Wildwood

This Is a story of my generation and three best friends. Living through the polio scare in the fifties, I remember Mother in a frantic state about the safety of our town pool. Like Liz, Hannah and Jeanne, my friends and I circumvented our mothers and biked to the forbidden banks of the Ohio River. As only ten-year-old kids can be, we were fearless, despite dire warnings of shady characters who frequented the area. We could easily have been in the situation faced by the girls in Wildwood. We hid our forbidden ventures to the river, just as the girls hide their afternoons at Bluegang Creek.One day something unspeakable happens at the creek, which affects the girls forever. Liz desperately wants to tell her parents, but Hannah and Jeanne are adamantly opposed. They ultimately vow to never speak of the day again.Fast forward forty years. Two of the women returned to their childhood home in Silicon Valley. Liz spends time in Paris, where she meets Gerard. After a long distance relationship, they move to Belize but never marry. Liz, who questioned her parent's love for her, is wary of upsetting the relationship with Gerard by making it official.When Liz visits Hannah and Jeanne, they reunite as best friends do, but she cannot get Bluegang out her mind. Jeanne is married to a despicable man, and together they own a private school. Hannah has a seemingly happy marriage and two teenage children.As time passes, Liz sees cracks in Jeanne's marriage and learns that Hannah has an unhealthy obsession with infants. Jeanne's drug of choice is alcohol, and Hannah's is babies. Liz finally admits that she is terrified of commitments.As expected, the subject of Bluegang arises. The event has impacted their lives, albeit subconsciously. It is the elephant in the room, and Liz is determined to discuss it. Little by little, details of the story emerge. Arguments ensue, but in the end, the bond of friendship prevails and, if anything, grows deeper.Drusilla Campbell writes knowingly about longstanding friendships among ordinary women. That is the primary reason I liked Wildwood. Having attended a milestone class reunion, I realized yet again the value of good friends, many of whom I had not seen for years. Ms. Campbell perfectly captures the emotions I felt when I saw my best friends.Wildwood is wonderfully written. The story flows smoothly, and all the characters are well developed. So well developed, in fact, that I had a visceral reaction to Jeanne's disgusting husband and wished for the moment when she found her backbone! Read the book to see if she does.

This is a first time for this Author and I truly enjoyed these character's. The story starts out and really gets your interest on what is going to happen to Hannah on the rock that day with that very scary boy. Your glad the friends show up you can feel the terror in all three girls and wonder what will they do after this terrible accident. I like the way the story tells of each friend and how they connect again after many years. This wasn't a favorite for me I like more mystery and a lot more suspense but I would recommend this for the ladies.kozetteksmith

Good story from the very first page. Friends from a very young age, three women are forever tied to each other by a senseless tragedy that all three feel responsible for. Many years go by before they are able to bring it into the light. The characters are well described, the story moves quickly and this is a very good story. Hard to put it down after you begin.

This is the third book I've read by Drusilla Campbell. It took a little longer to get into than the others because there were more characters. However, once I did, I was hooked. A great perspective in the choices we make and the consequences of these choices.

This was an excellent book and was very well written. I read some of the reviews prior to reading it, and I disagree that the book started out slowly. The beginning was necessary in order to give the reader some insight as to who the characters are. I highly recommend it not only for entertainment but for the lessons about life one needs to.learn.

I can't believe I finished this book, but I did in about three days. I kept reading waiting for something to really happen. This subject matter should have lent to a really good book, but this really missed the mark. And most of the time, the actions of the women seemed too far fetched to be anything close to real. Not a great story.

I thought the characters were very shallow and entire chapters could have been cut from this book without retracting from the somewhat meandering plot. It wasn't an exciting read at all, despite the decription and scenes that should have been captivating were downright boring.

This is the first time I have read anything by Drusilla Campbell. I loved it. So much in fact I am now reading "Finding Emma." So far I am not disappointed in this one either.