The inspiration for this story came from a black and white photograph taped on the refrigerator of the author and his wife. The photograph of the author's wife and three of her friends, was taken at a birthday dinner for one of the four women in the picture. The women had been friends for more than forty years. The author was so taken by the photo that he decided to tell the story of the friendships of four fictional women. The story follows the trials and triumphs of four women as they develop a friendship which spans forty four years. They first meet as students at the University of Illinois. Sarah, a recent immigrant from Great Britain, wakes up in the intensive care unit of the hospital after taking an overdose of medication. She had suffered a brutal assault at the hands of a star athlete two days prior. Feeling betrayed and friendless, she takes the overdose in a final act of desperation. Nicole, a fellow student in her literature class, is determined to help Sarah, and enlists the aid of two of her friends, Rebecca and Clair, to rescue Sarah, before she is admitted to a psychiatric ward. The four develop and carry out a plot to bring justice to Sarah's attacker. In the course of their at times hilarious scheme, the four women develop a bond of friendship which not only helps Sarah begin to heal from a lifetime of abuse, but also helps each one of them to deal with the crises in their own lives. We follow the tragedies and triumphs of the four women through their lives, as they grow older, marry and have families. Throughout the course of the forty four years of the story, their friendship remains a constant. They find that their bond of love for each other enables them to face the challenges of careers, marriage, children and the seemingly unbearable anguish of illness and loss in their lives. Each of the four women has her own gifts which they bring to the others to enable each one of them to deal with separate crises. The title of the story does not refer to a card playing club. It is a metaphor, describing the bridges which each of the four women must cross in the course of their lives. All four of the women face the crises in their lives with the love and support of friendship, which bridges the journey from adversity to triumph. The stories of each of the women is told with warmth and a great deal of humor. Even during the worst of times, the women find joy and laughter in their lives. The readers, male or female will find parallels in their own lives, as they journey with the four women.
About the Author: The author is a Ph.D. psychologist with an extensive history of forensic and rehabilitation psychology. In addition to a clinical practice, he has written several novels (e.g., Near Miss; The Building Killer; "Murder" in Quotes; The Birthday Bash: Murder in Kauai; The Sins of the Son; The Bridge Club). In addition, he has written a book of short stories (The Crow and other Tales of Mayhem and Murder), and a children's book (Chocolate Moose and the Antarctic Adventure). He is currently working on a sequel to The Birthday Bash: Murder in Kauai (i.e., The Haole Murders). Joseph and his wife Darlene live in Woodstock Illinois, near three of their four children and six grand children. They enjoy extensive travel to Hawaii, the Antarctic, the Arctic, Greece, Italy, Russia, Africa and South America. The author is a certified scuba diver and licensed small plane pilot. He enjoys spending time with family, friends, grandchildren, writing, cooking and photography.