Goldenseal

 Goldenseal is the newest novel written by author, Maria Hummel.  This is a short, simple story with a large, intense plot and message.

When two women have a very close long friendship that we learn about as it revealed from the present looking backwards.  The novel starts with the two women coming back together after years apart after a betrayal tears them apart.

Lacey grew up with her loving parents in a luxury hotel her father owned and managed. Her father, Papi, came to the United States from Germany before WWII.

Her mother, Mutti, is from a Jewish family who all lost their lives in the Holocaust. This affects her mother for the rest of her life.  Lacey is sent to summer camp for one summer which changes the direction of her life. She meets Edith at camp and they become fast friends.  Edith comes from a poor, uneducated family.  

Lacey and Edith prick their fingers, mixing their blood, the way young girls did in the 60's,  making them sisters. Their lives intersect and intertwine through their 30s.  Then a tragic event breaks them apart.  

Lacey retreats to the hotel and becomes a hermit until the fateful day that Edith comes to visit many years later as an elderly woman.  Over a carefully  planned dinner, each woman tells her interpretation of what happened revealing their hidden secrets. Each woman is searching for some remnants of their lost love or the ties that bound them.

Remembering how close my early friendships felt made this story come alive for me. Now at a older age, I can think back to where those friendships diverted and how we each changed over the years. This short novel packed a large punch.