Eight women who were complete strangers become neighbors when they move to Country Club Drive, an "exclusive" new suburb developed by J.P. Scott, the wealthiest man in a small Ohio Valley town. WWII is over; business is booming; families are reunited; America is optimistically looking forward to greeting the halfway mark of the 20th Century. To the world outside, each woman living in the guarded cul-de-sac on Country Club Drive has everything, a luxurious new home, her own expensive car, fashionable clothes, and the privilege of being granted J.P. Scott's permission to inhabit the affluent private world that he created in honor of his new wife, Belle, a former call girl who gladly traded late-night telephone rings from many men for a wedding ring from one man. Outsiders view Country Club Drive through rose-colored glasses, yet beyond the manicured yards and shuttered windows, each woman senses that something is missing in her life, and in the dark hours at night, hungers for more.
Belle wants the town to forget that before J.P. divorced his first wife and bought Belle's body for his use only, many men had paid to use it for their pleasure. Ruth, a corporate wife who dutifully follows her husband's frequent transfers on his route to success knows that a cure for loneliness can always be found at the bottom of a highball glass. Dora, a young newlywed, is given everything she wants from her husband except sex. Virginia, whose life fell apart when she buried her first husband, builds a fence around her emotions to safeguard against being hurt again. Martha's marriage is perfect; so is her affair with her husband's best friend... until the unexpected happens. Shelly, a beautiful model is also her photographer husband's doll baby; he is determined that motherhood will never rearrange his plaything's perfect body. Grossly overweight Bertha is hurt when her husband is repulsed by her gluttony, but thrilled that he can't stay out of her bed. Ellen, an ideal wife and a loving mother, a paragon of virtue in the community, hides a cruel secret that only one person in the neighborhood knows.
As the 20th century nears its halfway mark, each woman on Country Club Drive faces a challenge. Some face tragedy. At least one faces death.
Author Liz Hamlin has written many books, including two mainstream novels, The Women on Country Club Drive and The Women In No Man's Land; two contemporary histories, Dorie And Me and I Remember Valentine; and one suspense novel, The Woman Next Door (subtitled "Where's Miss Mary?"). Two of Liz's works have been published in Germany and France.
I Remember Valentine was selected by the American Library Association as one of the best Young Adult novels of 1987; Kirkus Reviews calls the novel "poignant, nostalgic, and affectionately moving." It was once optioned by United Artists, and is presently in the hands of an experienced script writer. Dorie And Me was one of the six finalists in the official EPPIE-2004 historical category.
Liz earned her Masters degree from Goddard College in Vermont, and taught in New Jersey for several years. Her teaching background provided ample material for writing a play, Faculty Room, and a contemporary novel, Little Mothers, which realistically portrays five middle-school girls who have nothing in common other than being very young and very pregnant.
When not writing, Liz is a freelance editor. She edited and helped write a non-fiction book, The Intangible Terror, which relates the life story of a victim of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). She has served as President and Vice President of the Eastern Shore Writer's Association, and is a member of the International Women Writers Guild.
