The Same Sweet Girls

November 22, 2004
For 30 years, six Southern college friends—the Same Sweet Girls—have been gathering for a biannual reunion. As King's wry, touching novel begins, the girls are nearing 50 and coming to terms with the life decisions they've made. Corrine Cooper gains renown as a folk artist, but battles clinical depression with the help of a manipulative psychiatrist who later becomes her husband; Lanier Brewer is separated after a brief, ill-advised fling; exotic Astor Deveaux, a former Broadway dancer, flirts wildly with men but remains with her husband, a famous painter 33 years her senior; Julia Dupont is trapped in a passionless marriage and an overscheduled life as Alabama's first lady; Byrd and Rosanelle round out the group. When one of the SSGs becomes terminally ill, the remaining friends are spurred to resolve their own problems before she dies. Corinne, Julia and Lanier rotate as first-person narrators, but King (The Sunday Wife
) does little to distinguish their voices, and the parade of characters and stories can be hard to follow at first. Once the names fall into place, however, the story's gentle Southern humor and warmth shine. It isn't all iced tea and tomato pie—King tackles some troubling issues—but the characters are true to life, and readers will sympathize with their struggles. Agent, Marly Rusoff. (Jan. 19)

Forecast:
The novel's backstory—King herself belongs to a Same Sweet Girls group, which reunites every year—should make King (who is married to Pat Conroy) an appealing interview subject. Author tour.

February 15, 2005
King may be the wife of Pat Conroy, but with "The Sunday Wife", she established herself as an authentic Southern novelist in her own right. In her latest book, she shows her talent for creating honest, three-dimensional characters. Six college friends who have met biannually for 30 years are preparing for a trip to Dauphin Island in Alabama. Lanier, the host of the gathering, is licking the wounds from her recent divorce and loss in a custody battle. Each woman's story unfolds throughout the novel. They laugh, eat, and cry together. When one of them becomes terminally ill, their friendship is tested. King's knack for writing women's friendships is bound to earn comparisons with Anita Diamant, though fans of all things Southern are bound to find her tone similar to Jill Conner Brown's nonfiction work, "The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love". Highly recommended for all public libraries, particularly those with strong Southern fiction collections. -Nanci Milone Hill, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, MA

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2004
King, wife of Pat Conroy, is carving her own niche as a southern writer. In her third novel, six very different women meet at a small Methodist women's college in Alabama, and continue their friendship by getting together twice a year as a group they call the Same Sweet Girls. Now no longer girls, they are swiftly approaching 50, and their story is told by three of the group whose lives are at a crossroads. Julia comes from wealth and is now the first lady of Alabama. Corrine has risen from poverty and depression to become a renowned gourd artist. And Lanier, a former jock, is famous for making monumental mistakes. Although her friends would never think it, Julia is stifled by her political life and haunted by her past. Corrine is trying to establish a relationship with her son and facing health problems, while Lanier has ruined her marriage by having an affair. Avoiding the maudlin, King brings her sympathetic characters to vivid life and explores the bonds of friendship. This winning tale should make her a household name.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)