THE CLOVER GIRLS by Viola Shipman (Wade Rouse) is an emotionally charged inspirational women’s fiction standalone by an author who has become a must read for me. I also must have a box of tissues by my side as I do.

Elizabeth “Liz”, Veronica “V”, Rachel “Rach” and Emily “Em” meet at Camp Birchwood for four summers starting in 1985 where they become known as The Clover Girls. So different and yet inseparable until the last summer when deception drives them apart.

Liz, V and Rach each receive a devastating letter from Emily asking them to reunite at the now closed Camp Birchwood one last time. After marriages, divorce, children, grandchildren and careers, Emily is asking them to revisit their dreams and repair their friendships.

Maybe not all friendships were meant to last forever.

This story has two timelines that intertwine to tell the story of The Clover Girls in the 1980’s while at summer camp and in the present with their careers and/or families in crisis. The friendship, rivalry and betrayal in the 1980’s timeline set up lasting repercussions that follow all the women into their adult lives, their reunion and search for forgiveness in the present. The author gives the reader believable characters and memories from the 1980’s that are spot on. This story reminds us all that life is fleeting and should never be taken for granted.

I highly recommend this story of friendship and forgiveness!

I was truly delighted to open this book and discover its setting is my beautiful state of Michigan! The town names, destinations, and wonderful scenery descriptions were so familiar to me. My summer camp adventures happened right around that same time period so this story really brought back wonderful memories.
Four girls meet and bond at Birchwood camp, becoming so close through the years that they are dubbed the Clover Girls and vow to be friends forever. But their last year when they come back as counselors, they fall apart through several disagreements. Throughout the years only one of them, Emily, has kept in touch with the rest. Now over thirty years later, they are brought back together at Birchwood to scatter Emily's ashes in her favorite spot, and also attempt to work out their differences and fulfill Emily's last wish... to bring the camp back to its former glory.
I received an advance review copy through NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

In this book, the author takes us back to the mid 1980s to summer camp in Michigan. Four girls bond and become the clover girls, thinking they will be forever friends. But girls can be competitive and mean and then life intervenes. Flash to present day and a clover girls reunion in which they face each other for the first time in decades at the request of the one missing one. A very moving story of friendship and how we get off track from our dreams and often hurt the ones we love.

The story of 4 girls sent to summer camp in Michigan. I love the descriptions of their time at summer camp. Having been to summer camp in Wisconsin during my youth, I could definitely relate. Years later, 3 of the friends return to summer camp at the bequest of the 4th, who is deceased, trying to find their way back to their long lost friendship and closeness. Beautiful story of friendship at different ages in life.

In 1985 four girls set off to Camp Birchwood. Elizabeth, Veronica, Rachel and Emily will become best friends, and have no idea how that childhood friendship will affect the rest of their lives.

When the women start to face middle age, after many years apart, they will be brought together again by a letter they each receive. They are asked to return to Camp Birchwood to face their dreams, their failures and their long-lost friendship. Each woman has faced many challenges, loved and lost, succeed and failed. Can one week at camp restore their faith in friendship and in themselves? Will these women choose to forgive the past, or turn and walk away?

Viola Shipman with her brilliant writing style takes us on a journey we will not soon forget. We can find ourselves in these women, and the struggles they faced as teenagers and adults. The story is humorous in places and yet heartbreaking in others. I absolutely adored the book and had a hard time putting it down. It is the perfect beach read for the summer. My thanks to Harlequin, Viola Shipman and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy. My review is unbiased and entirely my own.

The Clover Girls spans from youth to adult of four girls and how life changes and friends grow apart. It reminds me a lot of the final Sisterhood in Traveling Pants book Sisterhood Everlasting. This book is just as poignant though wordier than the latter.

In the '80s, four very different girls become friends when they find a four-leaf clover on the first day of camp. Their friendship is rock solid until it isn't and the women don't stay in touch. The only exception is Em; she stays in touch with each one individually or at least tries. It is Em's death that brings the girls back to their childhood camp. Em presents this as a time for the remaining three to make amends and change their life. But each woman has to make the decision on their own.

