Yerba Buena by Nina Lacour

I got this from a list of "beach reads" featured in The Week, and uncharacteristically three of the four featured actually sounded good to me. Light, but good. This one definitely started out on the slow side, but grew on me and as the story wound down I was sorry to see it end. The narrative follows two women — Sara Foster and Emilie DuBois — from their teens to late twenties as they navigate major life transitions, choices, and changes. Sara is from a grittier background and has to scramble to make ends meet, whereas Emilie meanders. The novel’s themes of drug and sexual abuse, death, abandonment, and purposelessness have a role in the pair’s eventual romance, and these are explored in a way that felt good and different from other books that grapple with similar plot lines. The women find meaning outside of educational accomplishments--which is a message for today as well. leaves plenty of room for hope amidst a variety of otherwise bleak circumstances. Sara establishes herself as a well-respected figure in the field that brings her true joy: bartending and Emilie finds that she has a gift for flipping houses. And together, the women’s relationship becomes a source of comfort and purpose.