Wildflowers: A Novel
by Delores Lowe Friedman

Winner: North Street Book Prize for Self-Published Books – Mainstream/Literary Fiction

We assume that our closest friends will be around forever. Sometimes we let years pass without checking in, confident that our paths will cross eventually and that the connection we once had will still be there. However, life doesn’t always work like that.

After learning of the death of her childhood friend Jewel, Camille is overwhelmed by memories. As young women, Camille, Jewel and Saundra formed a close bond—however, careers, love lives, and other circumstances conspired to separate the once-devoted trio. Jewel founded a successful black entertainment agency, and Saundra fell into a troubled relationship. Camille drifted away while in grad school and after the birth of her son. She recalls the reunion brunch she planned hoping to bring her friends back together– but time had changed everything.

Set in twentieth-century New York City, Wildflowers is about the dynamic of friendship of the three women. It is a coming of age story in which Camille must face hard truths about her relationships—and herself. She wrote in the 1960’s while in college that she and her friends were like wildflowers unfolding, each one unique. In the end, Camille realizes that friendships are often complicated and fragile, and she must become her own distinct and firmly planted self.

This coming of age story about the power and perils of friendship follows three women—Camille, Jewel, and Saundra—across several decades as they confront issues of family, love, betrayal, ambition, and race.