Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski. Two girls from very different backgrounds. Jillian is the only child of wealthy parents, while Lesley''s from a working-class family. They become best friends in the turbulent ''60s, but their circumstances, their choices—and their mistakes—take them in virtually opposite directions. Lesley stays in their Washington State hometown. She gets pregnant and marries young, living a life defined by the demands of small children, not enough money—never enough money—and an unfaithful husband. Jill lives those years in a completely different way: on a college campus shaken by the Vietnam War, and then as an idealistic young lawyer in New York City.

But they always remain friends.

Through the years and across the miles, through marriage, children, divorce and widowhood, Jill and Lesley confide everything to each other—every grief and every joy. Because the quality of a friendship is the quality of a life.

Debbie Macomber was born on October 22, 1948 in Yakima, Washington. When she first tried her hand at writing, she had only a high school degree, was dyslexic, and was a young mother of four children. No one believed she had what it took to write a book. She eventually saved enough money to rent an old typewriter, and every night she would sit down to write. But each time she mailed a story off to a publisher, it was returned. Five years later, she received a letter in the mail from Silhouette Books saying they wanted to buy her story. Her first novel, Heartsong, was published as a Silhouette Inspiration in 1984, and it became the first romance novel ever to be reviewed in Publishers Weekly. She has written more than 150 novels since then including Back on Blossom Street, Susannah's Garden, A Good Yarn, The Shop on Blossom Street, Between Friends, and the Cedar Cove series. Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America appointed Macomber an ambassador for the national office in 1997. A three-time winner of the B. Dalton Award, she is also the recipient of Romantic Times Magazine's distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award. Her most recent novel is entitled Hannahs List.

Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski. Two girls from very different backgrounds. Jillian is the only child of wealthy parents, while Lesley's from a working-class family. They become best friends in the turbulent '60s, but their circumstances, their choices--and their mistakes--take them in virtually opposite directions. Lesley stays in their Washington State hometown. She gets pregnant and marries young, living a life defined by the demands of small children, not enough money--"never" enough money--and an unfaithful husband. Jill lives those years in a completely different way: on a college campus shaken by the Vietnam War, and then as an idealistic young lawyer in New York City.

But they always remain friends.

Through the years and across the miles, through marriage, children, divorce and widowhood, Jill and Lesley confide everything to each other--every grief and every joy. Because the quality of a friendship is the quality of a life.