Book giveaway: The Girls from Corona del Mar by Rufie Thorpe

[RachelMumsnet]

We've got 50 copies of Rufi Thorpe's debut novel, The Girls from Corona del Mar to giveaway this week. A staggeringly arresting, honest novel of love, motherhood, loyalty, and the myth of the perfect friendship that moves us to ask ourselves just how well we know those we love, what we owe our children, and who we are without our friends.

The Girls from Corona del Mar is one of WH Smith Travel's Fresh Talent picks and is also part of Waterstones' Book Club this month. If you're interested in reading and sharing your thoughts about the book on this thread or reviewing the book, apply for a free copy.

Thank you for my copy! Look forward to reading it!

Thanks for the book look forward to reading it

Thanks for my copy! Had just started another book, but have abandoned it for now as I was really hoping to get this one!

I'm really enjoying it. Love it when a book flows easily from the start. Thank goodness for the school run, am grabbing every chance I get when I'm waiting for DS!
Will review when I finish

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read The Girls From Corona Del Mar which I found quite an emotive book. Mia & Lorrie Ann's friendship fragments over time after being best friends throughout their childhood. Mia worships & loves her friend who can do no wrong during their childhood, but circumstances see Mia studying Classics at Yale, & Lorrie Ann producing a disabled child, & losing her husband too. The story covers the twists & turns of both girls, with them meeting up in Istanbul, & the conclusion of unanswered questions. Most best friends will empathise with this story I think.

Great book and thanks for my free copy. It was a good, easy read. I found the character Mia (the "bad" one who's life comes good) was almost glad that her friend Lorrie Ann's life fell apart. Made me question that mean spiteful side of human nature that secretly feels a little pleased when bad things happen those close to them. My heart ached for Lorrie Ann and her abandonment of her disabled son.

It was such a surprise to get a free book in the post, so thanks again!

Thanks Mumsnet for allowing me to read this great book. I really liked the pace and flow of the book as well. Good storyline which I think many women would find parallels with their own friendships from the past (perhaps without the dysfunctional families in the background). Following Mia and Lorrie Ann's friendship from their teens to their 30s was really interesting and reading about how the characters personalities changed and how their lives worked out is always an attractive read. Ending was not as strong as I was expecting but that didn't detract from the book as a whole. A solid, interesting quick read.

Thank you for this book - I am really enjoying it and should hopefully finish it quite soon - will post a review then.

Just finished this. It is quite a dark book and leaves a few open questions at the end (why is Zach so angry? Did Lorrie Ann mistreat him? Was it just because she doesn't visit?)

To me, although it is a book about friendship it is not about love between friends. I'm not sure that either of them did love each other. They almost seemed to be running away from each other as their lives went in different directions. There was familiarity, envy but very little of the always rooting for your friend no matter what.

One of the most interesting things to me was Lorrie Ann's idea that she had to be good, and that bad things had happened to her because she was somehow wicked and how this drove her to make decisions (marry Jim) that might have been different if she lived her life with a different philosophy.

Also - it is definitely a book about out of sight, out of mind. When they are not with each other there seems to be very little thought about the other, Zach seems to be out of mind once he is out of Lorrie Ann's sight.

All in all a very interesting book, thank you to mumsnet for giving me the opportunity to read it. It would make a good book group choice as there are many interesting points raised ( mothers being invisible, the rights and wrongs of an abortion)

Thank you for sending me this book.
A very easy read and I got into the story line very quickly.
Although the author captured the portrayal of the main character's personalities. I do feel that we could have learnt more about them.
I agree with dalek in that it left some unanswered questions.
I felt the ending was rather rushed, especially the interchange in letters/emails between the two friends.
Looking at the synopsis of the book before I applied, I was under the impression it would be a story where the close bond of two friends is strengthened at the end.
Looking back at the book now,I don't think they had a true friendship in the sense that they didn't really know each other.
A great read, thank you!

thank you for this book i am enjoying it i will post a review when i have finished it

Thank you very much for the free copy.
I became really emotional by the book. It really brings emotions about friendship, motherhood, love to the surface.
As I moved to this country a few years ago, I'm struggling to find true friends here. It's hard to experience the distance with my old friends like Mia and Lorrie Ann. Its very interesting how equal we are when we are young but how adulthood and life change us and our relationship.
When Mia's dog died and called Lorrie Ann only, I remembered the feeling when my friend called me about her cat's death. Sometimes you have a huge distance between you but you feel so close to each other in your soul.
I expected a happy ending by reunion of Mia and Lorrie Ann's friendship.
I think Lorrie Ann never finds peace. I think she went away from Zack because she couldn't see him suffering, she couldn't stand that she was not able to help. I'm sure every single day she was thinking about him but it must be so heartbreaking seeing your child struggle. Mia Tried to understand and help her by visiting Zack.
Thank you again for the opportunity reading this book.

