Bernie Van de Yacht

Midwest Farmers' Daughters Bernie Van de Yacht

A rich exploration of friendship and heartache in the Midwest." - Kirkus ReviewsVal Van Dyke has just won a cruise to Alaska - and it couldn't come at a better time for this rural Wisconsinite. On the verge of turning the big 5-0, the former world traveler has found herself constrained in recent years - by her job and her marriage to a much younger husband, who has grown as distant as the far-flung places to which she once traveled. Her lifelong friends are facing similar ruts. Former prom queen Crystal Brenner now tips the scale at three-hundred pounds and has to balance taking care of a child with Down syndrome and a verbally abusive live-in-father. Penny Hansen, who has that typical "middle child" mentality of appeasing everyone, finds herself constantly at war with her obstinate teenage daughter. So, when Val invites Crystal and Penny to join her on the cruise, it offers the friends a welcome respite from their daily routine and the exciting chance to revisit the carefree days of their youth. But as they prepare to embark on their vacation, things begin to unravel in their personal lives, leading them to reassess choices, reveal long-held secrets and confront a life-or-death crisis that will change their friendship forever. "Alternately humorous and heartbreaking, the novel is an incisive triple portrait of the way small choices shape the courses of people's lives." - Kirkus Reviews