Welcome to my weekly post where I look back at some of my four and five star reads before I started Nicole’s Nook.
Today’s Book: Four of a Kind by Valerie Frankel
Publisher: Ballantine books
Publication Date: February 7, 2012
Date Read: August 31, 2016
My Rating: 4 Stars
Favorite quote:
“The choices we made, the long-forgotten decisions, the painfully unforgettable ones, are the framework of our lives…”
― Valerie Frankel, Four Of A Kind
Goodreads Synopsis:
Besides the fact that their kids all attend the same fashionable Brooklyn Heights private school, Bess, Robin, Carla, and Alicia have little in common. Thrown together on the tony school’s Diversity Committee, the women impulsively turn their awkward first meeting into a boisterous game of poker. Instead of betting with chips or pocket change, however, they play for intimate secrets about their lives.
As the Diversity Commitee meetings become a highly anticipated monthly ritual, the new friends reveal more with each game. Picture-perfect housewife Bess struggles to relate to her surly teenage daughter and judgmental mother. Robin, a single mom, grapples with the truth concerning her child’s real father. Carla, an ambitious doctor, attempts to balance the colossal demands of her family with her dream of owning her own private practice. And to distract herself from her troubled marriage, shy copywriter Alicia fantasizes about an attractive younger colleague.
Putting all their cards on the table, the four women grow to rely on one another, bracing for one final showdown.
My Thoughts:
Full disclosure: I don’t remember a lot of the specific details of this books because I read it in 2016. But, what stayed with me is the idea that there are layers to everyone and you never know what others are facing. While these women seem very different on the surface, they are all dealing with issues. Even though the problems may be different, comraderie and comfort that comes with sharing our burdens with other women is universal.