Friendship Makes the Heart Grow Fonder (28 page)

Judy Merrill and I have a lot in common. Like the character in
Friendship Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
, I once spent three months backpacking through Europe. At the time I was in an “in between” phase—between coasts, between
jobs, and between being single and being married. With few responsibilities, a lot of time, and a vague return date on my
plane ticket, I set out with a happy heart and the sketchiest of itineraries.

This is the kind of journey best done while young. I slept on beaches and in trains or stayed in hostels in the roughest parts
of town. I existed on street vendor food at a few dollars a day. Like most women travelers, I was occasionally followed through
the squares of foreign cities and had to dodge being groped on subways. I learned in a crowd in front of Buckingham Palace
the meaning of the “dead hand.”

But, oh, what places I saw! I spent an evening in a castle in the Scottish highlands. I walked the ramparts of Mont Saint-Michel
as the roaring tide cut it off from the rest of France. I got mobbed by gypsy children in Rome, saw a bull fight in Madrid,
basked in the sun on the rocky beaches of Nice, gambled in Monaco, and danced to wistful Portuguese
fados
in Oporto, with snakes draped around my neck.

Each day brought a new challenge, a new city, a new friend. I may not remember what I cooked for dinner last Tuesday, but
I sure can remember that truffle pasta I savored years ago in Italy. For Monique, Becky, and Judy I had to condense the transformative
nature of that experience into two action-packed weeks. But I knew that the discomfort of being pushed out of one’s normal
routines would provide distraction from their troubles and give them a chance to take a good hard look at their lives.

Back then, like Judy, I was tempted to extend my trip indefinitely. The pack of Germans and Aussies I’d been traveling with
invited me to go to the south of France to work the vineyards. But I understood that to stay footloose was to choose a new
and vastly different life. I already had a new life—and a hunky guy—waiting for me back in the States. Three months abroad
made me understand how much I wanted to begin it.

Sometimes getting lost is the only way to find exactly what you’re looking for.

The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship

One Good Friend Deserves Another

One Good Friend Deserves Another

“Engaging…Higgins scores with a richly told story of what every girl wants, and the friends who’d sacrifice everything to
help her get it.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“4½ stars! Higgins doesn’t use flowery verse; she presents hard realities, dysfunction, and, best of all, possibilities and
hope. Her research shines through with brilliant factual narrative in a novel that you won’t soon forget.”

—
RT Book Reviews

“Characters that could have been stock (the rich girl, the Trekkie programmer) have a depth that is strengthened by relationships
with family, boyfriends, the past, and, most important, friends.”

—
Booklist

“Reminiscent of the
Sex and the City
TV series…easy and fun, chock-full of humor and entertainment…relays the necessity of taking risks and the power of friendship
to pick you up when you fall.”

—
Norfolk Daily News
(NE)

The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship

“A life-affirming novel…A happy reminder that life is all about taking risks.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“This well-written contemporary buddy book contains plenty of depth…the premise of friends knowing you at times better than
you want to admit makes for a strong tale.”

—
Midwest Book Review

“Quirky, original, and startlingly refreshing, this is a novel about friends. It’s a novel about risks. And it’s a novel about
dreams, what we thought they were and what we discover them to be…[Higgins is] gifted and talented…Great novel. Great reading.
Great characters and plot.”

—TheReviewBroads.com

“A lovely novel with moments of deeply moving insight into what it means to be a mother, a wife, and a friend. Read it and
share it with your own friends—you’ll be glad you did!”

—Nancy Thayer,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Hot Flash Club
and
Beachcombers

“Offering words of wisdom from a dying friend,
The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship
inspires us to focus on what’s really important in our lives.”

—Liza Palmer, international bestselling author
of
Conversations with the Fat Girl
and
A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents

“An amazing novel of love, friendship, and community. A truly joyous read that marks an impressive debut.”

—Jane Porter, author of
Flirting with Forty
and
She’s Gone Country

“Poignant, romantic, and funny…about the need for our closest friends to occasionally give us a shove in the right direction
when we’ve lost our way. You’ll recognize yourself in these women. I loved it.”

—Claire LaZebnik, author of
Knitting Under the
Influence
and
If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home Now

“Expertly woven together by Lisa Verge Higgins…simply but beautifully written…the common thread is Rachel, who has given the
best gift a friend can give—a second chance.”

—RomanceJunkies.com