Many times, the blurb about a book gives too much away. But in the case of The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club, the blurb is misleading. All the things about Alice in the blurb happen before the book starts. She has opened the bookstore in hopes of finding some impressionable young ladies that she can influence. The blurb also intimates that the four college girls are facing a shattering incident together. Not true. And while the book states there is no man hate, there is not a single decent male character in this book. Every man is domineering, brutal, or weak.

This is definitely a book with an agenda. While I am in agreement with the idea that women should have a voice, follow their dreams, and not live as second-class citizens, this novel beats you over the head with it. The conservative voice amongst the girls has few redeeming qualities. I didn't connect with any of the characters. I found most of them rather unlikable.

I wanted to like this story, but it disappointed me.

Not family friendly due to a depiction of rape and other adult themes.

I'm generally a big fan of books about books/reading and historical fiction with a focus on women's lives, but unfortunately The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club fell flat for me. There are a number of reasons for this, but I think the main one is that it felt very didactic, especially during the discussions of the various books. Unfortunately, I didn't form a strong connection to the characters and wasn't very invested in the outcome.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read it in advance of publication.

I loved this book about four young women who are attending Radcliffe College in Cambridge in the mid-1950s. The women come from all different backgrounds, with different experiences, but they're all struggling with the expectation that women will marry and have children, not pursue a career or life outside of a marriage. Alice is the book shop owner and she has recently left a bad marriage - also unheard of during that time - and the four women join her book club. The book club provides a safe space for them to talk out some of their frustrations, while Alice tries to help broaden their perspectives. This sounds like a sweet, cozy story, but then a tragic, life altering event occurs that challenges their friendship and everything they thought they knew about each other and about themselves.

While I tend to be drawn to books that include bookstores, The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club, by Julia Bryan Thomas, fell flat for me. I struggled to connect with the characters and found the storyline to drag in too many places for it to keep my attention. The period in which it is set is a time I am definitely interested in, but in this novel, I felt the story was pushed instead of flowing freely/ believably. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. It hooked me and kept me turning pages until I was done. Finished it in two days! The character development was strong, and the premise was unique enough that it didn't feel like anything else I've read.

Very good take on women’s lib movement. Appearances can be deceiving. A really good read for someone who lived through this era. Women have made great strides in equality and career development, but men can still dominate in other areas.

I love books about books so I had high hopes for this one!
I really enjoyed it and I loved the connection between the women. It was a little slow for me in the beginning but it picked up. I grew to care a lot for the characters and enjoyed their journey to find their way in life.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

I was really hoping this book would grab hold and pull me in, and while some parts did, I sadly found the discussions in the bookshop to be long and drawn on. Yes, all the discussions were connected to the main plot of the story, but it was just a way for the characters to say things in a roundabout way. I was hoping for much more direct talk between characters, but that didn't happen until the very end. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

There are parts of The Radcliffe Ladies Reading Club that I thought were really great and other parts that I was pretty meh about. Ironically, Alice and the reading club didn’t do a whole lot for me. Alice serves as a great support for one of the young women when she faces circumstances she has no control over that could destroy her life, but the meetings themselves feel like a reiteration of each of the characters character and personality, even though the reader can get a good feel for them from their actions in the book. Alice also feels like an undeveloped character; the reader knows that she was unhappy with her circumstances back home, which led her to Massachusetts, but never really gets a feel for who it has made her as a person. She feels merely like a sympathetic character meant to guide the four young college women along. Those four young women are the part of the book that shines. Each comes from a different background, yet all of them are coming to grips that in the time they live, most women are not expected to do more than get married, have babies and rear children, and keep house. Some of them chafe at this and some have no higher expectations. After initially meeting Tess, Caroline, Evie and Merritt the reader may feel predisposed towards certain ones, but Julia Bryan Thomas does a great job of making the reader reevaluate their expectations over the course of the book. The book definitely has an uneven feel to it, but it has some great storylines that will remind readers of how challenging it was to be a young woman in the fifties and pursue your own choices and avoid the judgment of others. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Radcliffe ladies reading club is a wonderful book about four college students Tess, Caroline, Merritt, Evie and their mentor Alice. Alice has left an unhappy marriage and opened a bookstore close to Radcliffe college. The four girls decide to come to her bookclub. Alice mentors the girls through novels as they face becoming women. Tess, Caroline, Merritt and Evie are trying to figure out what a woman is, what kind of woman they want to be and if marriage or a career is right for them. This book also handles serious topics. I loved this book, couldn't put it down. I love books about books but I liked that the bookclub didn't over power the story. The friendship of the girls and their mentor really outshines everything. The only thing I hoped for was a longer epilogue and I hope the author makes a second novel about the girls. I need to know what happens ! Thank you Netgalley for letting me review this book and now I have to read Julie Bryan Thomas's first novel