The only drawback is that Viola Shipman spends too much time in the women's heads philosophizing. The characters have repeated thoughts that take up pages instead of seeing them in action. This slowed the story down too much and I skimmed these passages once I saw they were the same issue. The book is the strongest when we see the women in motion, moving forward or backward.

And that's the best part of the book. Seeing how the girls change mirrored what they are like as women. Shipman beautifully makes each camp activity important in both age ranges. The novel inspired me to reconnect with my closest, yet farthest away friends. It reminds us all that time doesn't mean we can't reconnect.

No matter how it reminds me of other novels, this book stands on its own, following middle-aged women as they become who they should be. Though it is over wordy when stuck in the woman's head, it's the actions they take to make their life to be what they dreamed. I hope we all have a friend Em.

The Clover Girls is a thought provoking read. Viola Shipman writes about three girls who met at summer camp over the years and formed a rich friendship. But did it stay that way?

Each of the girls has their own life challenges in childhood and adulthood. Now three of them are back at Camp Birchwood faced with how they have become within themselves and with each other.

The story explores the theme of friendship, what helps a friendship survive and what brings about the demise of one. As you read it will have you reflecting on summertime camps (if you went to one) the friendships you have had along the way in life and what has happened to them.

The book has quite a bit to say about marriage, family, following dreams, staying true to yourself and really living. What truly matters?

An enriching read, a medium paced novel that leaves time for entering into the lives of each of the women, seeing the light and the dark, and the way each makes a journey that counts.

A story with some strong messages about women, life, politics and of course - friendship.

Elizabeth, Veronica, Rachel, and Emily met at Camp Birchwood in 1985, and spent four summers as the Clover Girls before it fell apart. Time went on, and the four women's lives took on different turns than they had planned when young. Years later, Emily writes to Liz, V, and Rachel, begging them to return to the camp and try to rekindle their friendship.

When we open with Emily's letter home from camp, it's such an authentic-sounding voice for a teenager in the '80s. We then meet Liz, V, and Rachel in their current lives; they're supposedly successful, but in the hollow way that working women can be when they're chasing the perfection of "having it all." Whether it's managing a flawless minimalist home and children in LA for V, a business and family for Liz, and being a conservative politician's mouthpiece in the modern era for Rachel, there is a feeling of lack behind the shiny success. Emily died and hopes to leave the camp behind to the three of them if they can make up for the disaster that drove them all apart as teens.

This is a love letter to summer camps of the '80s, female friendships and the power friends have to strengthen each other. Or destroy each other. They lived their lives after leaving camp, with their highs and lows and petty jealousies. It comes into sharp focus once they're all together again, and they begin to see each other not as what they lack, but as how their friends see them. For all that she's absent, Em remains a vital part of the story and her ghost lingers over their interactions and memories. She feels real, the fragments we see of her, and she must have been a beautiful soul.

“These girls..these women...these friendships... I am me because of them.” 
A novel about friendship torn apart and friendship repaired. The Clover Girls came together their first year of camp. Best friends each summer until the last one. Coming together to mourn the loss of one of the Clover Girls, the 3 friends must come to terms with the past, their decisions, and each other. A good and quick book. Entertaining and made me yearn to head to summer camp.

The Review

Such an incredible and emotional story, author Viola Shipman has crafted a truly beautiful and heartbreaking story of lost friendship, loss, and regaining that which has been lost in our lives. The multiple POV of these characters really brings a sense of wholeness and driven narratives to their story.

So often in life friends drift away, becoming busy with their growing lives and diverging paths that take them away from one another. Yet less often is the events that bring us back together again. This narrative does a fantastic job of exploring the uncharted path towards unification with the people who made us feel like ourselves again.

The setting and imagery of the narrative felt alive and become a character all on their own. I love the flashbacks and letters from the early days of the Clover Girls that really captured the essence of the 80’s style era that part of the narrative took place in, and the pacing really helped with the friend’s journey to not only find themselves but to find the friendship that brought them so much happiness and joy.

