Good Harbor

Anita Diamant

Kathleen Levine is diagnosed with breast cancer. Immediately her life changes. Her sister had died of an uncommon form of breast cancer. She is certain the same will happen to her. Kathleen has a supportive husband and two grown sons to help her through. But since her sister died, she had not developed another close woman friend.

Joyce Tabachnik and her husband Frank have just bought a small vacation home in Gloucester, Massachusetts. She is a freelance writer and has a flexible schedule. His demanding job has taken him away many hours a week. Their 12-year-old daughter has started the standoff teen-ager stage. Joyce feels like she is loose ends.

Joyce and Kathleen meed at Temple one Friday evening. They feel a connection. Within a few weeks, they start visiting and talking. Kathleen quickly has Joyce walking with her along the beach there at Good Harbor. As their lives start hitting rough patches, they discover they each have found a woman friend who understands them.

This is definitely a woman's relationship book. Men can read it and enjoy it (I think), but women will appreciate it more. You've heard of "chick flicks". This is a "chick book". Kathleen is not only dealing with her own cancer, but also still feels the death of her sister years earlier and the death of her second son when he was only three. Joyce is frustrated with her husband as he avoids her with his work and her daughter who no longer is a sweet little girl. Now she is starting the stage where parents are persona non grata in her life.

The best part of the book is the evidence of the importance of relationships between women. Kathleen had a loving and supportive family. Yet Joyce's friendship fills a void she needed filled. Joyce had no close women friends in the past few years, and Kathleen is the fresh air she needed. There is a cute ongoing story line where Joyce, who is Jewish, tries to figure out how to properly removed the lifesize Virgin Mother statue cemented in her front yard. The book is an easy read that keeps the reader's attention.

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