Title: Good Harbor: A Novel Author: Anita Diamant type of book: Fiction call number: Fic

This book is strong in character, story and setting.

Summary:
Good Harbor is a study of female friendship. Kathleen Levine, a children's librarian who is undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer, finds real support in romance novelist, Joyce Tabachnik, who has bought a summer retreat in Gloucester in the hope of finally writing a "serious" book. The two meet at temple after a service presided over by a newly hired female rabbi. Kathleen has no real confidante aside from her husband, Buddy; Joyce is facing marital problems and dealing with a bratty pre-adolescent daughter. What the women are lacking, they find in each other. "Good Harbor," the beach where the women walk and talk, is an obvious symbol of the shelter found in a good friendship.

I might recommend this book.

Why?
It reads a little like watching paint dry. In fact, much of the action in Joyce's life is painting her new house. But even the secondary characters are fully developed, and you do care what happens to Kathleen. I think it would be an uplifting read for anyone undergoing treatment for breast cancer, or anyone interested in contemporary Jewish women's issues. But critics who call it "fluff" aren't wrong.

Additional comments:
As reviewer's noted, this is so different from Diamant's best-selling Biblical epic The Red Tent one can hardly compare the two. This has such a narrow focus, and is not as compelling a read. It's just OK.

Employee Initials: SB Review Date: March 2004

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