Story for the Week
Through most of my elementary school years, I was friends with a girl named Kim who lived in a corner brick house with a flat roof one block over from us. The house itself looked like a brick wall barrier from the outside, but inside the gate was an in-ground pool, and all of the rooms had sliding glass doors out to the pool. I remember that the living room had shag carpeting on the walls. (It was the ’70s, after all.) One day when we were taking our bikes out of my driveway, our German shepherd ran out of the house and bit Kim in the thigh. This was a time when neighbors weren’t litigious, and Kim’s mom just asked the police to come over and make sure the dog had her rabies vaccine.
The house is still there, down the street from my dad. I suspect the shag carpet removal occurred years ago, but the house looks the same from the outside. Kim’s family moved away before we started middle school, and we never kept in touch. Those were the days when long-distance cost a small fortune, and we never exchanged addresses. A few years ago, one of my other school friends asked about her because she popped into his head.
If your name is or was Kim Johnson, you’re in your mid-50s, and went to Lyle Elementary School in Illinois, people remember you. 😁
When I became a teenager, my first real crush was on a boy named Jeff who went to my church. While we were at church, in confirmation, we were inseparable. Our mothers were convinced that we were going to get married (we were 13 😂). Jeff played the piano, which I loved. I’ve always wished I could learn how to play…maybe that’s why. Before we started high school, Jeff’s family moved to Missouri. Again, long-distance cost a small fortune, and we lost touch. I remember they were back to visit one year, and he looked for me at church to catch up. I’ve never forgotten him.
If your name is Jeff Martin, you’re also in your mid-50s, you went to Peace Memorial Church, and your dad used to joke that they almost named you Martin Martin Martin, I haven’t forgotten you.
In this day and age, it’s easy to stay in touch with the friends you grew up with. We have cell phone plans with unlimited talk/text/data, social media, instant messaging. A family we met because Corinne and their daughter were in grade school and middle school together moved to Florida last year. Corinne and Hunter still talk on a regular basis, and Hunter and Piper flew in from Florida for Corinne’s birthday this year.
We know that we’ll be visiting them in Florida at some point, and we will stay friends because we make a point of keeping in touch. In fact we had a text exchange with four of us moms on Thursday about how thankful we are for each other…and our stretchy pants. 🩳 We don’t have to worry about whether we’ll be forgotten. As we come out of this Thanksgiving weekend, I am thankful for that.
I wonder sometimes if I would still be close to people I lost touch with when I was in school, if we would still share the same values, like the same things. All of us become very different people as we age, and since we couldn’t stay in touch, it’s kind of a toss-up. I admit to having searched for old friends (and boyfriends) online, and apparently I need to start making friends with more uncommon names than Johnson and Martin. 😆 I haven’t been able to find them, and I draw the line at paying to find people because I’m not a stalker. 😶
But what if? It might be great, but I also might not want to know (see below). 🤔
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐
4 Stars for The Good Friend by Jo Baldwin
305 pages
Publisher: RedDoor Press
Publication Date: September 1, 2019
I originally received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and RedDoor Press.
Publisher’s Description
The pain still lies deep within me. I’ve learned to ‘manage’ it over the years, but today it feels stronger, throbbing like a toothache, yet in the pit of my stomach.
Once upon a time they were best friends. They were all friends. So when Jenny moved to Australia to focus on her swimming career, she not only lost Kath, but her soul-mate Tom. It was for the best. Or so they said. Now, eight years later, Jenny seeks out her childhood friend and heads to rural France where Kath has settled. At first the women fall back into a close relationship, but before long strange and malicious behavior leads Jenny to realize the truth: that Kath has played a clever game all along to manipulate and control those around her. And Jenny is her biggest victim.
Set against the glorious backdrop of the Languedoc lavender fields, The Good Friend is a beautifully written psychological drama about love, lies, and a dangerous obsession. Because once the truth is revealed, there’s no going back.
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I would propose that The Good Friend by Jo Baldwin is definitely a psychological drama as opposed to a mystery or thriller. There’s nothing mysterious or thrilling here. We all know who’s pulling the strings because the description tells us a lot about the story. You won’t find a lot of twists and turns. The draw for this one is more in how the events play out and the reveals along the way. It’s just the slow-building tale of Jenny working her way through a summer in France with Kath and Tom.
What will it take for Jenny to discover that she was Kath’s biggest victim? Will Jenny and Tom be able to find their way back to one another? Who will suffer the most as Jenny tries to reconnect with her past?
What kept me reading was that I wanted the answers to those questions, and the story was well-written enough, dropping tempting tidbits along the way, to keep me going. The only reason I knocked this down to 4 stars instead of 5 is that I felt the very end of the book (and I mean literally the last page) went a tiny bit too far. Without giving anything away, I will say only this. It could have easily ended when she finds the box.
Pick this one up.
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