Local Girls

As usual, melancholy fiction comes up big for me.  I don't know what it is, because I'm not typically a doom and gloom type person.  But the best books to me have this element of underlying sadness and real life ups and downs. Fluff doesn't do it for me.
  Remember Olive Kitteridge? Push? The Art of Racing in the Rain?  There are many more with some sad themes that have resonated with me.
Local Girls by Alice Hoffman is no different. It takes snapshots of Gretel Samuelson's life from girlhood to adulthood, and includes perspectives of those close to her.  Often during this book you're grasping at the "could have been",  wondering how life can take a u- turn in no time at all, and admiring the resilience that comes through when needed.
Give it a try.  It's a relatively fast read, less than 200 pages, and is down to earth well written fiction.