The Verdict

A mesmerizing, emotionally driven, and engaging read, author Viola Shipman’s The Clover Girls is the perfect summer read for those who love women’s fiction and tales of friendship and the bonds we share with others. The author takes the readers on such an emotional journey and showcases how the painful reality of loss can sometimes bring and heal those who have been lost to each other back together again. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!

This book had me hooked from the very first dateline. Summer 1985 was a pivotal time in my life, so I knew that at the very least there would be some relatable items in the story.
But it ended up being much more than relatable. This book hit me on so many different levels that I often had to stop reading to reflect, which often brought back my own memories.
In fact, I can’t remember the last time a book spoke to me the way this one did.
You can read blurbs and other reviews that recount the premise of the story. In a nutshell, the Clover Girls are four friends who met at summer camp in 1985, but who have lost touch with other over the years.
They are brought back together under sad circumstances. Truths come out, lies are revealed, and a whole lot of hurt is addressed.
That simplifies it almost too much, because a LOT more happens than that.
Each of the women, Veronica, Rachel, and Liz, took very different paths from each other, but I found something that I could identify in each one. I could actually write an essay on what each character meant to me and how I felt like I knew them intimately.
Big kudos to the author for creating characters who were so lifelike.
Each woman’s journey of self-discovery was interesting on its own, but even more touching when woven with the other women’s stories. Together, they made a powerful statement about how important friendship is, especially if the parties are true to themselves and each other.
In addition, the author offers some searing commentary on several contemporary topics. Some were more necessary and useful than others. For example, I thought some of the feminist views sounded stilted and like soundbites.
On the other hand, the realizations that society doesn’t treasure the past anymore and only sees it as negative was impactful. As it continues to be ignored or misinterpreted, important continuity and respect for people and places will continue to deteriorate.
The author also offers a lot of insight on the transition from child to adult – how we lose friendships and ourselves as we age – including some pretty raw and powerful observations on human nature in general.
Yes, that seems like a lot to unpack, but it’s all done in a thoughtful and entertaining manner.
But what really had me loving this book was the accuracy of the 80s – from fashion to pop culture references (we all wanted someone to be our Jake) the author nailed it. It was all so accurate either they lived it and went by memory or picked the brain of somebody who did.
Every time there was a mention of friendship pins or Walkmans, or the description of clothes (like leotards and legwarmers), my brain immediately accessed my own memories of those things.
It was a unique way to feel like I was a part of the book, which in turn made me more empathetic to the characters.
Couldn’t be that they were all pushing 50 as well, could it? Naaaahhhhhh….
Anyway, this is an excellent book about lost friendships and what it takes to find them (and ourselves) again.
I highly recommend it, and it is at the top of my list for the year.

The clover represents faith, love and hope.
The fourth is for good luck.
Four girls meet at summer camp
Fast friends…..they are The Clover Girls.
Elizabeth, Veronica, Emily and Rachel…..
The Clover Girls is a emotional story about the four girls from their camp days to adulthood. Through the years they have drifted apart due to many reasons. When Emily sends them a letter, their life’s are put upside down. What is she asking them to do?
Will it help heal the major past issues in their relationship?
No spoilers, read the book to find out.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

THE CLOVER GIRLS by Viola Shipman is only my fourth book read by him, but he broke my heart over and over again and he owes me a box of tissues. I cried more than five times and I’m not ashamed of that. THE CLOVER GIRLS had me tearing up and trying to breathe past the huge lump in my throat over and over again. Okay so Viola Shipman is a pen name and the author is actually a man so I’m not crazy calling Viola a him!😂

I enjoyed the flashback scenes and getting to know how the friends endured hardships and good times over the years apart. THE CLOVER GIRLS is full of strong and unique women learning about their history together and how strong the ties that bind us all really are. Elizabeth, Veronica, Rachel and Emily met at Camp Birchwood as girls in 1985, where over four summers they were the Clover Girls—inseparable for those magical few weeks of freedom—until the last summer that pulled them apart. Now approaching middle age, the women are facing challenges they never imagined as teens, struggles with their marriages, their children, their careers, and wondering who it is they see when they look in the mirror. This story was enjoyable from the first page until the very last. I didn’t want to leave this book. I went to sleep thinking about these women and when I woke up I couldn’t wait to get back to them. Such a great story with great characters. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

THE CLOVER GIRLS is a beautiful but heartbreaking story. I became so emotionally invested in all of the characters and felt like they were lifelong friends. When they were sad, I felt sad. When they were happy I found myself smiling. I love when an author can do that to me and Viola Shipman did it perfectly. THE CLOVER GIRLS is filled with love, life, hope, sadness, happiness, and learning to carry on when our loved ones pass on. Be prepared not to do anything else until you finish reading this beautiful story. Once I started I had a hard time putting it down.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harper Collins through Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.

