The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
This was the first piece of fiction I'd read in years, aside from some Orwell. It's set in the 60's about a book club organized by a few white women living in a cookie-cutter, picket-fence, HOA-ruled neighborhood. It follows four women, with more of a spotlight on one than the others: Maggie. Each of these women are housewives who feel, whether they realize it or not at first, like something is missing. The first book they read is a controversial one about how women can be more than housewives, and things sort of unravel from there. They're all complicated characters who grow both together and individually in exactly the way I wanted them to.
Maggie is a writer, so it's no surprise that she's my favorite. She doesn't really know she's a writer at the beginning. She dabbled in her younger years, but has no clue what the hole is in her heart. Once she figures it out, she spends the rest of the book developing her voice and her purpose while she navigates the challenges of a dismissive, patriarchal world for women writers.
Charlotte is my second-favorite. She's a loose cannon. Predictably unpredictable, you get the sense that she's wearing a veneer atop a layer of... what, exactly? She's an artist with a complicated marriage. Her relationship to her art is one that I think a lot of artists can probably relate to. It's who she is, and yet her commitment waivers. Why? I don't think she even knows, and it takes some real tough love for her to figure it out.
Viv was a military nurse in WWII, and a good one. She loved it. But now she has 6 kids, and she loves that too! She adores her husband, and finds meaning in being a mother. She doesn't buy all the way into the books the women read; she doesn't really get the dissatisfaction with the housewife assignment. Still, nursing calls to her and I think the influence of the other women encourages her to answer the call.
And Bitsy. Ohh Bits. She's the youngest, early 20's I think, and dreams of being an equine veterinarian. She marries one, more out of necessity than anything, and isn't really satisfied with her marriage from the jump. It's confusing for her, because she loves King.. or... she thinks she does? She finds her foundation, and builds confidence in who she is. I loved the woman she found in the search for herself.
Following these 4 women as they figure out the holes in their lives and find a place in the world that means something more to them was an absolute joy. They bond deeply and support each other unendingly. Some things were predictable in a way that took some of the excitement away, but there were absolutely some unexpected twists and turns. Overall, this book was such a comfort, and I really enjoyed it.
One criticism I'd give it is that while it touches on the civil rights movement here and there, I'd hoped for more. It's passively supportive of racial equity, with an occasional nod. But it does, I think, highlight by example how feminism has centered white women.