Around Again

Twenty-two years after the fateful summer she turned 18, Robyn Panek returns to her dying uncle's farm to must close down the beloved Massachusetts homestead. Her memories of that time come flooding back, and she is immersed once again in the turmoil of adolescence and the stark confrontation between her and "crazy" Lucy Dragon, the girl she hoped would be the friend of her dreams, and Frankie, the boy she believed would be the love of her life. She decides to reopen the farm's main attraction, the Happy Trails Pony Ring, for a final season and drums up some publicity for an auction. A newspaper article draws first Lucy and then Peter, who want to help, and the three finally confront the seminal event that has shaped their adult lives. Shea brings uncommon depth and richness to her narrative, which powerfully conveys both the adolescent push for independence and the adult need for connection.