Elizabeth. Veronica. Emily. Rachel. - Yes, E V E R. Meeting for the first time at camp, they discover a four-leaf clover. These four become fast friends - perhaps friends forever. They became known at the camp, as campers, then counselors - as The Clover Girls.

How did these four become so close then go thirty years without ever seeing each other again? What happened that they are now in each other's lives once more?

Sadly, Elizabeth (Liz), Veronica (V) and Rachel each receive a letter from Emily. The news is heartbreaking - despite the decades that have flowed by. Emily has passed away and has last wishes that involve Liz, V and Rachel. She wants the three of them to meet up at Camp Birchwood, spread her ashes and spend a week together to iron out the differences that drove them all apart.

Liz, V and Rachel could not be more different as adults. Their lives have all taken different directions and spending a week in close quarters presents more than one challenge. The question that begs an answer is this: Are friendships meant to last forever? More importantly: Can what they lost be repaired and made even stronger, even though they no longer have Emily?

In this touching story of forgiveness, these three friends deal with the combination of pain and forgiveness. The story also teaches that money, power and success do not measure happiness. The story is told in two timelines - during their years at camp and how they recall events of those years. Not only do we get each of their viewpoints in this emotional story, but we get that of Emily's by means of letters that the girls read throughout the story. In fact, some of these letters from Emily literally had me in tears.

When I stopped and remember that the author, Viola Shipman, is the pen name for Wade Rouse, I became floored. His ability to write female characters, their emotions, and how they broke apart and what brought them back together was absolutely amazing. I previously read The Heirloom Garden by him. Now I have to read more!

Many thanks to Graydon House and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

This book is about friendship and how it changes and survives the years.

Four girls meet at summer camp and become best friends. they are interpretable as kids. But as they grow life happens and with everything in life things change. Friendship changes.

When tragedy strikes the friends reunite at the camp where their friendship began

This story was so emotional. I was laughing, crying, yelling, and sometimes all of it at once. The author had an amazing way of tory telling that draws you in. As you read, you can begin to envision the sights, smells, and begin to feel what the characters are feeling.

This story is all about friendship, heartbreak, misspoken words, selfishness and so many other things we all go through as we grow and learn who we are. It's about friendship, love, forgiveness, and learning to find your way back,

This book is one I highly recommend reading.

Because I have a tendency to ramble, the short version is that this was a delightful book and if you’re a fan of heartwarming women’s fiction, you’ll want to pick up a copy for yourself.

This novel had some small elements of humour, but mostly it was packed full of heart. Themes of friendship and the resiliency of women in the midst of the demands and unreasonable expectations upon them run deep throughout. If you have ever felt yourself questioning where you’re at in life and wondering how you got there, you’ll probably be able to related on some level to any one of the Clover Girls. Some bittersweet scenes will get the tear ducts working and by the last chapter you’ll feel like you’ve just made some new BFFs and won’t want to leave them behind. Told in dual timeline from multiple narrators, you’ll feel like your at summer camp and (re)experience some childhood angst on one hand, but get caught up in the chippy battered relationships of women who have seemingly outgrown their youthful naivety and find they still need each other. It is truly a pleasure to get caught up in a read as emotional and rewarding as this one.

My thanks to the publisher for the complimentary copy of this title. Opinions are my own.

Title: The Clover Girls
Author: Viola Shipman
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

Elizabeth, Veronica, Rachel and Emily met at Camp Birchwood as girls in 1985, where over four summers they were the Clover Girls—inseparable for those magical few weeks of freedom—until the last summer that pulled them apart. Now approaching middle age, the women are facing challenges they never imagined as teens, struggles with their marriages, their children, their careers, and wondering who it is they see when they look in the mirror.

