This is the hardcover edition. The paperback edition will be available to order shortly.
"I want you to know something if you don't already. Life is choosing
whom and what you love. Everything else follows . . ."
Among the longleaf pines and family farms of eastern North Carolina,
days seem to pass without incident for Margaret Clayton and Bernice
Stokes until they discover each other in a friendship that will take
them on the most important journey of their lives. Margaret, droll and
whip smart, has a will of iron that never fails her even when her body
does, while Bernice, an avid country-music fan, is rarely lucid.
Irreverent and brazen at every turn, they make a formidable pair at the
home where they live, breaking all the rules and ultimately changing the
lives of those around them. Lorraine, their churchgoing,
God-questioning nurse, both protects and provokes them while they are
under her watchful eye, as her daughter, April, bright and ambitious,
determinedly makes her way through medical school. Rounding out the
group of unlikely and often outrageous friends is Rhonda, the
Bud-swilling beautician who does the ladies' hair on her day off and
whose sassy talk hides a vulnerable heart, one that finally opens to
love.
Weaving this tightly knit and compelling novel in alternating
chapters, each woman gets to tell her story her own way, as all five
learn to reconcile troubled pasts, find forgiveness, choose hope, and
relish the joy of life. Rich with irresistible characters whose uniquely
musical voices overflow the pages, The Sweet By and By is a
testament to the truth that the most vibrant lives are not necessarily
the most visible ones.
