Miami Beach, Florida - Present Day

In this story of friendship and secrets, we start with the tragic date rape of a college student named Lauren Brown. Her roommate, Jenny, finds Lauren cowering in the corner when she comes home and immediately calls the police. Lauren had a date with the biggest jock at college, promising football player, smartest student, yada, yada, yada. Evan Carter is an aspiring NFL star whose arrest will cause all sorts of trouble with its inherent publicity. Little does anyone know how it will tear apart the lives of two families.

Marcie Carter and Emily Dobbs and their children have been friends for the past ten years. Their two sons, Evan and Josh, played sports together, and Caitlyn Carter and Danielle Dobbs, though two years apart, have a special relationship. When Evan Carter is arrested, Marcie's husband Ken, the public relations expert, starts a smear campaign against Lauren and insists his son would never do anything like that. As a friend of the family, Emily tries her best to support Marcie and can't believe that such a nice, polite boy would do something so heinous. Emily is now divorced and teaching high school English, and everyone at the school knows Evan and can't believe the stories either.

Emily's friends and other schoolteachers figure she is behind Evan because of the family's friendship, but Emily thinks she is keeping an open mind. Emily has only seen occasional flashes of Evan acting like his father, snapping at Marcie and treating her like a stupid slave. And now Emily's daughter, Dani, is acting weird; she wants nothing to do with her former best friend, Caitlyn, and is always yelling and seeming to believe the awful accusations against Evan. Why is Dani acting so different; it can't be anything to do with Evan. Emily will just forget about that and ignore Dani's problems, it's probably adolescent anxiety, right? But when Grady Rodriguez, the policeman investigating the case, turns out to be a cute man who shows a definite interest in her, Emily is in a total quandary. How can she pursue a friendship with a man who is trying to prosecute her best friend's son? Marcie is trying to deal with the intense publicity and the awful effect it is having on her daughter, Caitlyn. Caitlyn and her best friend, Dani, don't seem to get along very well any more, and it appears to be more than schoolgirl problems. With Marcie's husband Ken devoting himself to discrediting the girl who was raped, Marcie is alone in trying to process everything that is going on in her life.

Sherryl Woods's writing is spectacular; there's no other word for it. We are drawn into the lives of two families, the women who have been best friends through divorce, children, cooking disasters, fights with husbands, everything that happens in our own lives. They enjoyed their friendship, even though the husbands didn't get along, and eventually Emily's husband is gone and Marcie's husband is caught up in his business. The rape is handled delicately, and yet we see the tension and confusion that enters everybody's lives as they try to understand what has happened in their world. Like petals of a flower, Ms. Woods has written a perfectly balanced novel in every respect. The easy to read narrative quickly draws us in and brings these people to life.

Both families are the main characters in MENDING FENCES, but Naomi, Grady's partner, provides some sane advice and friendship to him as he fights his own inner demons.

MENDING FENCES is an enthralling, poignant, spectacular story filled with friendship, love, making hard decisions, and how to forgive yourself, and others, for the awful things that sometime happen in your life. MENDING FENCES is so far above any book I've read this year, there is no way I can not give it my first Perfect 10 for the year. Its story touches a subject not often discussed, but the hope and healing that occur make it a phenomenal reading experience.

Carolyn Crisher