From Publishers Weekly
A small fishing village on the coast of Scotland, where the community is at the mercy of the elements and everyone knows everyone else, is the setting for this gem of a novel, which focuses on the unlikely friendship between two women. Myrtle Duns?intelligent, plain, old-fashioned, the proverbial Rock of Gibraltar?and Annie Mcleoud?pretty, conceited, materialistic, a popular gadabout?have been almost inseparable since childhood. British veteran Huth (Land Girls) is on familiar territory as she masterfully explores the delicate ties that bind two such disparate women together. While Annie adds sparkle and adventure to Myrtle's life, Myrtle gives unquestioning loyalty and friendship to her volatile companion. Ironically, Myrtle ends up sharing a passion-filled life with Archie, a most sought-after young man (particularly by Annie); and Annie settles for second-best Ken, on whom Myrtle?unbeknownst to Annie?had a fleeting crush. That the two men work on Archie's fishing boat together intertwines the women even further as they cope with the real and imagined terrors that wives of fishermen must endure when their husbands are out at sea. The infertility of one woman and the fact that the other has a daughter strain the friendship, but its greatest test comes when a fatal accident exposes hidden conflicts, jealousies and private judgments. Whether Huth is describing the fraught love between Annie and Myrtle or their marriages, she writes with her customary skill and light, sentimental touch. Editor, Kristen Nardullo; agent, Felicity Bryan.

From Library Journal
The large, plain girl is always thrilled to have a beautiful, vivacious best friend. And so ungainly Myrtle and popular Annie have stayed best friends through the years in their Scottish fishing village. Myrtle and Archie have a good marriage, but Annie's is troubled. When Archie dies in an accident, everything changes. Annie, always jealous of Myrtle's happiness (and her husband), now envies her widowhood. The friends are still close, but Annie craves more from life. The two eligible bachelors in town are now Myrtle's friends. She is torn by their attention, even as she is pleased to be found desirable even in early middle-age. Her friendship with Annie cannot survive this kind of role reversal, and their relationship comes to a head over Annie's young teenaged daughter. In this beautifully understated novel, Huth (Land Girls, LJ 5/1/96) has captured the stormy, loyal essence of many women's friendships.?

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