Novelist Swan Huntley is demonstrating that she possesses a rare skill: penning character-driven novels that also manage to be brisk page-turners, exactly the kinds of books you may want to tuck in your beach bag and not feel too guilty about relishing. Huntley’s debut, WE COULD BE BEAUTIFUL, was about a privileged woman completely out of touch with other people; in THE GODDESSES, her protagonist faces a very different kind of dilemma.

The novel opens as Nancy and her husband, Chuck, decide to make a fresh start. The middle-aged couple has been struggling of late. Chuck has a drinking problem and has confessed to a one-night stand, committed during a night of heavy drinking. He is expressing remorse, but Nancy thinks their marriage will stand a better chance of survival if they relocate to a new environment. Chuck, a manager at Costco, gets an offer from a former colleague to manage a store in Hawaii, so soon Nancy, Chuck, and their twin teenage sons Jed and Cam are leaving for a new life on the island.

"...a novel that is both cringe-inducing and satisfying, as readers find themselves rooting for Nancy to wise up and succeed."

As soon as they arrive, Nancy grows determined not to make the same mistakes she made back in San Diego. She’s not going to limit herself to a social life consisting only of the wives of Chuck’s colleagues and the mothers of the boys’ water polo teammates. She’s going to pursue her own hobbies --- like, perhaps, yoga --- her own independent friendships and, consequently, her own independent identity.

Nancy finds herself immediately drawn to her new yoga teacher, Ana. The two have a lot in common --- they’re roughly the same age, have the same curvy body type, and both grew up in troubled circumstances --- but have had very different life paths. Unlike Nancy, who found stability in marriage and family life, Ana has continued to reinvent herself, enjoying a freedom that Nancy can only marvel at. Now, Ana, a breast cancer survivor, encourages Nancy to embrace some of that same feeling of freedom, that desire to be present in the moment and to treat each day as if it’s your last.

Soon Ana and Nan (as Ana nicknames her, pointing out that now their names are anagrams) are spending more and more time together, potentially at the expense of Nancy’s family. Chuck, who had been trying (too) hard to get back in Nancy’s good graces, soon starts spending late nights at the office and drinking too much with his buddies at their office pool outings. Jed and Cam have taken up some self-destructive hobbies and also fallen in with some unsavory friends. But Nancy is determined not to let their struggles ruin her chance at a fresh start and a new friendship.

Of course, Nancy soon discovers that pretty much nothing in her new life is as it seems --- with Chuck, with her boys, and least of all with Ana. She finds her friendship --- and consequently the rest of her life --- spinning out of control. Will she be able to salvage her new identity and old relationships as a result?

Some elements of THE GODDESSES may seem unrealistic. Readers may also criticize Nancy for her naïveté (they will certainly grasp what’s going on significantly before she herself does). But that’s not really the point. Huntley’s book is meant to push the envelope, exploring what happens when a lonely, vulnerable woman encounters something resembling friendship, freedom, or even a sort of salvation --- and then to push that exploration to its extremes. The result is a novel that is both cringe-inducing and satisfying, as readers find themselves rooting for Nancy to wise up and succeed.