The Same Sweet Girls

From Publishers Weekly
For 30 years, six Southern college friends—the Same Sweet Girls—have been gathering for a biannual reunion. As King's wry, touching novel begins, the girls are nearing 50 and coming to terms with the life decisions they've made. Corrine Cooper gains renown as a folk artist, but battles clinical depression with the help of a manipulative psychiatrist who later becomes her husband; Lanier Brewer is separated after a brief, ill-advised fling; exotic Astor Deveaux, a former Broadway dancer, flirts wildly with men but remains with her husband, a famous painter 33 years her senior; Julia Dupont is trapped in a passionless marriage and an overscheduled life as Alabama's first lady; Byrd and Rosanelle round out the group. When one of the SSGs becomes terminally ill, the remaining friends are spurred to resolve their own problems before she dies. Corinne, Julia and Lanier rotate as first-person narrators, but King (The Sunday Wife) does little to distinguish their voices, and the parade of characters and stories can be hard to follow at first. Once the names fall into place, however, the story's gentle Southern humor and warmth shine. It isn't all iced tea and tomato pie—King tackles some troubling issues—but the characters are true to life, and readers will sympathize with their struggles. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
King, wife of Pat Conroy, is carving her own niche as a southern writer. In her third novel, six very different women meet at a small Methodist women's college in Alabama, and continue their friendship by getting together twice a year as a group they call the Same Sweet Girls. Now no longer girls, they are swiftly approaching 50, and their story is told by three of the group whose lives are at a crossroads. Julia comes from wealth and is now the first lady of Alabama. Corrine has risen from poverty and depression to become a renowned gourd artist. And Lanier, a former jock, is famous for making monumental mistakes. Although her friends would never think it, Julia is stifled by her political life and haunted by her past. Corrine is trying to establish a relationship with her son and facing health problems, while Lanier has ruined her marriage by having an affair. Avoiding the maudlin, King brings her sympathetic characters to vivid life and explores the bonds of friendship. This winning tale should make her a household name. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Anne Rivers Siddons
"The Same Sweet Girls is tender, funny, heartbreaking, and astoundingly unsentimental . . . I really, truly love this book."

Sue Monk Kidd
"Just try and resist . . . these women will capture you with the powerful, indelible bond that lies between them."

Southern Living
"You'll admire the way she slips between the surface stuff and the soul-searching in this tale of friendship."

Book Description
The new novel by the celebrated author of The Sunday Wife chronicles the lives of a tight-knit group of lifelong friends. None of the Same Sweet Girls are really girls anymore and none of them have actually ever been that sweet. But this spirited group of Southern women, who have been holding biannual reunions ever since they were together in college, are nothing short of compelling. There's Julia Stovall, the First Lady of Alabama, who, despite her public veneer, is a down-to-earth gal who only wants to know who her husband is sneaking out with late at night. There's Lanier Sanders, whose husband won custody of their children after he found out about her fling with a colleague. Then there's Astor Deveaux, a former Broadway showgirl who simply can't keep her flirtations in check. And Corinne Cooper, whose incredible story comes to light as the novel unfolds.

About the Author
Cassandra King is a native of Alabama, where she formerly taught English and creative writing classes. She has published stories and essays in various quarterlies and anthologies, and her second novel, The Sunday Wife, was published to terrific reviews and acclaim. Cassandra currently resides in South Carolina with her husband, Pat Conroy, and she belongs to a real-life Same Sweet Girls group, which reunites every year.


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For 30 years, six Southern college friends-the Same Sweet Girls-have been gathering for a biannual reunion. As King's wry, touching novel begins, the girls are nearing 50 and coming to terms with the life decisions they've made. Corrine Cooper gains renown as a folk artist, but battles clinical depression with the help of a manipulative psychiatrist who later becomes her husband; Lanier Brewer is separated after a brief, ill-advised fling; exotic Astor Deveaux, a former Broadway dancer, flirts wildly with men but remains with her husband, a famous painter 33 years her senior; Julia Dupont is trapped in a passionless marriage and an overscheduled life as Alabama's first lady; Byrd and Rosanelle round out the group. When one of the SSGs becomes terminally ill, the remaining friends are spurred to resolve their own problems before she dies. Corinne, Julia and Lanier rotate as first-person narrators, but King (The Sunday Wife) does little to distinguish their voices, and the parade of characters and stories can be hard to follow at first. Once the names fall into place, however, the story's gentle Southern humor and warmth shine. It isn't all iced tea and tomato pie-King tackles some troubling issues-but the characters are true to life, and readers will sympathize with their struggles. Agent, Marly Rusoff. (Jan. 19) Forecast: The novel's backstory-King herself belongs to a Same Sweet Girls group, which reunites every year-should make King (who is married to Pat Conroy) an appealing interview subject. Author tour. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.


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