and Kitty don’t have much in common. BettyKay has risked her family’s disapproval to pursue her dreams away from her small town. Cosmopolitan Kitty has always relied on her beauty and smarts to get by and to hide a painful secret. Yet the two share a determination to prove themselves in a changing world, forging an unlikely bond on a campus unkind to women.
Before their first year is up, tragedy strikes, and the women’s paths are forced apart. But against all odds, a decades-long friendship forms, persevering through love, marriage, failure, and death, from the jungles of Vietnam to the glamorous circles of Hollywood. Until one snowy night leads their relationship to the ultimate crossroads.
Fifty years later, two estranged sisters are shocked when a famous movie star shows up at their mother's funeral. Over one tumultuous weekend, the women must reckon with a dazzling truth about their family that will alter their lives forever...
Customer Reviews
Secrets, friendship and following your dreams!!
For BettyKay, having Kitty as her roommate at nursing school was the beginning of a special friendship neither of them could have anticipated. They got off to a rocky start when they first met but Kitty became a much needed confidant for BettyKay when she was feeling sad and confused. Kitty was a breath of fresh air to BettyKay, with her stylish clothes, gossip magazines, and vibrant nail polish. BettyKay wasn’t sure what to make of Kitty but she certainly added fun and excitement to her life.
I absolutely loved “The Sunshine Girls” because it captured my attention immediately and the characters always kept me guessing. The creative storyline brought us from a small town in Iowa, to glamorous Hollywood and sadly, showed us the horrors of Vietnam. Ms. Fader accurately depicted life in the late 1960’s in California, which offered many temptations to BettyKay and surrounded Kitty with people who wanted to make her a star. “The times, they were a changing” as we saw Kitty and BettyKay grow into young women with bright futures, whether on a Hollywood movie set or a surgical ward at the hospital. I loved their carefree curiosity, their zest for life and the desire they had to follow their dreams.
Highly Recommend
From the writing to the characters to the story, this book will will bring out all kind of emotions, but will leave you feeling satisfied in the end! A book about societal expectations, family, sisterhood, friendships, secrets, and war.
This book begins at Clara and Abbie’s mother’s funeral, BettyKay Beacher, a Vietnam War Veteran who served as a nurse. Kitty Devereaux, a famous actress, shows up at the funeral shocking everyone. Why did she show up and whats her intention? What will Clara and Abbie find out and how will they handle it?
This book alternates between BettyKay with her experiences of going through nursing school during the Vietnam War, serving in Vietnam, life after the war, and 2019 through the eyes of her daughters, Clara and Abbie’s lives and their experiences with coping with their mother’s loss and secrets.
This author captured the ups and downs of life during Vietnam War. Also what the expectations of women coming of age were and how BettyKay pursued her dreams of becoming a nurse even though she wasn’t supported by her parents. It made the friendships that BettyKay made at nursing school were even more valuable to get her through life.
A book that is hard to put down and will leave you thinking about well after its done! A must read for those who love Historical Fiction! Great book club pick as well as it will lead to many great discussions!