The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat (Vintage Contemporaries)

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, March 2013: In the small southern town of Plainview, Indiana, Odette, Barbara Jean, and Clarice have stayed close since their high school days, when they held court at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat. Affectionately called “the Supremes,” they survived the racial tensions of the ‘60s, splintering families, and complicated love affairs by always having each other’s backs. Now that they’ve reached their sixties, still living seemingly happy lives in their home town, Earl’s sudden passing isn’t the only trigger for their own post-mid-life crises. Feisty, steady Odette has been seeing a lot of her mother--who happens to be dead, and palling around with the misbehaving spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt. Clarice, always so concerned with keeping up appearances, has decided her philandering husband no longer gets a pass. And the greatest love of Barbara Jean’s past has returned, dredging up a harrowing loss she numbs with vodka. With many of the same winning qualities as The Help and Steel Magnolias, Edward Kelsey Moore’s debut is an utterly charming, often hilarious tribute to friendships so strong they eclipse the bonds of blood family. --Mari Malcolm