"Lively, fast-paced, and a whole lot of fun!"

Remember long ago when neighborhoods were lively places where everyone knew each other, knew each other's kids, and knew a little of each other's business?

This was Freesia Court, a cul-de-sac in a small town in Minnesota. It was on this quiet street that five women would become the best of friends and lifelines in each other's lives. And it all started with a book club.

Author Lorna Landvik takes her readers on a journey of friendship through the decades in her new book, "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons." As she tells the stories of each of her characters, Landvik allows readers to take a peak into the most sacred of relationships, the realm of women being best friends for life.

Faith Owens moved to Freesia Court in 1968 when her airline pilot husband was transferred from Texas to the "frozen tundra of Minnesota." As she carried on her carefully orchestrated life of caring for her twins and keeping her former life a hidden secret, Faith discovers that she is not alone in her new neighborhood, that there are others who are longing for someone to share their thoughts and dreams with.

Faith becomes acquainted with the ladies in the neighborhood when a power outage results in a raucous, late- night snowball fight among the gals. There's Audrey, the resident sex kitten of the neighborhood whose larger-than- life persona hides a deep-thinking spiritual woman who is warm and loving; Merit is the sweet, shy doctor's wife who is desperately trying to keep her family together despite a horror that only she knows; Slip is the feisty activist of the neighborhood whose goal in life is to right the wrongs of the world one step at a time; and Kari, the quiet older widow whose wisdom and serenity is admired by all, but who carries a secret of her own in her heart.

As their friendships grow, the group decides to form a book club that they dub "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons" or AHEB for short. As they explore books that mark the passage of the times in the world and in their own lives, the women find that there isn't much that laughter won't cure, no crisis that a great brownie can't solve, and no problem that a strong shoulder and a loyal can't fix.

"Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons" is a lively, fast-paced read that is entertaining and refreshing. As Landvik tells the stories of her ladies, she includes the world events of the past forty years that affects her characters and their lives, much as it did in everyone's lives at the time. In this book she has gracefully captured the essence of a piece of Americana that is sadly fading away -- the close- knit neighborhood. As evidenced by her previous best selling novel, "Patty Jane's House of Curl," Landvik once again proves that she is a consummate storyteller of women's emotions and relationships.

Reviewed by Sharon Galligar Chance
Posted July 31, 2003