The Clover Girls by Viola Shipman

The Clover Girls is a wonderful story, although heartbreaking story about the reconnecting of a group of girls who met during their first night of summer camp years ago. Be prepared for tears…yours!

Veronica (V), Rachel, Emily and Elizabeth (Liz) met at Camp Birchwood back in the 1980’s. Dubbed the “Clover Girls” because when they met they were all feeling lonely and lost, and found a four-leaf clover in a field that very night and knew they would be friends forever.

Through their camp years all their lives would have tragedies and mishaps which would mold them into the individuals they became. There were also fights among them and deceits and hurt which, although apologized for, perhaps were never really forgiven.

Now over thirty years later when they all have their own lives and have not seen each other in years, and perhaps are not in the best place they want to be, decisions each has made along the way maybe not the best, families not the closest, careers wished for years ago which never happened, and some regrets, they each receive a devastating letter from Emily which will throw the Clover Girls back together for the very last time.

According to Emily’s letter, her wish is for them to reunite one last time at the now defunct Camp Birchwood to say goodbye. If they are able to mend their differences and stay the week at the camp certain affairs will come to fruition. If not, they can say their goodbyes forever.

Now the women must decide to either work on their disastrous relationships and forgive each other and move on as the best friends they were, or walk away from each other. Unfortunately they must try to heal the wounds from those many years ago which have shaped them into who they are today.

Will they be able to accomplish what Emily’s letter has requested? Or are these women too involved in their current personal situations to even attempt reconciliations with each other. Perhaps with a little help from Emily, they can try and put their pasts aside and rather than go back to the girls they once were, become the strong and independent women with deep friendships Emily always knew they could be, but were too self absorbed to see years ago.

Once again Viola Shipman has created an uplifting and empowering story about a group of women whose lives are changed for the better. The story is filled with love, and some sadness, but with a theme of hope that not only can relationships change for the better, but one can change their own destiny at any age.

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BOOK SUMMARY: 

As comforting and familiar as a favorite sweater, Viola Shipman’s novels never fail to deliver a heartfelt story of friendship and familty, encapsulating summer memories in every page. Fans of Dorthea Benton Frank and Nancy Thayer will love this new story about three childhood friends approaching middle age, determined to rediscover the dreams that made them special as campers in 1985.

Elizabeth, Veronica, Rachel and Emily met at Camp Birchwood as girls in 1985, where they called themselves The Clover Girls (after their cabin name). The years following that magical summer pulled them in very different directions and, now approaching middle age, the women are facing new challenges: the inevitable physical changes that come with aging, feeling invisible to society, disinterested husbands, surley teens, and losing their sense of self.

Then, Elizabeth, Veronica and Rachel each receive a letter from Emily – she has cancer and, knowing it’s terminal, reaches out to the girls who were her best friends once upon a time and implores them to reunite at Camp Birchwood to scatter her ashes. When the three meet at the property for the first time in what feels like a lifetime, another letter from Emily awaits, explaining that she has purchased the abandoned camp, and now it belongs to them – at Emily’s urging, they must spend a week together remembering the dreams they’d put aside, and find a way to become the women they always swore they’d grow up to be. Through flashbacks to their youthful summer, we see the four friends then and now, rebuilding their lives, flipping a middle finger to society’s disdain for aging women, and with a renewed purpose to find themselves again.

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Viola Shipman is the pen name for Wade Rouse, a popular, award-winning memoirist. Rouse chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, to honor the woman whose heirlooms and family stories inspire his writing. Rouse is the author of The Summer Cottage, as well as The Charm Bracelet and The Hope Chest which have been translated into more than a dozen languages and become international bestsellers. He lives in Saugatuck, Michigan and Palm Springs, California, and has written for People, Coastal Living, Good Housekeeping, and Taste of Home, along with other publications, and is a contributor to All Things Considered.

SOCIAL:

Author Website: https://www.violashipman.com/

TWITTER: @viola_shipman

FB: @authorviolashipman

Insta: @viola_shipman

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14056193.Viola_Shipman

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Thank you #NetGalley #GraydonHouse #Viola Shipman #TheCloverGirls for the advanced copy. You can buy the book today at the links below.

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