By J. Courtney Sullivan

The Short Take:

If you found the friendships in Sex and the City more appealing than the clothes, this book is for you. No question. If you like smart books where girls grow into women, it’s for you, too. If you wish you understood women better, you definitely should read it, too.

Why?

There are five major characters in this book — the four close friends it follows. And Smith College. Especially Smith College. Smith is still for women only and life in this rarified environment is almost as exotic as residing among remote Amazonian natives. At least for most of us.

It was this exposure to an all-female-all-the-time existence that captured me. Not only does it shape personalities and futures, it also seems to create a whole new class of guilt: Women who have battled it through a co-ed university don’t seem to question their equality or their life decisions near as much as these Smith grads do.

Beyond that, the four characters Sullivan created — April, Celia, Bree, and Sally — are unique and engaging personalities. Their stories and relationships grab you and keep you turning page after page. Want proof? I finished the book in a day and a half. For me, that’s exceptionally fast.

Sullivan lets events before and after Smith influence her women as well. As they each brought something different to their college, so they each found the Smith experience influenced their adult lives in different ways.

This is very much a feminine book. Therefore, every man should read it and maybe we’d have less of that talk about being from different planets.

A Little Plot:

Four women from different backgrounds find themselves on the same floor of a Smith dorm: a grieving neatnik, an engaged Southern belle, a driven women’s rights activist, and family-loving peace maker. At first, three of them are overwhelmed by the Smith version of femininity.  However, they quickly find their place as well as unshakeable support and love in their friendships.

Those friendships endure through several life-changing crises, but a mere marriage may break their bond. Does it? Read and find out.

For more about this book and its author, click here.