In an attempt to discover why her life hasn't worked out the way she had hoped it would, Valerie Caldwell returns to the Southern town she left 12 years earlier to visit her old haunts and two friends from her school days, Tess and Mary Grace--much to their alarm and chagrin.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this first adult novel by Hall, author of the young-adult Dixie Storms and of scripts for TV series including Northern Exposure , former ambitious golden girl Valerie Caldwell returns to her sleepy hometown of Maddock, Va., only to learn the unsurprising lesson that you can't go home again. Not only have Valerie's marriage and career as an actress crashed, but her new life back home is failing to match her nostalgic fantasies. Wallowing in her unhappiness, she cuts a path of destruction through the lives of her old friends and family. Valerie's former pals, the mild-mannered Tess and the once fat, now thin and acerbic Mary Grace, fear her and the feelings of inadequacy she inspires. Tess--who is married to Valerie's former flame, Joe Deacon--is particularly wary as Joe responds to Valerie's flirtations, revealing cracks in a seemingly perfect marriage. Meanwhile, Valerie, who's toying with the idea of an affair with Brett Becker, a cadet half her age, generates gossip as well as heartache. The narrative is hindered by some soap-operatic subplots and by virtually indistinguishable interior monologues. However, Hall's penchant for melodrama may make this a good bet for the beach.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
"Stay away from Valerie, she's nothing but trouble," Tess's mother told her many years ago. Now, after a 14-year absence, Valerie is back in town, having left her husband and the rest of her big dreams that didn't quite happen. Valerie seeks to recapture those years when she was the sweetheart of the local military academy. But things can never be the same, as her old flame is married to one of her best friends, who has resented her for a lifetime. Meanwhile, the military academy has grown old and shabby. Is Valerie trouble? Or is she simply a catalyst for things that have been pending and are meant to happen? Hall writes a fine novel of manners about life in the South. This deep, thoughtful work is highly recommended for popular fiction collections.
Dawn L. Anderson, North Richland Hills P.L., Tex.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Dawn L. Anderson, North Richland Hills P.L., Tex.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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