Great book and thanks for my free copy. So sad for Lorrie Ann and her disabled son, seeying him suffering.
Neverthless, a very easy read, and i loved Mia.....
It was such a surprise to get a free book in the post, so thanks again!

Thank you so much for sending this book to me, such a treat to have a free book arrive in the post!

I'm afraid I was disappointed by this book, but I think that was more due to my expectations from it as I had wanted to read it for a while. I think I was imagining it (from the title and cover) to be a much more positive and ultimately uplifting, summery story about friendship, in the vein of Curtis Sittenfeld or Anne Tyler, but in fact it was much darker than I had imagined and I found it quite depressing. I thought Mia was horrible and deeply self-centred, and I felt very sad for Lorrie Ann. I agree with a comment from a previous poster that their friendship wasn't a true one, it was almost like they were just tied to each other by their early experiences, without truly caring about each other.

An easy read
Story of two best friends as told by one of them, Mia
She always saw LorrieAnn as perfect life but it does appear that things were not always what they seemed
Enjoyed the book, only took a couple of evenings to read
Ending was a little fast and flat really
Would have liked more insight into LorrieAnn's life after moving on

Sorry for not reviewing the book yet, but I've been in a bit of a reading slump so wasn't really reading anything. I'm about half way through and enjoying it quite a bit, so should be posting soon.

Thankyou for my free copy, I was very happy to get a book in the post, and as debut novels go I thought this one was pretty good. I finished it very quickly. the writing was beautiful - the beginning description of their friendship and life as teenagers really draws you in and keeps you reading - I felt it started to lose momentum a bit in India in the middle but maybe i'm being picky. I thought the characters of the 2 friends were well portrayed, even if you didn't always like them or agree with their decisions. well worth reading, and i'd be interested to see what she can write next :)

I really loved this book, felt a bit lost when I'd finished it!

Lorrie Anne and Mia are so easy to imagine, and although quite often in books I have a character I like, and one I don't, I didn't get that in this book.
I felt sympathy, irritation, sadness and affection for them both!

The ending was just right, left me wondering what might have happened next and whether they ever did both get their 'happy ever after'

Beautiful book, will be recommending it.

(Thank you for the free copy!)

Finished it now, and I'm very glad I won the giveaway as I don't think I ever would have picked it up otherwise. It was, as others have mentioned, beautifully written.

I found it a sad, painful, strange read, and it left me feeling a little disorientated, the way Lorrie Ann's character is set up and destroyed, until you're not really sure what to believe.

I think this will be due for a reread at some point in the future. I liked Mia much more than some of the other posters in this thread, and I felt sadder for Zach than for Lorrie Ann.

I wonder if anyone else found this book as harrowingly beautiful, yet disturbing as I did. An amazing first novel. Questions all relationships! Ever!

What a wonderful book, beautifully written and a lovely portrayal of female friendships and a fantastic debut novel. I finished this book in about three days as I couldn't put it down - I usually take over a week. There is a lot of tragedy and I felt very sorry for Lorrie Ann. It was interesting to read the changing and evolving relationship between these two women and how they dealt with unexpectedness events. I look forward to Rufie Thorpe's future novels.

trying not to read other people's reviews - just about to start this now, sorry for delay!

Thank you for sending me a copy of this book.

I got hooked into the story straightaway and really enjoyed reading about Mia and Lorrie Ann's friendship. I was a little sad when they started drifting apart in their 20s and made me think about my friendship with my best school friend and how we have also lost touch and no longer contact each other as often as we used to.

The book also touches the theme of motherhood and what it means to different people. I found I didn't quite agree with Lorrie Ann's argument but it felt necessary for the path the character takes.

It is an emotive read and it will be a very interesting book to discuss in a Book Club or Reading Group.

Thank you for my copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Albeit full of tragedy. Covers a wide range of topics. Book is brilliantly written. description of characters and places really get you gripped.

Can't recommend this book enough which is exquisitely well written for a debut novel. Praise for Rufi Thorpe. I will definitely be on the look out from more in the future

Loved this book, and felt I really bonded with Mia. I was fascinated by their friendship and the ups and downs it took. Lorrie Ann was quite a disturbed person and it was heartbreaking that she couldn't look after Zach properly. It was great that Mia made contact with Zach in the end, but terrible that he had such a hatred for his mother. What a terrible life for that poor boy.
I thought this was very well written and the characters were very believable. What an excellent debut novel - can't wait to see the second one.

I have passed it on to my Mum to read now.