Summary and Reviews of Going To Bend by Diane Hammond

Going To Bend by Diane Hammond

Going To Bend

by Diane Hammond
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
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  • First Published:
  • Jan 1, 2004, 293 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Mar 2005, 320 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

An evocative debut novel about life in a small town and of two women testing their own limits. A moving and deftly told portrait of the hard-scrabble life.

Petie Coolbaugh and Rose Bundy have been best friends since childhood. Now in their early thirties, they are grappling with coming-of-age and station; meanwhile, they work together in Petie's kitchen preparing gallons of soup each day for Souperior's, a new upscale café in town. Both of them need the extra money to support their families; Petie, who has gotten used to keeping her family on track as her loving but unreliable husband slips in and out of work, needs to feed her two young boys, while Rose, a warm, affectionate single mother, is her teenage daughter's sole support. The proprietors of the café, Nadine and Gordon, are fraternal twins from Los Angeles with adjustments of their own to make, but Rose's friendliness and the quality of the women's soups quickly make them indispensable despite Petie's abrupt manner and prickly ways.

The strains of daily life are never far, however, and the success of the café is far from certain. As the story draws lovers, employers, friends, and family into a mesh of interwoven events and revelations, each woman finds possibilities for love and even grace that she had never imagined.

An evocative portrait of life in a small town and of two women testing their own limits, Going to Bend combines the sexy sassiness of Thelma and Louise with the emotional warmth of Fried Green Tomatoes. It is a stunning debut.

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Reviews

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Described as an 'exceptional debut' (Kirkus Reviews), 'a testimonial to the regenerative power of female friendship' (Library Journal) and compared to Fried Green Tomatoes; Going To Bend's portrayal of issues such as childrearing, friendship and self-determination, clearly position it as a book targeted at women and, if the publishers have their wish, book clubs...continued

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Beyond the Book



Diane Hammond has worked as a writer and an editor. She was awarded a literary fellowship by the Oregon Arts Commission, and her writing has appeared in such magazines as Yankee, Mademoiselle, and Washington Review. She served as a spokesperson for the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Free Willy Keiko Foundation - she published Keiko's Story: The Real-Life Tale of the World's Most Famous Killer Whale in 1998.  She lives with her husband, Nolan, and daughter, Kerry.  

Her second book, Homesick Creek, is due to be published in July 2005 - the story of two women, Anita and Bunny, who've...

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