The story of two estranged friends, and the betrayal that tore them apart

Downtown Los Angeles, 1990. Alone in her luxury hotel suite, the reclusive Lacey Crane receives a message: Edith is waiting for her in the lobby. Former best friends, Lacey and Edith haven’t spoken to one another in over four decades. As young adults meeting at summer camp in Maine, and later making their way in the glitzy spotlight of postwar Hollywood, Edith and Lacey share a deep-rooted bond that once saved them from isolation and despair, providing comfort from the public and private traumas that they had each endured and which a newly optimistic world was eager to forget.

Told in a continuous, twisting conversation on a single evening, in which each woman tells her story and reveals long-hidden secrets, the narratives of Edith and Lacey burn with atmosphere, mystery, resentment, and regret. Set against the vivid landscapes of Los Angeles and unfolding with the evanescence of a dream, Goldenseal peels away the layers of an intimate female friendship to reveal a haunting story about the search for connection and the lingering echoes of lost love.

Maria Hummel’s latest novel is a tightly-written story of friendship and betrayal. It’s an engaging character study, and (in my opinion) the author’s best book to-date. Continue reading →