Then Liz, V and Rachel each receive a letter from Emily with devastating news. She implores the girls who were once her best friends to reunite at Camp Birchwood one last time, to spend a week together revisiting the dreams they’d put aside and repair the relationships they’d allowed to sour. But the women are not the same idealistic, confident girls who once ruled Camp Birchwood, and perhaps some friendships aren’t meant to last forever…

I am a little surprised to find out a male author wrote three women and four girls this well. That sounds bad, but usually I can tell when a man is writing female characters. Not this time. The 80’s flashbacks/references were a bit unsettling; although I was fairly young in the 80’s, I still caught the references.

The girls’ friendship was so vivid, so strong it brought back memories (although I never went to summer camp). I enjoyed how much the characters grew as a result of remembering their younger selves—and their friendship. This is a solid, relatable read, perfect for a long, relaxing weekend.

Viola Shipman is the pen name for Wade Rouse, a popular, award-winning memoirist. Rouse chose his grandmother's name, Viola Shipman, to honor the woman whose heirlooms and family stories inspire his writing. The Clover Girls is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Graydon House in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 5/11.)

Four girls stumble upon each other at a summer camp at a young age and they will each alter the other's lives well into adulthood. Elizabeth (Liz), Veronica (V), Rachel (Rach) and Emily (Em) meet at summer camp and they have a lot to learn from each other, each of them have strengths that the other could use and due to meeting at a young age they didn't see how they could compliment each other.

With four women as main characters, this is absolutely one of those books that I suggest taking notes so you can keep them each straight. They are each unique, but it sure helped make sure the reading experience was easy from start to finish.

With flashbacks back to the 1980s when these women met and then to 2021 to their current ages, this book took me back and forth to see the foundation these young women made at camp and then how something big brought them back together and would change their lives.

I am being vague in my review because this is just one of those books that you have to read! If you love women relationships, of all kinds, and if you love stories where women have big journeys to find their truth then this book is for you. I laughed, I cried and I found a part of me in some of these women and although I don't have friendships from summer camp of my younger years, this book made me thankful for those women I am surrounded by and the things they bring to my life.

A book about friendship and the families we make for ourselves. You can always count on this author for a heart warming story.

In 1985 four girls met in summer camp and instantly became best friends. Emily, Veronica, Elizabeth and Rachel they called themselves The Clover Girls, Friends 4-Ever.

Year after year they came back to camp and spend their summers together. Their lives changed of course, sometimes making it harder to maintain friendships. Emily and Elizabeth were the quiet girls and Veronica and Rachel were the ones who wanted to be the stars.
During their last year in camp, the girls had a major falling apart.

Now in their 50’s (I think 50’s), the Elizabeth aka Liz, Rachel and Veronica get a letter from Emily begging them to come spend one last week together at camp as adults and mend their fences.

None of their lives has gone exactly how they’d wanted or expected. Veronica isn’t sure if her marriage is happy, Liz is feeling alone in the world because of what’s going on with her family, and Rachel has taking her ability to act to an interesting level by pretending to support politicians she does not agree with (some really bad guys).

When Emily’s letter arrives, Liz, Veronica and Rachel actually do find themselves back at their old camp.

Surprises wait them.
They have some fun and some serious, long overdue conversations.

I felt like some of the characters got more closure than others and that the end of the book came on a bit suddenly but I did enjoy the story.

I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley. Thank you!

4.5 stars

The Clover Girls is a heart warming story of friendship between 4 girls who met at camp and are now reuniting after the death of one of them

As kids they were inseparable but as we all know life changes, friendships aren't lost but put on the back burner.

This story will have you laughing, cheering and crying: sometimes all 3 at once.

The Clover Girls is so descriptive you can hear the waves against the shore, smell the fresh air and feel like you are one of those four girls.

I will be telling everyone to get their copy soon and move it to the top of their TBR list.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin - Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada ) Graydon House for an exceptional read.