Mia is a toughie who as a teenager had to contend with boy troubles, contentious younger brothers, and a heavy-drinking mother, while her longtime friend Lorrie Ann was always all sweetness and light, protected by her family. Then tragedy strikes Lorrie Ann, and she becomes a shockingly different person. With a reading group guide; this debut is making some waves.

Thorpe's first novel explores the shifting relationship between two childhood friends. Mia sees her best friend Lorrie Ann as beautiful, kind, and goddess-like with a perfect family, while she views herself and her own life in a much darker light. Lorrie Ann's world is shaken by the death of her father and a series of tragedies follow that repeatedly test the lifelong bond between them. Thorpe's complex story explores friendship in the light of difficult motherhood, separation, and loss. Rebecca Lowman's reading gives the book resonance as both Mia and her listeners face the question of how well we know those we love. VERDICT An impressive debut for fiction collections. ["The book should appeal to readers who enjoy dark-edged relationship dramas, such as the works of Jane Hamilton or Wally Lamb," read the review of the Knopf hc, LJ 3/15/14.]—Joyce Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo

Growing up in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Southern California, Mia always compared herself unfavorably with best friend Lorrie Ann, who had a serene sweetness and goodness and, in Mia's eyes, a perfect family. Then a series of personal tragedies befalls Lorrie Ann and pulls the two friends in divergent directions: Mia to Yale and eventual success as a classics scholar; Lorrie Ann to early widowhood, motherhood to a severely handicapped son, and, eventually, drug addiction. When Lorrie Ann unexpectedly turns up in Istanbul, where Mia is living on a research grant, Mia must reassess everything she thought she knew about herself, her friend, and her perceptions. VERDICT This debut novel would be unbearably grim if it were not for the sardonic humor of the first-person narration by Mia, who is so likable that it's hard to see why she has such a poor opinion of herself. The book should appeal to readers who enjoy dark-edged relationship dramas, such as the works of Jane Hamilton or Wally Lamb.—Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis

The divergent paths of two girls raised in a Southern California beach town plot the course for Thorpe's affecting debut novel. Mia, who recounts the story of their friendship as an adult, had always cast herself as the "bad one" to Lorrie Ann's "good one": "She was beautiful... but I was sexy.... We were both smart, but Lorrie Ann was contemplative where I was wily, she earnest and I shrewd. Where she was sentimental, I became sarcastic." Secrets like lost virginity and an abortion cemented their bond, but high school graduation sent the young women in opposite directions: Mia went to Yale, and on to Istanbul to study the Sumerian goddess Inanna; Lorrie Ann had a shotgun marriage, and then became a young Army widow, caring for her disabled son, eventually turning to drug addiction to cope with it all. When Lorrie Ann turns up barefoot on Mia's doorstep in Istanbul, Mia hardly recognizes her; she can't make sense of the way her seemingly flawless friend's life has panned out. Thorpe unflinchingly examines the psychological tug-of-war between the friends, and delves in to the pro-choice debate and issues relating to medical malpractice to give the personal narrative heft. The result is a nuanced portrait of two women who are sisters in everything but name. 75,000-copy first printing. (July)