Review: Excellent read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 20, 2014
"At the End of the Line" by Abby L. Vandiver and Kathryn Longino is a wonderfully moving story about the long distance friendship between two women in the mid 20th century.'Beanie', or Beatrice, lives in Utah, and is forced to marry a much older and unkind Mormon husband. Trapped in her loveless and abusive marriage all she has as comfort is the phone number of a friend's aunt in Boston, Adeline, or 'Liddie'. When she eventually calls for help this leads to a long and strong friendship between the two women.Both lead extraordinary lives through the fight for racial equality and civil rights that dominated the 1960s. Two inspiring and touching stories that reflect the spirit of the times perfectly.The authors have done an amazing job at creating two endearing characters that pull on your heart strings right away, both with complicated lives, marriages and problems. Neither stop at being victims but fight their corners in life very well.As one finds her own way in life, the other one's life is coming undone and needs a rededinition.The unlikely friendship is brought to us within an accomplished piece of story telling. The co-authors must have had fantastic editors to make the book feel so homogeneous and well rounded.Historically sound and convincing the book does not purely rely on the subject matter to impress and move us but it delivers great story lines and characters that feel real and close.I am very impressed.