Love, Sex and Money — Sharleen Cooper Cohen

It begins on graduation day in Berkley 1962: the story of three women, friends for life, whose passion and ambitions are fueled by love, sex and money, and whose dreams are shaped by the torrent of history that changed women's lives forever. Pam dreams about what no woman has ever achieved--creating new buildings in that city of buildings, New York. Escaping from the poverty of her youth, Pam races east across the continent to join her divorced father, who was in real estate himself, and is stunned by his rejection. Alone, with no resources but her unique beauty, she must make a detour in her plans through the world of high-fashion modeling. A torrid affair with a dangerous and powerful man from the world of organized crime threatens to destroy her, but the city-building dream remains her guiding star. The friendship of her classmates from Berkley is the one constant in her turbulent life. Trish, born into a conservative Southern California family, is drawn by her artistic gift to the love culture of the sixties. Her uncontrollable passion for a seductive art professor and a degrading interlude with drugs traps her in a profound despair from which she struggles to return to her artistic vision. Hillary, who discovers domestic fulfillment in an early marriage, is content to watch her friends succeed professionally, until a desire to protect her family and a love for environmental justice whet her appetite for a political career. Three women, three dreams, three destinies--love, sex, and money form the tapestry of their lives, but friendship remains the loom in this unforgettable tale of pleasure, passion, and power.