The Shortest Distance Between Two Women

“Girl-power readers will get a kick…Women will surely connect with Radish’s empowered femmes.”

“Slyly comic … Radish is a good writer to get to know, creator of terrific characters and warm and tangled relationships and a world that’s a pleasure to visit.”

“Radish unrolls a rollicking yet reflective read that adds to her robust repertoire of beloved fiction…When an author reaches out to draw you into her pages and the intimate lives of her characters, like Addy Lipton and her hapless husband Lucky, then what’s a reader to do but relish the ride?”

“In Radish’s book, everything takes on a meaning that is larger than life Radish’s books are also a little like the cliff-hangers of the 1920s, with one page pulling you to the next…Readers will zoom through
Searching for
Paradise
.”

“Funny, insightful … Radish’s writing is deft, humorous, and right on target. This book would be an excellent choice for a book group, bound to spark discussion and laughter.”

“Radish’s many fans will not be disappointed … as she delivers her message of sisterhood for all women while encouraging men to find their common bond with women and themselves.”

Chosen as a Book Sense Pick for the Month of February 2007!

“An inspirational story about making amends and the power of mother-daughter love … Every page contains a warm fuzzy.”

“Radish provides her readers with what they expect and will relish—a paean extolling the virtues of sisterhood that encompasses mothers and daughters and a rallying cry encouraging these women to seek sexual fulfillment at any age.”

“The characters are immediately likable and the plot is fast moving. This will be No. 1 on my list of 2007 recommends.”

“A funny and provocative attempt to nudge numb, stagnant and confused souls into a new direction.”

“This is Radish at her usual unusual self, weaving an escapist dream for women of all ages.”

“A paean to womanhood, a celebration of friends, of family, and, last but hardly least, of female libido. Kris Radish creates characters that seek and then celebrate the discovery of a kind of women’s innate power often hidden by fear. … A light and optimistic escape.”

“These women warriors are a funny and engaging bunch…Filled with uplifting messages of the healing power of both laughter and grief.”

“Move over, Thelma, and make way, Louise! Annie Freeman’s raucous and heart-tugging journey to eternity will put Kris Radish on the map—in a red Cadillac!”

“[For] readers who relish the idea of women forming bonds when their mettle is tested and finding power and self-actualization in grief, sharing and love.”

“Critics conceded that the book’s themes of sisterhood, loss and love would have wide appeal.”

“Deftly blends laughter and tears … Readers … will be anxious to embark on this new Radish journey. And, like Annie’s funeral, it’s sure to attract more along the way.”

“Radish’s stock characters know how to have a good time on their way to matriarchal nirvana.”

“Radish sings the praises of sisterhood by creating an enticing world of women helping women to become the empowered individuals they were meant to be.”

“Radish again features powerful friendships and zeroes in on female longings and liberation in this novel.”

“A rallying cry for the empowerment of women, Radish’s novel is also a celebration of the strong bond that exists between female friends.”

“[Kris Radish’s] characters help readers realize they are not alone in the world and their struggles have been or will be experienced by other women.”

“A story of friendship and empowerment.”

“A message of hope, renewal, and the importance of female friendships.”

The Frisbee first cruises through her head, erasing every normal thought and feeling that her usually sane, and usually predictable, mind might create. Emma can feel it race past her chest and twirl its way towards her stomach—ignoring, of course, her
heart, which she mistakenly thinks has been on solid and safe ground during the past fifteen-plus years since she’s seen the actual face of the man who just dared to leave her a phone message.

Peaceful, poised, restrained, controlled, happy, and usually quiet and lovely, Emma Gilford has a sudden and totally unexpected urge to scream and hit something at the same moment. If only she could move. If only she could really do what her mind has imagined.

Emma tries to slow her breathing, knows it’s beyond imperative to regain control over her forty-three-year-old body and mind before
his
face rises up from the now ancient space just behind her concrete wall of denial, where she placed him all those years ago amid a mess of other events and people.

What Emma cannot see and does not admit is that after all these years Samuel’s head is still peeking at her from the top of her inner concrete wall. There is now a hint of gray edging out from the natural part that runs down the left side of the top of his head, but it is surely his head. His head with its strands of hair bleached at the edges from hours and days and weeks and years in the sun doing his work. His eyes as dark and seductive as dancing shadows at midnight. His nose that some might consider too big but a nose that Emma always thought made him look the part of the serious intellectual. His neck supported by a shaft of muscles that made it impossible for him to ever find a shirt that fit properly. His head always tipped to one side when he was listening to her and he did always listen to her like no one else had ever listened to her before or since. His brain filled with stories and light and a passion for his work and for her that made her knees weak and her heart lurch. His lips that could dance across her body in a ballet of love that
Emma thought, wished, hoped and prayed had finally disappeared from her mind after all these years of working so hard to forget.