The Women on Country Club Drive — Liz Hamlin

Eight women who were complete strangers become neighbors when they move to Country Club Drive, an exclusive new suburb developed by J.P. Scott, the wealthiest man in a small Ohio Valley town. WWII is over; business is booming; families are reunited; America is optimistically looking forward to greeting the halfway mark of the 20th Century. To the world outside, each woman living in the guarded cul-de-sac on Country Club Drive has everything, a luxurious new home, her own expensive car, fashionable clothes, and the privilege of being granted J.P. Scott's permission to inhabit the affluent private world that he created in honor of his new wife, Belle, a former call girl who gladly traded late-night telephone rings from many men for a wedding ring from one man. Outsiders view Country Club Drive through rose-colored glasses, yet beyond the manicured yards and shuttered windows, each woman senses that something is missing in her life, and in the dark hours at night, hungers for more. Belle wants the town to forget that before J.P. divorced his first wife and bought Belle's body for his use only, many men had paid to use it for their pleasure. Ruth, a corporate wife who dutifully follows her husband's frequent transfers on his route to success knows that a cure for loneliness can always be found at the bottom of a highball glass. Dora, a young newlywed, is given everything she wants from her husband except sex. Virginia, whose life fell apart when she buried her first husband, builds a fence around her emotions to safeguard against being hurt again. Martha's marriage is perfect; so is her affair with her husband's best friend... until the unexpected happens. Shelly, a beautiful model is also her photographer husband's doll baby; he is determined that motherhood will never rearrange his plaything's perfect body. Grossly overweight Bertha is hurt when her husband is repulsed by her gluttony, but thrilled that he can't stay out of her bed. Ellen, an ideal wife and a loving mother, a paragon of virtue in the community, hides a cruel secret that only one person in the neighborhood knows. As the 20th century nears its halfway mark, each woman on Country Club Drive faces a challenge. Some face tragedy. At least one faces death.