The Secret Lives of the Sushi Club

With the deft touch of a modern day Socrates, and the gentle understanding of your oldest friend, Ms. Yorke asks us to consider whether we can be satisfied with an unexamined life. She introduces us to a wonderfully varied set of women friends, their endearing mates and their children, at a time when one of the friends appears to have betrayed all of them by revealing their pasts in a bestselling novel. Yet as each character reflects on the mistakes he or she has made and begins to face fears that have grown larger over time, each character learns to accept his or herself, forgive, and strive to attain and retain what's really important. The interactions between the adults and the boys are particularly wonderful, reflecting the hope, fear, love, pride, self-restraint, and occasional doubt we can't help but feel as we try to raise and release the young men who are so much a part of our souls. The Secret Lives of the Sushi Club is also an exciting pageturner, leaving you wondering until very near the end if the misguided and guilt-ridden religious zealot will actually strike out at the infidels he likes. In a red state/blue state nation, it's delightful to find an author of Ms. Yorke's calibre, who not only sees shades of gray, but can make a cogent argument for appreciating friends with different interests, religions, and political beliefs. She advocates a big tent, and knows where to draw the line. I'd encourage men and women alike to buy this book and allow themselves the time to read it. You'll feel as if you've entered another world. Your new best friends are more than a little hard to leave behind. Just don't be surprised if they whisper a few suggestions in your ear, before you close the book.

The Secret Lives of the Sushi Club is a fabulous book that stayed with me long after I finished it. It is exceedingly well written and the characters leap off the page, inviting you into their flawed but all too human lives. Everyone can find something in this book that speaks to them, some part of it that you recognize from deep in your soul.

I bought this book yesterday. It looked like a fun read. Little did I know I'd stay up all night to finish! Amazing story, and even more amazing characters, from foul-talking movie stars to mousy legal aides to gun-toting prom queens to psychics to river runners to terrorists, each one of them written without cliche or stereotypes. I loved it!

The title suggests a light chick-lit book, but this novel is way more than that. The Secret Lives of the Sushi Club is the story of four women whose deepest secrets make it into print, thanks to the betrayal of one they considered a friend. In the aftermath of instant celebrity and scandal, they take a rafting trip together down the Salmon River and discover even more secrets about each other. Great surprises I won't give away! This is a powerful story about the mistakes women often make when they're young and not so young, and the joys they share with each other. I loved the male characters too, especially Jina's boyfriend, Mike, who isn't the perfect man, but is so perfect for her you have to root for him. There's even an elk who thinks he's Elvis Presley! The description of the scenery along the Salmon River and the river rafting is wonderfully written. I can't wait to read more of Ms. Yorke's work.

A terrific story about the lengths people will go to for fame. When a struggling writer sells out her best friends to write a bestseller, four women's lives are suddenly thrown into chaos. Alice the writer gets more fame than she deserves and has to suffer the fury of her friends. Irene loses her husband. Mary's viriginity is the topic of radio shows. And Jina's son realizes his mother has lied to him all these years about what really happened to his father who died years ago on the Salmon River. All these changes lead the women on a river rafting adventure, where even more secrets unfold. Indepth characterizations and great storytelling make this a great summer read!