Diane Hammond

Going to Bend Diane Hammond

Petie Coolbaugh and Rose Bundy have been best friends since childhood. Now in their early thirties, they are grappling with the coming of age and their station in life. Working together in Petie's kitchen, they prepare gallons of soup each day for a new upscale cafe in town. Both of them need the extra money to support their families. The strains of daily life are never far away, however. As the story draws lovers, employers, friends, and family into a mesh of interwoven events and revelations, each woman finds possibilities for love and even grace that she had never imagined. An evocative portrait of life in a small Oregon-coast town, Going to Bend combines the sexy sassiness of Thelma and Louise with the emotional warmth of Fried Green Tomatoes.