Women's Rites — Beverly Byrne

In the Boston suburb of Revere in the 1960's, they are high school “Best Friends. “ “Barbie Korman, beautiful, insecure, and Jewish, becomes a model after graduation. Maria Trapetti, intense, brilliant, and molded by her Italian Catholic heritage, enters a convent.
But the overwhelming force in both their lives is the legacy of another woman, a woman who lived centuries before, a woman represented by a exquisitely carved figurine from the tiny island of Lanzarote known simply as “The Lady”.
As the years pass Barbie finds herself in a passionate love affair with Joe Dianni, a Catholic Priest. Maria yearns for the secular world and works with archeaologist Hank Rolles. Both women search for their places in the world and, as more years pass, experience life's many rich possibilities. But always they and the men in their lives are drawn to “The Lady” of Lanzarote…