THE GOOD LUCK STONE

Heather Bell Adams’s first novel, Maranatha Road (West Virginia University Press 2017), won the gold medal for the Southeast region in the Independent Publisher Book Awards and was named to Deep South Magazine’s Fall/Winter Reading List. Her short fiction, which has won the James Still Fiction Prize and Carrie McCray Memorial Literary Award, appears in The Thomas Wolfe Review, Pembroke Magazine, Broad River Review, The Petigru Review, Pisgah Review, and elsewhere. A native of Hendersonville, North Carolina, she currently is an attorney living in Raleigh.

“[A] poignant story of love, loss, and second chances.” —Buzzfeed

“A plot-perfect page turner … Adams has hit the sweet spot, mastering a literary tone with commercial pacing … a screen-worthy winner and a book club bullseye.” —Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of Perennials and The Feathered Bone

“Telling a story from the heart is Heather Bell Adams’s specialty. The Good Luck Stone captures the complicated layers of friendship between women in two time periods, their losses and loves and the choices that bind them together, for good or bad. Her deft use of detail paints the beauty of modern-day Savannah with breathtaking clarity, and brings to light the horrors faced in the Pacific during WWII. But it is her tender portrayal of the desperate journey of Audrey and Laurel that will grab the reader from the first page, defining the complexities of keeping a promise and what it means to be, and to have, a friend.” —Kimberly Brock, award winning author of The River Witch

“The Good Luck Stone is a taut and lyrical literary thriller that I found difficult to put down. This novel immerses us expertly in the high society world of modern Savannah and the tropical heat of the Philippines during World War II, both anchored by an endearing character you’ll never forget, caught up in an intricate plot that will keep the pages turning long into the night. Heather Bell Adams is a truly gifted novelist.” —Silas House, author of Southernmost

“Gentle, nostalgic, and told with great heart, The Good Luck Stone toggles between modern-day Savannah, Georgia and WWII in the South Pacific, timelines and lifetimes pinned together by matching jade brooches that symbolize devotion and enduring friendship. Through ninety-year-old Audrey and Laurel, the young mother hired to care for her, Heather Bell Adams tells the stories of feisty, determined women who know sacrifice, women who soldier on, caring women you’d be lucky to call ‘friend.’ A charming, sumptuous read.” —Susan Bernhard, author of Winter Loon

1. As a story about friendship, The Good Luck Stone explores what it means to be truly known. In what ways do we curate what others discover about us? Is transparency important to cultivate meaningful relationships?

2. Do you believe in talismans—objects meant to protect from evil or harm? Have you ever owned one?

3. Once she learns Penny is still alive, Audrey feels desperate to tell her side of the story. What does she hope to accomplish when she sets out on her journey? Do her motivations change?

4. As the story progresses, we hear from both Audrey’s and Laurel’s points of view. Do you sympathize with one character more than the other? If so, why?

5. What are your thoughts about Deanna? Did your impression of her change by the end of the story?

6. As Laurel begins to hatch a plan to go after Audrey, are you cheering for her? Or do you think she’s better off minding her own business?

7. Imagine being in the war and finding yourself in a similar position to Audrey’s. Would you have made the same decision?

8. So many years later, does Audrey believe she made the right decision? To what extent is she satisfied with the life she has led?

9. Based upon what we see about their friendship, would Kat or Penny have made a similar sacrifice for Audrey if she’d needed help?

10. At the story’s conclusion, are you optimistic about Laurel and her relationships with Clay and Oliver?