The Good Ones by Polly Stewart

 

Summary (from the publisher): The last time Nicola Bennett saw Lauren Ballard she was scraping a key along the side of a new cherry-red Chevy Silverado. That was the night before her friend mysteriously vanished from her home, leaving a bloodstained washcloth and signs of a struggle--as well as her grieving husband and young daughter--behind.

Now, nearly twenty years later, Nicola, newly unemployed and still haunted by the disappearance of her childhood friend, is returning to her Appalachian hometown. For Nicola, Tyndall County has remained frozen in time. Everywhere she turns she's reminded of Lauren. Yet shockingly, her former friends and neighbors have all moved on. Drawn to stories of missing girls, Nicola obsessively searches the internet, hoping to discover a clue to Lauren's ultimate fate.

Driven by a desperate need to know what happened to her friend, Nicola takes a job in her hometown, determined to uncover any bit of information, any small clue, that can help. Deep down she knows the answers are tucked in the hollows and valleys of this small Blue Ridge county. As secrets come to light and the truth begins to unravel, will Nicola finally find release and break free of the past--or lose herself completely to unanswered questions from her adolescence?

Review: I received a copy of this novel from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review. 

Nicola Bennett grew up with Lauren Ballard. Despite their friendship, Lauren could be cold and even cruel. Lauren ended up marrying young and having a baby before mysteriously vanishing from her home, leaving behind some blood and signs of a struggle. Years later, Nicola is still haunted by the disappearance of her friend and has returned to her hometown in the wake of her mother's death. Nicola feels herself drawn deeper and deeper into her past, but exploring her history and its unanswered questions may be the best way to free herself from the past. 

While I think many will pick this book thinking it is a missing person and/or murder mystery, it's really more a story about friendship and how our early friendships continue to shape our lives even after they're no longer in our lives. It's also a slow, cathartic release for Nicola as she finally finds a way to let go of her past and move forward. I really liked how Stewart slowly unpacks this story as the novel unwinds. The specific nature of the connection between Nicola and Lauren is slowly explored and the reader's understanding of Lauren's complicated nature is revealed. 

I will say I thought Lauren seemed too terrible. It was hard to believe that such a mean girl would be able to draw Nicola in as a friend or pin down Warren in marriage. She does such cruel and thoughtless things that it was hard to be sorry that she was missing. I also thought the ending was difficult to believe and sort of convoluted. 

Stars: 3