Anita Diament's recent best seller, THE RED TENT, established her
as a writer who can weave intriguing, intimate tales surrounding
women's relationships. Based on characters from the book of
Genesis, THE RED TENT brought to life customs and plumbed emotions
of women in a sheltered, rigid society. GOOD HARBOR is as modern as
RED TENT is historical, but Diamant's story telling skills continue
to resonate with the warmth and truth that lies in the sometimes
complex relationships between women.  

Kathleen Levine is a dignified librarian in her late 50s, who lives
in Cape Anne, Massachusetts with her husband of many years. Her
life has been turned upside down upon learning that she has breast
cancer. Joyce Tabachnik is nearly 20 years younger and, with the
proceeds from her first published novel --- a romance under a pen
name she refuses to divulge even to her local book club --- she has
purchased a cottage on Cape Ann. She sees the small rundown former
rental as her own private writer's colony from which she will take
long hikes on the dunes, write five pages a day and publish a
"real" book under her own name.  

Joyce is active in her local synagogue, and Kathleen is a former
Catholic who's sister, a nun, died of breast cancer 15 years
earlier, but Kathleen's health crisis leads her to seek the solace
of her husband's faith and she returns to Temple where she meets
the ebullient Joyce. The friendship that grows between these two
fascinating women is the basis for an engaging plot, as the two
women's lives both take compelling turns.  

Do not fear that this becomes a tragic tale. Kathleen's cancer is
not life threatening, but its presence is an overpowering shadow on
her life, which provokes her to reexamine her priorities not only
with others but within her family, especially with her two grown
sons who have moved away to follow their careers. Joyce's
troublesome relationship with an adolescent daughter and a
career-driven husband is causing her to take stock of her marriage
while she struggles to write a new novel.

Diamant brings both women alive on the page by alternating between
the two women's perspectives. The deep relationship grows as they
take long walks at Good Harbor beach and begin to bare their
intimate histories and help one another heal old wounds.