“The Radcliffe Ladies’ Reading Club” is by Julia Bryan Thomas. I would call this book a “coming of age” one for four college women in the 1950s. They are all women but not what one might call “street smart.” They’re aware of how the world works, but seem resistant to forge a new (or different than expected) path. Back in the 1950s it wasn’t as accepted as today by society to be independent - to not play by the “it’s a man’s world” rules/games (just look at the TV show Mad Men). Out of all the characters I have to say that my favorite was the bookseller, Alice. She was older (and wiser) than the college women, but also saw areas of grey. She had left the life expected of her, forged on her own, and while not doing wonderfully financially was at least content with her life and her life choices. I had a difficult time, at the beginning, keeping the college women apart (except for Caroline), but as the chapters progressed it became easier to do so as storylines developed. I found the idea of classical book reading compared to present day (1950s) an interesting one. While some of the book discussions were a bit over my head as I haven’t read all the books mentioned, it is interesting to read a book knowing the history of when it was written compared to the lens of today. I don’t think this book was the book that I expected it to be, and thus it’s difficult for me to express my view of it. In some ways I applaud Ms. Thomas for writing about a time where women of certain class were as good as their husbands/families, yet Alice was proof that that role wasn’t always the one to accept, but it seemed like the college girls never seemed to acknowledge that until the epilogue. I cannot say that I enjoyed the book, but I’m glad to have read it.

What an endearing novel! Julia Bryan Thomas was truly wow’ed me with her sophomore novel The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club!

Set in the mid 1950’s, this novel centers around a Alice Campbell who finds herself fleeing her past and reinventing herself far from home. That reinvention includes Alice buying a rundown building to create a cozy bookstore. Alice starts a bookclub and four freshman women from the local college join her. Caroline, Tess, Evie, and Merritt all come from different backgrounds and are navigating college in their own unique ways.

I felt like a fly on the wall in these ladies lives and by the end I felt as if I have known them in real life—love that! Throughout the novel we get alternating perspectives from all five women through theirs triumph and tragedy which worked perfectly with the storyline. I felt Julia Bryan Thomas did a great job showing the strength of female bond in the face of some heavy circumstances. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club and look forward to reading Julia Bryan Thomas again in the future!

4.5 stars actually. This was a very intriguing look at what it was like for women in the early 50's coming of age in a time of huge change, when women were learning they had a voice separate from just becoming a wife. Some bought into that freedom, diving in with both feet, while others dipped in a toe and ran screaming. It is way easier to toe the line, do what is expected, and settle for a comfortable life. These four young women, who are definitely from all walks of life, are thrown together in college as roommates. They find their tribe, and they join a book club, run by a divorced (gasp) bookshop owner who feeds them classics to read and topics to talk about. Stuff happens, ideas are challenged, long-held values are tested, and it isn't always ponies and rainbows as these women find their voice and reveal who they truly are. It was definitely an eye-opening read and I highly recommend it.

A book store in Cambridge and a book club of four first year Radcliffe students in 1954 is the setting for this book. It has all the elements that would draw a reader in but it falls slightly flat in believability. If you're looking for a light read with some amount of trauma and drama in it, you may like this book. I would have liked a deeper dive into each character.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

Set in the 1950s in Cambridge Massachusetts, this story centers on a group of young women who have come together to form a book club. Most of the young women are enrolled in college and struggling to navigate their own aspirations with social views of women at the time.

This book had all my favorite things: a cozy book store, strong female characters, and supporting friendships. Despite all of this, I was on the struggle bus with this one. I just didn’t get pulled in to the story like I had hoped. I also spent my high school career using Cliff Notes rather than reading the classics assigned to me so I hadn’t read many of the books they discussed. It was well written. Just not the book for me.

