Margaret and Letty, best friends since childhood and now living on opposite coasts, reach their mid-thirties and begin to chafe at their sense that they are not where they ought to be in life. Margaret, driven and overconfident, decides the best way to rectify this is to quit her job and whip out a literary tour de force. Frustrated almost immediately and humiliated at every turn, Margaret turns to Letty for support. But as Letty, a stay at home mother of four, begins to feel pressure to make a good showing in the upper middle class Los Angeles society into which her husband's new job has thrust her, Margaret sees a plot unfolding that's better than anything she could make up. Desperate to finish her book, and against her better nature, she pushes Letty to take greater and greater risks and secretly steals her friend's stories as fast as she can live them. Hungry for the world's regard, Margaret rashly sacrifices one of the things most precious to her, until the novel's suspenseful conclusion reveals the terrible consequences of her betrayal.

This book will become a bookray. If you would like to participate, please PM me with your location and shipping preferences (whether or not you are willing to ship internationally). Please check back often as the shipping order may change as more people respond with their preferences.

1. sharalsbooks - AZ
2. jenvince - CA
3. KiwiWonder - New Zealand
4. pammykn - FL
5. eriko1908 - MN
6. ryanreader - FL
7. Ramya - NJ
8. vikki - Japan
9. MsPooh - TX

Bookray Rules

1. Reading has to be relaxing, I find. So I'm not going to set a rule that you have to finish the book within one month or within three weeks. But, of course it's not preferable that the book will stall somewhere. Please keep in mind others are waiting to read the book so keeping it for two months is not appropriate either. If you don’t think you will be able to read the book in a timely manner, please let me know. I can move you further down the list, if necessary.

2. When the book arrives, please let us know that you received it, by making a journal entry.

3. Start reading :-) When you're more than halfway through the book, PM the next person for their address.

4. When you've finished the book, make another journal entry with your thoughts.

5. Release the book to the next person on the list.

6. The last person on the list may release the book in the manner of their choosing!

7. Have Fun & Happy Reading!

Released on Friday, August 20, 2004 at BOOKRAY in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.

The Ray has begun! The journey begins with jenvince in California. Happy Reading!

This book was waiting for me in my mailbox today. Hopefully, it won't mind being patient a little longer, as I have a few rings to finish first. I will get to it as soon as I can so it can continue on its journey. :)

Just a little note to say that I'll be able to start this book today. It sounds really good - can't wait to dive in!

I already have the next person's address, so the second I finish, I'll send it off.

I just finished this book. I felt it started a bit slow, but then once it got going, I couldn't put it down. I felt so bad for Letty - she was so out of control! I thought Michael needed to be more involved. I didn't like Margaret, it seemed like Ted was too good of a guy for her.

I'm glad I had an opportunity to read this. Haven't read Drowning Ruth yet, but look forward to doing so, as I like this author's style of writing.

This is in the mail to KiwiWonder tomorrow.

Received in the post yesterday afternoon; it's at the top of my TBR pile.

Finished the book in the wee hours of the morning.

I loved this story! I very much related to both the characters, probably helped some by sharing Margaret's name, and also by being a struggling writer myself. But similarly, I related to Letty as her life spun out of control, her urge that everything is just around the corner, that it'll all work out by itself.

The format of the story also worked really well for me. I found I carried the book with me at all times, and wouldn't hesitate to open if even if I knew I'd only have time to read a page or two. I was hooked from the first several pages, and knew that everything would 'hit the fan' so to speak but didn't know how it would come about.

I do have one very minor complaint.... Although it was alluded to in the epiloge, I would have liked to know if Letty ever read the whole story.

Will be shipping this to pammykn by the end of the week :-)

In the mail today, on its way to pammykn -- hope you enjoy it as much as I did :-)

Received today -- thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing this book. I found it interesting from the start. Margaret's conceit made me cringe and I had to see if she would ever become more self-aware and humble. Shocking how easily Letty got caught up in the pretense of what everyone else thought but ultimately she did take responsibility. I found it curious that in the epilogue Margaret now referred to herself as "Peggy". A new view of herself?

I've contacted Ramya and will send off as soon as I get her address. Ramya wants to be moved to later in the list. I've contacted erik01908. Will mail out 10/26.

This one arrived with the mail this morning...I have one more quick book to finish before starting this one...and will be on to this in short order...

This one got off to a slow start for me. Perhaps, that was because Margaret was way to full of herself for my liking – and with her being like that, reading about her being unsuccessful at writing, really did not interest me all that much. I’m glad I stuck it out though – by the time I reached the middle of the story, I did not want to put it down!! I can’t believe how Margaret went on to influence Letty – totally amazing!! Thanks, sharalsbooks, for sending this one out on a BookRay; I enjoyed it!!

As a side note I would like to share that one night after I’d started reading this book, my son (7 yrs. old) told me to go and read. He asked what page I was on, and I told him 64. He told me I needed to read up to page 143, so that he could give me an A. If I didn’t make it, he was going to give me an F. Well, a bit later, I told him I was up to 94, he told me with that he could give me a C, since I was trying – I then went on to finish the “assigned” reading plus a few extra pages, and he pretended to mark the book with an A. Aren’t kids just the cutest?? :o)

This will be on the road again on Thursday morning...

got this in the mail today...thanks! I will journal more once I've read it.

I finished this last night. The start was extremely slow........to the point if it wasn't a ring, I would have put this one down. I depised Margaret, maybe because as a stay at home mom with a husband who works at a college (he's a basketball coach though)with a small salary, I was more drawn to Letty. Finishing this book so close to the holidays (with shopping sprees planned) has put a new awareness on my style. I found myself wondering if I would take the same risks Letty did in the end. I would hope not, but I can only imagine the feeling of despair..........

Thanks for sharing and I'm glad I stuck this book out until the end. Off to the next reader.

This arrived last week and got buried in a pile of mail on the dining room table [chagrin]. It might be Christmas before I read this, but I'll pass it on before the new year.

I started reading this and found Margaret much too annoying for me to be able to read the entire book. I skimmed it to find out what happened -- I found it hard (or impossible) to understand Letty's choices -- I kept on muttering "Don't be stupid", but it didn't help!

I'll be sending this off to Vicki on Saturday (surface mail).

Confirming that this indeed went out in today's mail (by surface -- 4-6 weeks travel time)

I really enjoyed this book - read it in a few days! I'd like to read Drowning Ruth because Schwarz' storytelling is wonderful.

I've contacted Ms Pooh to get her address.

Thank you. Hope to enjoy soon.

Adding to Mt ToBeRead

Leaving behind in the employee lounge at WalMart