New Novel: Her Best Self

I’m so glad you’re here!

Regal House published Her Best Self May 21, 2024. I’ve had a whirlwind of a book tour this summer. Thank you independent book stores! Check out some highlights and photos here and my book tour schedule here.

So many wonderful book talks, interviews, features, and podcasts! You can find them here. I’m so grateful for each reporter, reviewer, reader, fellow writer, bookseller, and podcaster who talked to me about Her Best Self.

You can order Her Best Self online at Regal House Publishing,Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

Reviews:

"This page-turner of a novel unfolds as though the first and second Mrs. de Winter in Daphne de Maurier’s gothic masterwork Rebecca were the same person, serving as both mysterious victim and reluctant detective on two sides of an amnesia experience...In the arc of personal grown and self-(re)discovery that drives Her Best Self as both a twisty contemporary mystery and a compelling character study, Friddle delivers a masterful exploration of the central inquiry of our lives—Who am I?—that is certain to leave readers pondering that very question for themselves long after reading the final page." The Charleston Post and Courier

“The untangling of the past and the future prospects of the Wolf family make this a compelling story ripe for discussion.” The Southern Bookseller Review

“How far will people go to preserve their images is the provocative question Mindy Friddle poses, and the story’s construct allows readers entry into the minds and machinations behind the veneers of gentility. By turns hilarious, heartbreaking, and chilling, Her Best Self is a real wild ride of a novel.” MER Motherhood, Literature & Art

“Of course, the past has been lost for a reason, and the present begins to unravel as it returns. But Friddle’s focus stays true to the complicated dynamics of this family. It’s another central element of Southern literature for her, the partnership between dysfunction and good manners…As Janelle begins to understand what’s happened to her, the truth ripples through her family and the town of Haven, changing the landscape for better and worse, changing it for everyone.” Ashley Warlick, Town magazine

“HER BEST SELF is a heart-thumping, witty, and deeply layered novel about the things that matter, a can’t-put-down thriller with a literary voice. This thrill ride of a novel revolves around the manipulation of memory and the ever-present question at the heart of being human —  'Who am I and what do I believe?' With a seductive landscape and a wide cast of fascinating characters, Friddle’s enthralling prose takes us on an addictive, wild, and keep-you-guessing journey. A do not miss.” Patti Callahan Henry, NYT Bestselling author of THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA.

“Fast paced, clever, and wickedly compelling, HER BEST SELF grabs you on Page 1 and doesn't let go. You simply cannot put it down.” Michel Stone, author of THE IGUANA TREE and BORDER CHILD.

“Cunning. Unraveling. Sinister and darkly comic. Her Best Self is a masterful domestic suspense.” J.C. Sasser, author of GRADLE BIRD.

“In the twists and turns of this quirky, fast-paced novel, Mindy Friddle keeps readers on their toes with a cast of characters who bring humor and heartbreak to the page as they reveal their own secret stories. Surprises abound, down to the perfectly pitched final page.” Rebecca T. Godwin, author of PRIVATE PARTS and KEEPER OF THE HOUSE.

What’s HER BEST SELF about?

A woman uncovers the truth behind her mysterious car accident with the help of an alluring psychic healer, unraveling scandals that disrupt her family and small southern town. Her Best Self is a domestic thriller featuring dark twists and winks of humor.

A bit more: Janelle Wolf longs to be the woman she once was—an adored wife, a loving mother, a career woman, a force in her community—before a car accident steals her memories, ruins her reputation, and upends her life. Her only solace is found in Lana, her psychic healer, but Lana’s motives are questionable at best. As Janelle’s memories are coaxed to the surface, the ugly truth behind her accident is revealed, and what she learns will unravel her marriage, disrupt her family, and turn her small southern town upside down. Written with wry humor, this diabolically entertaining tale of deception, temptation, and love is filled with dark twists, exploring what happens when the transgressions of the past come back with a vengeance.

What inspired you to write Her Best Self? An old cookbook I inherited. This was a Good Housekeeping cookbook published in 1963. What a time capsule it is! The recipes are clearly targeted to “thrifty housewives.” There are pep talks on what to prepare when a husband’s boss is coming to dinner (pot roast). Also, when to allow “the man of the house” to cook—always outside, over a grill. The cookbook's outdated gender stereotypes are almost funny. Almost.

Stuck in these food-stained cookbook pages were bookmarks—old church bulletins, wedding announcements, and, oddly enough, a newspaper clipping from 1981 about Ronald Reagan appointing Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court. (The article talked about O’Connor’s husband, what clothes she wore, how their marriage revolved around their entertaining. Nothing about her intellect or her interest in the law.)  In reading over the news coverage of the time, especially in small town newspapers, I was struck by how women were cautiously inspired by O’Connor, but—at least from today’s perspective—still entrenched in their roles as wives and mothers. I also noted in my research—and discovered as a newspaper reporter myself, after college— women were often identified by their connection to men—their husbands or their fathers. 

Another influence: the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. More than a century after it was published by a feminist journalist, it amazes me how powerfully it captures how a woman’s husband and doctor could label her “hysterical” and insist on a “rest cure,” that nearly destroys her.

About the setting: Her Best Self is set in fictitious Haven, South Carolina, interweaving Janelle’s first-person narratives with perspectives from a broad cast of characters, and features complicated family dynamics. While it takes place in 2015 and beyond, Her Best Self brings to life a society in the not-so-distant past in which women were defined by their fathers and husbands.

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Gratefully,

Mindy

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