Between Husbands and Friends

A Novel

Nancy Thayer

- 4.2 • 191 Ratings

- $11.99

- $11.99

This poignant novel by New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer tells the engrossing story of two women, two families, and a shocking revelation that changes everything.

When Lucy West and Kate Cunningham meet, the two spirited young women recognize kindred spirits in each other. Both Lucy and Kate married early and lack complete confidence in the brave new world of mothering. As their friendship deepens, their lives become fully intertwined. With husbands and children in tow, they spend glorious summers together in a large house on Nantucket island, sailing and feasting on lobster—and when their husbands are back on the mainland, the two women even get a chance to kick up their heels. The closest of allies, Lucy and Kate share their highs and lows, their joys and darkest secrets.

Or so Kate thought. One summer, in the midst of a devastating family crisis, Lucy reveals a truth she has long kept hidden from her best friend. And in the aftermath of this astonishing revelation, the lives of the Wests and the Cunninghams will never be the same.

Includes a captivating excerpt of Nancy Thayer’s novel Nantucket Sisters!

Praise for the novels of Nancy Thayer

“The queen of beach books.”—The Star-Ledger

“Thayer has a deep and masterly understanding of love and friendship, of where the two complement and where they collide.”—Elin Hilderbrand

“Thayer’s gift for reaching the emotional core of her characters [is] captivating.”—Houston Chronicle

“One of my favorite writers.”—Susan Wiggs

“Thayer portrays beautifully the small moments, inside stories and shared histories that build families.”—The Miami Herald

“Thayer’s sense of place is powerful, and her words are hung together the way my grandmother used to tat lace.”—Dorothea Benton Frank

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AUG 30, 1999

Two Massachusetts families live out a decade of births, deaths, secrets and infidelities in this moving 12th novel from Thayer (An Act of Love). Narrator Lucy West, 37, is a self-employed mother of two; her husband, Max, edits the local newspaper in Sussex, a Boston suburb. Suave, irreverent Kate Cunningham and her husband, Chip, an attorney, move to Sussex in 1987; Kate and Lucy meet at their children's preschool and become fast friends. Soon the couples summer together on Nantucket, and their lives grow ever more entwined. Thayer's narrative jumps back and forth between the couples' present and their shared past. One set of chapters follows the Wests and the Cunninghams from 1987 to 1991: during these years, Kate chafed in her unfulfilling marriage, Max becomes a depressed workaholic and Lucy, devastated by her stillborn baby, takes comfort in a brief affair with Chip. Other chapters relate the events of 1998, which test Lucy's marriage and friendship all over again. When her son, Jeremy (conceived in 1991), is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, both couples must confront the chance that Chip, not Max, is Jeremy's real father. Readers prepared for the slow pace of Thayer's plot will appreciate her detailed, realistic records of motherhood, child-rearing and domestic routine in Sussex and Nantucket. The finale, set in Boston's Children's Hospital, will strike some as cathartic and fulfilling, others as pat and predictable. Yet thoughtful chronicles of female friendship (see The Book Borrower, above) always have appeal, and Thayer's twist on the relationship is sure and steady. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates.

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