Writing in the bestselling tradition of Barbara Delinsky and Patricia Gaffney, Judith Henry Wall, in her new novel, "The Girlfriends Club," has crafted a wry and moving story of four women who have been best friends since childhood. Through the years, and through many spiritual crises -- including the recent divorces that three of them have endured -- they have given one another emotional support. But when they are forced to share a secret that threatens to disrupt their lives, each of them begins to wonder if this bond of friendship that has held for almost four decades will be strong enough to withstand the strain. On the eve of Mary Sue Prescott's forty-fifth birthday, she is joined by her three closest friends, Gretchen, Pamela, and Dixie, at the lakeside cabin that has been their refuge for years. This meeting of "The Girlfriends Club" -- as they jokingly call themselves -- is not, however, strictly a celebration, since the following morning, Mary Sue is scheduled to undergo a mastectomy. At the same time that they are dealing with Mary Sue's operation, another crisis arises, requiring the three women to make a decis