The Christmas cookie club - Ann Pearlman

What would we do without one another? It was a statement, not a question. Each of us knew the answer for herself.

Every year on the first Monday of December, Marnie and her twelve closest girlfriends gather with batches of beautifully wrapped homemade cookies. Everyone has to bring a dish and a bottle of wine and, as they eat, they take turns telling the story of the cookies they have baked. Stories that, somehow, are always emblematic of the year that has just passed.

This year, the stories are especially important. Marnie's oldest daughter has a risky pregnancy. Will she find out tonight how that story will end? Jeannie's father is having an affair with her best friend. Who else knew about the betrayal? Rosie's husband doesn't want children, but can she live with his decision? Each woman, each friend has a story to tell.

The Cookie Clubis about the passion and hopefulness of a new romance, the betrayal and disillusionment some relationships bring, the joys and fears of motherhood, and above all, it's a celebration of the friendships between women.