I really loved each of the character’s stories and the strength of the women throughout them. I felt at points it did feel like it was long but not to the point it felt like it was dragging. By the end as things came together, I felt like I couldn’t put it down. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced ebook copy of this book.

I really enjoyed the book and the fresh voice. The switching voices was a bit much for me otherwise I liked it

This book gave a fascinating glimpse into 1950s America — what life was like for women from different walks of life. Although we get great character exploration, I liked some much more than others and felt let down when we had to change perspectives just when I got invested in one storyline. We have 6 main characters, and about 7+ other side characters. The author did a great job with the pacing and keeping me invested in the murder mystery. I wanted to get to the end to see how everything came together.

This book is for those that:
- Have enjoyed other Kate Quinn books
- Like found family / neighbors
- Female / feminist POV
- Learning about micro-history

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
This is a great story of unlikely friendship and camaraderie. The characters are real and relatable. The story is easy to read and I found myself rooting for all of the tenants of the house. I found it interesting that the house had a voice. Really an enjoyable read with a twist at the end.

Set in a boarding house in Washington DC in the fifties, this novel outperformed my expectations. I have loved all of Quinn’s novels, but this book had the politics of the Cold War a little more in the background, focusing on the friendships formed by the very different women in the Briarhouse. A creative touch were the chapters narrated by the house itself. Grace was the catalyst to the women forming friendships, as chapters told the back story of each woman. Bea was a baseball star in the women’s leagues; Nora was determined not to follow in her family’s footsteps and just get married and have babies; Reka , the immigrant older woman with a secret. There were more characters, each giving depth to a great story. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Kate Quinn continues to write excellent stories about the past. Her setting and characters never fail to impress, and her addition of the house as a character made this book stand out from her other historical fictions.

I’ve been trying to branch out with my reading of historical fiction to books that feature historical periods I’m not very familiar with. I love Kate Quinn’s WWII fiction, so when I learned her latest novel, The Briar Club, was set during the McCarthy Era in the 1950s, I knew I had to read it.

The story is set in Briarwood House, an all female boardinghouse in Washington, D.C.. For the most part, the residents keep to themselves. Since McCarthy’s witch-hunt for communists has everyone on edge, it’s just easier that way. That is, until the mysterious widow Grace March moves into the house’s tiny attic room. Somehow Grace becomes the glue that brings all of the other residents together. She hosts weekly dinners & they soon form a wonderful system of support and friendship.

The Briar Club is a story of female friendships, but it’s also a story of secrets and mystery. When the story opens, the police are investigating a murder scene in Grace’s room. They’re in the midst of trying to identify the victims and gather evidence to find the killer. We get glimpses of the investigation along the way, but for the most part, the story shifts back in time to the day Grace arrived and moves forward from there. As the story unfolds, we get to meet all of the residents of Briarwood and learn Grace isn’t the only one with secrets.

I was fascinated by the characters & loved how Quinn fleshed out each of them. Bea is a former women’s baseball player who is sad her sport ended with the war, while Nora is the daughter of a police officer who is seeing a gangster. Fliss is staying there because her husband is a doctor in the military, and Reka is an elderly Russian woman who is reluctant to join Grace’s dinners but eventually gives in. And then there’s Arlene, a woman who has bought into McCarthyism & thinks everyone is a Communist.

I love a good female friendship story & seeing the McCarthy Era from the perspectives of these characters quite interesting, so this book was a great fit for me.

Kate Quine does it again! I enjoyed this one. I live the history and I loved the mystery aspect to it too.

This was my first book by this author and I can’t wait to read more! I really enjoyed her writing style. Historical Fiction can be hit or miss for me, but I really enjoyed how Quinn brought everything together in a cohesive way. The character development was so good!

I loved this book. I had read several Kate Quinn books before, but I felt this one was very different, mainly because of its cast of quirky, eccentric characters.

The Briar Club is still Quinn's trademark historical fiction, as we find ourselves plopped right in the middle of the McCarthy Red Scare era. The story also takes place delightfully in Washington DC.

Quinn's story opens with a double murder in the Briar Wood boarding house where our mostly loveable, but more so eclectic, ladies reside. Besides the female boarders, the disgruntled landlady, her two children, and the ladies' suitors help to round out the ensemble.

We are treated to background stories on each of the boarders in flashback chapters (taking place over the past four years). We are shown the friendships they forge through their Thursday night Briar Supper Club. Through learning their stories, we are brought up to present tense and learn the victims of the double murders and motives. We are also treated to some interspersed chapters where the house is personified and serves as our omniscient narrator.

The unconventional and peculiar characters plus the unique unfolding of the plot made this a win/win. Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow for this entertaining ARC.

I love reading Kate Quinn and this one was no different. I loved reading about the goings on at the Briarhouse kept me turning the pages. We got a good look at each boarder with their own chapters. Everything is wrapped up and explained at the end. I gave it four stars and will recommend.

Kate Quinn knows how to write a slow burn Historical Fiction.

Taking place duing the McCarthy Era of the 1950's, seven women live in boarding house in Washington, DC. Some of them work for HUAC, some work as typists for senators, and others pick up any odd job to make ends meet. But they join up in the evenings at the Briarwood House, have dinners on Thursdays, and help the children of their house marm. Each chapter focuses on one of the women in the house, their past and their present colliding, all leading up to the treacherous events of Thanksgiving Night.

What an amazing book by Kate Quinn!

Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss, whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; policeman’s daughter Nora, who finds herself entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Beatrice, whose career has come to an end along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.

Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: who is the true enemy in their midst?

Capturing the paranoia of the McCarthy era and evoking the changing roles for women in postwar America, The Briar Club is an intimate and thrilling novel of secrets and loyalty put to the test.

I love that each chapter is a different tenant’s life, their story, flaws, and growth. I also love that the house is considered a sentient being. “If the walls could talk.” Each character is rich and well rounded. Their flaws are what make the reader want to know more, to read more.

Overall, I rate this novel 5 out of 5 stars.

I can sometimes struggle with books with many main character POVs, but Kate Quinn did such a great job in this book making each character SO distinct with their personalities and personal situations. I really enjoyed getting to know each housemate with so much detail into their pasts and what brought them to Briarwood house. The murder mystery element of this book was actually my least favorite, as I didn't care very much who was killed and who was responsible, but I can see how it was a required element to show how high the stakes were and how close the housemates had gotten. I think I would have liked something with a little less action/mystery and a little more emotion since I know Kate Quinn has the ability to make me cry. Regardless, I'll continue picking up Kate Quinn's books as long as she keeps writing them!

This is set in 1950s in Washington DC, during the time of the red scare .
The story revolves around the lives of the residents of a women’s boarding house and how their lives intertwine.
Each chapter delves into the background story for each resident. They come from all walks of life and I loved hearing about how they came to be at Brairwood House.

This was the third book I have read by Kate Quinn and I have loved each one. I would highly recommend this book to fans of historical Fiction ¥

Set against the backdrop of McCarthyism in the 1950s, this historical fiction novel is a gripping choice for fans of Kristin Hannah. Kate Quinn, renowned for her best-selling female-centered historical fiction, delivers a standout story with this book.

The narrative unfolds in a women’s boarding house in Washington, D.C., helmed by an unscrupulous owner and featuring a cast of richly developed characters. Each chapter centers on a different resident: an elderly immigrant, a retired women’s baseball player (reminiscent of A League of Their Own), and a mysterious widow from Iowa. The book also includes recipes at the end of each section, adding a charming touch.

In an era when women couldn’t divorce, own property, or have credit cards, boarding houses provided a space for single women to create supportive communities. By the end of the novel, the boarders’ strong bonds and protective instincts highlight the resilience and camaraderie formed in this unique setting.

For audiobook listeners, the varied accents of the characters make it easier to distinguish their stories. The structure, with each character’s tale told in separate sections rather than alternating chapters, enhances the clarity and flow of the narrative.

If you’re a fan of female-centered historical fiction and ready for an engaging, longer read, this book is perfect for you.

This historical fiction novel transports readers to Briarwood House, a women’s boarding house in 1950s McCarthy-era Washington, D.C. It explores the evolving roles of women in post-war America, weaving a compelling tale of secrets and loyalty tested.

The book is deeply character-driven and well-researched, with language that authentically captures the era. It's not a fast read but a richly immersive experience to be savored.

And it comes with recipes!

Following the success of “The Diamond Eye” and “The Rose Code,” Kate Quinn is back with “The Briar Club” (William Morrow, $28.99), a McCarthy-era thriller where secrets are brimming in a 1950s Washington, D.C., boardinghouse.

In this novel focusing on female relationships and women’s evolving roles in the U.S. following the war, a widow finds surprising companionship in her neighbors of various backgrounds, including a picture-perfect stay-at-home mom, the daughter of a policeman who also happens to be dating a gangster, a baseball star at the end of her career and a woman in the throes of the Red Scare. A murder threatens to turn the group’s weekly warm and sweet get-togethers sour, however, as the five women must discern who in their found family isn’t to be trusted.

Rich historical details and deep character-building drive this slow-burning tale that flawlessly balances pulpy entertainment with a tear-inducing storyline.

Thank you William Morrow for the advanced copy of a very anticipated book!

Kate Quinn writes some of the best historical fiction and I'm always excited for her new books. This one was a little different but I really enjoyed it.
Set in a boarding house in 1950s DC during the McCarthy era is this story about friendship and secrets.

This was much more character driven than her other books but I loved getting introduced to each of the women and hearing their stories. I liked seeing how it all connected. I love that we're getting more 1950s historical fiction these days so this glimpse into the daily lives is something I really liked.

The Briar Club introduces us to the women of Briarwood House, a boarding house in Washington DC. Each woman is as different as night and day, each harboring secrets of her own. Through newcomer Grace March, a hot plate, and a painted flowering vine, the women become more than just neighbors, they become friends, a family.

Set in the 1950s in DC, with McCarthyism and the Red Scare as the backdrop of their lives, Quinn divides the book up into distinct POVs from each character. The timelines overlap where they need to, but everything we need to know about each woman is doled out perfectly. You never feel like one of the other women is missing from the story, even if its not told from her perspective.

All seven women have full lives and backgrounds and reasons for their idiosincracies. Each woman could have fronted a book of her own, but the way Quinn weaves them all together is masterful and magical. In the end, they all need each other and come to rely on each other. They battle the status quo of the day, they listen to one another and make their lives better, more fulfilled.

The house, too, plays a small part, and its so ingeniously done that I would have taken MORE of the house, if offered. All in all, Quinn says a lot about many things, from being a perfect mother, to family strife and chasing your dreams even if they seem out of reach, that there is something for everyone. I don't know how she does it, but Quinn is a master of historical fiction.