The Right Thing by Amy Conner

The Right Thing

by Amy Conner

Purchase on Amazon
Published by: Kensington on May 27, 2014
Genres: Women's Lit, Friendship
Source: ARC from Publisher
Rating: 4.5 Stars

NOTICE: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

On a scorching August day in 1963, seven-year-old Annie Banks meets the girl who will become her best friend. Skinny, outspoken Starr Dukes and her wandering preacher father may not be accepted by polite society in Jackson, Mississippi, but Starr quickly becomes Annie's best friend. Then, as suddenly as she appeared in Annie's life, Starr disappears.

Twenty-seven years later, Annie runs into a pregnant Starr, the same Starr who's once again stirring up trouble in Jackson, Mississippi. When Starr needs a favor, Annie risks her social status again to help her best friend. But is Starr still the same fly-by-night spirit that she was as a child? Will Annie be hurt again?

If you read last week's Top Ten Tuesday, you'll know that I adore books about female friendships, and Amy Conner's The Right Thing has moved right toward the top of the list of my favorites!

It's rare in most books today that not only does the plot have a fluid arc til the end, but each character has an arc as well. Annie, Starr and even Annie's mother have changed from the beginning of the book to the end. More importantly, you can ascertain why Starr finds running away at any given moment a normal decision: she learned that from years of her father moving them in the night to a new town. We see from the very beginning that Annie has never quite fit into polite society the way her mother seems to, and we see her transition from awkward poser to comfortable in her own skin by the end. Annie and her mother also connect on a more profound level near the end of the book when her mother lets Annie, and the reader, into how she went from poor "lint-mill" girl to high society wife of a pediatrician. She is really no different than Annie herself.

This book, with Southern charm and engaging women, will surely call to any person that loves true friendship stories like I do. Do not hesitate to pick this book up today! In fact, today is the release! Go get it!