“On February 19, 1963, a troublesome, imperfect, controversial woman named Betty Friedan published a troublesome, imperfect, controversial book titled “The Feminine Mystique.” The book didn’t solve the problem. But it did put a name to it, shining a light that helped women who felt isolated and powerless find one another, and their voices.”
That’s the opening quote to Marie Bostwick’s novel The Book Club for Troublesome Women. It’s 1963 in Concordia, a perfectly planned community outside of Washington, D.C. The characters are four women in a variety of families. Margaret is married with three children. Her best friend, Viv, a former army nurse, now a stay-at-home mom with six children. Bitsy, the youngest of all of them, is married to an older man, a veterinarian. And Charlotte, a glamorous mother of three who just moved to Concordia is in an arranged marriage.
Margaret invites Charlotte to her newly formed book club, and Charlotte agrees to come if they read The Feminine Mystique. In the 1960s, women could not access birth control without their husband’s permission or open a bank account in their own name or have a meaningful career.
The book follows their blossoming friendships and their awakenings to more fulfilling lives. Margaret starts her writing career after winning a contest in a women’s magazine. Viv goes back to nursing. Bitsy fulfills her lifelong dream of being a vet, and Charlotte opens an art gallery. Two of the husbands turn out to be very supportive and the other two…well…cads.
If you’re interested in a realistic story about what life was like for women in the 1960s, then you must read The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick.
