Synopses & Reviews
Jane Hoffman and Gwen Baker are the willing spirits who struggle to find satisfaction as daughters, mothers, wives, and lovers, but come to learn that friendship is their greatest source of strength. Jane, traditional and frightened, must rebuild her shattered world after she catches her husband with a much younger woman. Suddenly alone, Jane copes with a pregnant, unmarried daughter, takes a young lover, and discovers with delight that good sex is its own reward. The elegant Gwen survives a rigid Southern upbringing and a selfish, overbearing mother only to be abandoned by her cruel, philandering mate. Raising her sons alone, she tries to pretend her life is complete -- until a new man, who happens to be married, coaxes her out of her isolation.
Suffused with humor, tenderness, and a sympathetic understanding of what it means to be a woman today, Willing Spirits speaks eloquently from the heart. It's a warm yet clear-eyed celebration of love in all its many guises -- between man and woman, between parent and child, and above all, between women.
Review
"A paean to the healing power and enduring strength of female friendship."
-Publishers Weekly
"Willing Spirits is like a string of pearls-one familiar, fragile moment linked to another and another to form the rope of women's lives twined together."
-Jodi Picoult
"Jane and Gwen's friendship captures a closeness between two women that surpasses all other types of relationships."
-Florida Times-Union
"What a warm, oh-so human account of women's friendship! These are women I know, and I'm recommending this book to all my female friends and students."
- Rosemary Daniell
Synopsis
Jane Hoffman and Gwen Baker are "willing spirits" who struggle to find satisfaction as daughters, mothers, wives, and lovers--but learn that friendship is their greatest source of strength. Phyllis Schieber's moving debut will resonate in the hearts and minds of every woman. Major reviews.
Synopsis
A novel Jodi Picoult calls "beautifully written, full of wit...and heart," from the author of The Sinner's Guide to Confession. Both teachers in their forties, Jane Hoffman and Gwen Baker have a friendship that has helped them endure. It was Jane who looked after Gwen when her husband left her with two young sons to raise. And when Jane comes home one day unexpectedly and finds her husband in a shameless act of betrayal, she turns to Gwen for support.
Now, tested by additional personal crises, Jane and Gwen face new challenges-as mothers, as daughters, as women. And in the process, they will learn unexpected truths about their friendship-and themselves.
About the Author
Phyllis Schieber grew up in Washington Heights. She is at work on a new novel.