The author of “Good in Bed’’ and “In Her Shoes’’ delivers another heart-warming and humorous tale that mines familiar themes from previous works. Among them: two women who are opposites yet share a complicated bond, the search for love, loss of family, and the enduring power of friendship.
But in Addie’s case, there’s an added twist - the reappearance of her former friend who has a dried blood stain on her sleeve.
The book begins on the night of the women’s 15-year high school reunion, which Addie avoids in favor of an uneventful blind date.
Valerie attends the reunion but with a hidden agenda - to exact revenge on a former high school football player whom she claims ruined her life. At the party, Valerie lures him outside and gets him to undress, then she pulls out her cellphone and snaps a photo of him naked. A struggle ensues, and Valerie drives off believing she ran him over. She turns to Addie for help.
The mystery of what happened to Mr. Naked serves as the plot device to bring together these two estranged friends.
But the novel is layered with other mysteries. What happened to Valerie in high school and why did these best friends stop talking in high school?
All these combine to gradually hook the reader as the women rediscover each other.
Addie narrates her own flashbacks, chronicling how the two friends met when they were 9 and how their friendship bloomed. In these sections, Weiner’s writing shines, as she provides the emotional foundation of the book. She paints the innocence and wonders of childhood: how a simple car trip, a lobster lunch on Cape Cod, or weekend sleepover can cement a lifelong friendship.
