The after party

Summary: Joan Fortier is the epitome of Texas glamour and the center of the 1950s Houston social scene. Tall, blonde, beautiful, and strong, she dominates the room and the gossip columns. Every man who sees her seems to want her; every woman just wants to be her. She may be more complicated and troubled than she seems, yet only her best friend, Cece, understands this, and she's barely skimmed the surface that is Joan. Devoted to Joan since early childhood, Cece Buchanan is either her chaperone or her partner in crime, depending on the night and whom you ask. With her solid husband and sweet young son, some say Cece shouldn't be concerned with Joan's single-girl exploits. But the two have grown up like sisters, to the point that it isn't always easy to tell where one ends and the other begins. When Joan starts to drift out of reach and beyond the borders of their confined world the summer they are twenty-five, Cece considers it her responsibility to bring her back to the fold, for better or for worse. This is a highly ordered world of garden clubs and deputante balls. For the women, the money may flow as freely as oil, but freedom and power are just out of reach, and indecorous appetites and desires are risky. But as Joan's radical behavior escalates, Cece's investment and perspective begin to shift--ultimately forcing one provocative choice to appear the only one there is. --