4 young women, studying at Radcliffe College in Massachusetts during a tumultuous time in history; finding solace, safety and friendship in a bookstore. The women, all very different in their past and personalities, have formed their bookclub, which, not only becomes their safe haven from many of their lives cruelties; but also a place of self discovery.
There are some trigger warnings for this book: rape and societal expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style of Julia Bryan Thomas, and this book made me want to know the characters even more. The bookstore and bookstore owner, Alice were charming and comforting.
This is my first read from Thomas, and I will definitely be checking out her other novel: For Those Who Are Lost.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

I am normally all about reads about libraries and women's fiction. This fell flat for me. The characters were not likeable or relatable. I had a hard time finishing.

The Radcliffe Ladies Reading Club is well written but flawed. Following Four Freshmen Radcliffe students making their way in the world for the first time, the novel highlights their hopes, dreams, and how the girls change during the school year.
The quartet meets Alice Campbell who is supposed to function as a fairy godmother figure, and illicit change and new ideas through the books she chooses for the titular book club. Alice harbors a secret, but the reveal is a bit of a let down, as it had been already been told in snippets throughout the book. Alice's story is presented as a mystery then a reveal of something that is to be seen as bold and courageous, but really even for the oppressive 1950s, is not all that shocking. Alice is a likable character, but not necessary to the main story of the four young women figuring out their identities.

The four girls - Caroline, Tess, Evie, and Meritt are very different from one another. Instead of representing different facets of 1950s young womanhood, Tess and Evie are rather unlikable and unsympathetic. The other two girls - Caroline and Merritt are sympathetic and show real growth beyond charicatures of women and what they "should" want. The novel almost makes Radcliffe the villain blaming the venerated all women's institution for the problems each girl faces while only being a backdrop. I feel like this story could have taken place anywhere and made the same point. In fact the novel has too many villains - Radcliffe, society, men, and even one of the girls.

Using the women in the novels for the book club, the novel gives examples of what these girls think they should be.
I felt cheated, as The Great Gatsby was never discussed and Daisy Buchanan's idea of being a "beautiful little fool" could have echoed Caroline's story beautifully. The novel felt like the story never delved below the surface, never got to the heart of how these young women truly felt about being dictated to by society. So much more could have been said of the pressure these young women felt about being held up to Impossible standards. The book spirals to a rather messy and unnecessary climax, core characters become cartoonishly villainous and hypocritical. Overall the book was a sad disappointment.

Tess, Caroline, Merrit, and Evie have just begun their freshman year at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Embracing the opportunities offered, they wholeheartedly immerse themselves in the 1950s college experience. Book clubs, movie nights, dances, classes, and studying fill their daily routines,. Little did they know how much a single school year would change the course of each one of their lives. Journey back in time an follow each character as she makes decisions and faces unexpected situations in this engaging work of historical fiction.

It's 1954 in Massachusetts, and 4 very different young women arrive at Radcliffe from towns across the US for their first year at Radcliffe College, Harvard University. They live together in the dormitory and become unlikely friends in spite of their differences in background and personality. The one thing that unites all these young women is their struggle against endemic discrimination against women and widespread chauvinism. Not only do they have to struggle against ingrained sexism from society and their own parents, but they often have to face outright anger and misogyny from the males around them. The four girls, Evie, Tess, Merritt and Caroline, find a friend and mentor in the local bookshop owner and proprietor, Alice, who begins to broaden their perspective by introducing them to works of literature in a monthly book club. But before the year is out, life changing events will occur and all four girls will have to decide what kind of future they want for themselves.

I hadn't read any reviews before beginning this novel and didn't know what to expect. It started rather slowly and I didn't feel there was going to be much excitement in it. I was wrong! As Alice introduces the girls to thought-provoking novels and asks questions that challenge their staid and conservative upbringing, she cracks open their reserve, and emotions run high. Then a traumatic and life-altering event occurs and the true colours emerge. Each of the girls has to decide for herself whether to slide into the expected roles of wife and mother, or to challenge the status quo and blaze a trail of her own in a world that wants to keep women in their place. A provocative and engaging read! Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for offering me this ARC. I will be purchasing a hard copy when it comes out in June.