East Coast Girls by Kerry Kletter (Review by Tricia Nelson)

East Coast Girls by Kerry Kletter is such a good book! It is the wonderful combination of a story that pulls you in and holds your attention easily, with deeper themes that will have you thinking about the book and its characters for some time. This beautifully written story is about love, loss, family, and finding yourself but above all friendship. Hannah, Maya, Blue and Renee have been friends and basically family since childhood. They are there for each other in ways that no one else is and as teens feel the entire world is at their feet as they get ready to go their separate ways after high school. Then tragedy strikes, and all four of the young women spend the next twelve years trying to carry the weight of the tragedy alone. When their favorite summer retreat is about to be sold, they decide to meet there one last time to reconnect and recreate a few days of their carefree youth together. “For a moment the memory made Blue soft – to think of how friends are life’s greatest first responders, rescuing one another time and again from life’s little atrocities.” This is one of many passages that I found myself marking in the story. There is a richness in the writing that does such a wonderful job of bringing the reader into the conflicts, joys and sorrows of the characters. This would be a WONDERFUL book club choice, as there is so much to discuss, about how we define family and what that means, how true friends can see all of us and accept us as we are, how those friendships can grow together over time and help us through the worst of times, and so much more. This is also a terrific summer read, perfect for your beach bag or your socially distant back yard hammock.