Praise for Her Best Self:

“Mindy Friddle sets this story of family secrets and past mistakes in the small Southern town of Haven, South Carolina, that is both comforting and suffocating to residents. 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

"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

“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.

Praise for The Garden Angel:

“Friddle has a way with the comic yet apt image…funny, down-to-earth and steeped in a sense of place.” —The Washington Post

“A comic delight…Winning characters and piquant wit, with an underpinning of graciousness: a standout.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The glory of a past that may never be reclaimed is the theme of this unique and satisfying novel …At times wonderfully comic and sad enough to provoke tears, The Garden Angel is an addictive read, and an enthralling story filled with both loss and hope.” — The Barnes & Noble Review from Discover Great New Writers

“Mindy Friddle has a great comic touch, and her novel is a touching, heartfelt debut.”— Richard Russo

“This debut novel is atmospheric in the way of Southern fiction, but it’s also brand new. With casual skill, Friddle makes the case that who we like in life may be as critical as who we love.”—Publishers Weekly

“The writing is as beautiful as a stained glass window . . . Like Flannery O’Connor and Eudora Welty, Friddle reveres the majesty of Southern homes and Southern women, zany or not.” —The News & Record (Greensboro, North Carolina)

“Friddle has a great flair for comic relief, and in a novel filled with tragedy . . . there is also much laughter.”— Oxford Town (Oxford, Mississippi)

“The hidden charm of this book is the eccentric minor players that move effectively throughout the story. Everyone is believable . . .The Garden Angel continues in the tradition of other great Southern novels with wit, charm, and an abundance of humanity.”—Savannah Morning News

“A whimsical tale about the transformative power of an unlikely friendship. Friddle’s lyrical novel is beautifully written in language both earthy and poetic. It is also extremely funny.”—The Journal-Standard (Illinois)

“Bursting with local color and Southern warmth, the story . . . reflects a need to remember our history in the modern south.”—Ya’ll magazine

“Add Mindy Friddle to the list of contemporary Southern writers able to bring a town to life with her words . . . a confident debut from a Southern writer to watch.”—Playback (St. Louis)

Praise for Secret Keepers:

“With a piquant blend of magical realism and down-home pragmatism, Friddle’s beguiling second novel is a poignant and reassuring tale of regret and redemption.”–Booklist

“With fluid prose and telling details, Friddle deftly captures the downward pull of the past and the Southern penchant for mythmaking; transcending the easy stereotypes of Southern dysfunctional family sagas, Friddle’s clan is a genuinely quirky lot with its own unlikely ideas of happiness.”– Publishers Weekly

“Friddle leads us through great swaths of time in a matter of a few pages, with elegance and a sly sense of the irony of history… As the long buried past comes to light, the Hanleys all must reap what they have sown, and the novel that results just blossoms.”–Talk magazine, Ashley Warlick

“The beguiling cover of Secret Keepers, with its boots/planters, bring to mind many of the characters in Friddle’s novel–worn out and damaged, but still functional and capable of letting beauty shine through . . . Secret Keepers is a beautifully written novel of love and loss and renewal. Friddle’s warm and engaging novel of life in a decaying southern town sparkles with memorable characters and a story that will linger long after turning the last page.”– A Book A Week, Donna Volkenannt

“On the surface, Secret Keepers seems like the zillionth southern dynasty saga, but is actually much more as Mindy Friddle looks at how the present turns the past into a family mythos in which facts are irrelevant . . . Filled with pathos and eccentricity, readers will enjoy the misadventures of Secret Keepers.”– Genre Go Round Reviews, Harriet Klausner

“As the layers of sediment that have settled over these characters are dug back, unsettling secrets are unearthed . . . those allow many of the characters to flower as they had once hoped.  Friddle . . . could ascend to the summit of literary accomplishment and recognition.  She has a marvelous sense of place and ample skills at characterization, along with a fine sense of pacing.”– Shine, David Marshall James