Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance reader copy in exchange for a review. The opinions expressed are my own.
This is a tough one for me to review. I adore Quinn’s historical fictions and it’s nearly an automatic choice for me for my book club. In fact, the last two books we did were from Quinn! I dove into this book waiting for the same rush, but for me it just wasn’t there.
I don’t want to put off anyone from reading this book. It’s well written. The characters are marvelous. It just wasn’t the right book at the right time for me. I found it slow, hard to get into, and hard to keep attentive. I have to give it stars, so I will say 4* for the writing.

Kate Quinn has done it again! As someone who has devoured many of Quinn’s books, I was captivated yet again by her writing — the vivid and complex characters, the thoroughly researched historical narrative, the suspenseful plot. I was charmed by the warmth of the strong women and their friendships, the way they exchanged meals, support and secrets.

The Briar Club felt to me like a slight departure from Quinn’s other novels. Instead of being rooted in one larger historical time period (e.g. WWII), each chapter focuses on a different tenant of a DC boardinghouse, exploring their personal lives through the lens of a number of different important historical dynamics and events in the early 1950s. The vignettes of these women were really well written, it started a little slower but came together at the end with a juicy plot twist. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another homerun by Kate Quinn.
I love the way Kate Quinn writes female characters and relationships. This book is about the power of female friendships and the secrets that people are hiding every day. It is set in the 1950's during the Red Scare and the Mcarthy era, in Washington D.C.
These eight women live in an all female boardinghouse, and each chapter of the books follows the lives of one of these eight women.

Once again Kate Quinn delivers a smash.

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.

The Briar Club was another winner by Kate Quinn, one of my favorite authors of historical fiction. The Briar Club itself consists of a mismatched group of women who have nothing in common except the ramshackle Washington DC boardinghouse in which they rent rooms during the early 1950's. Their intrepid leader is Grace March, who is the most recent tenant. Throughout the novel these women come to share their secrets and lives as they become a version of found family.

The structure of the book made it appealing. At the beginning we learn that a murder has taken place but we do not know the victim. Each lengthy chapter focuses on one of the women as we learn their backstory and how they came to be living at the Briarwood House. The house itself becomes a sort of narrator as we get glimpses into what happened on the fateful day of the murder in between each woman's story.

The characters are what made this book so special. I appreciated getting to each one of them in turn, as it helped to understand their actions and perspective. In addition to the boarders, the landlady's two children, Pete and Lina, are brought into the fold of the Briar Club members to receive the love and tenderness they didn't receive from their mother.

The plot had a great twist that I didn't see coming, which makes the book all the better. The resolution was fitting. I love Kate Quinn's writing, and this book ranks among her best.

I will recommend it to readers who like historical fiction about women's relationships.

Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance ecopy of this title. This novel is set in a somewhat shabby boarding house in Washington D.C. as Sen. McCarthy is whipping the country into a frenzy about communism. The cast of characters is vivid with believable quirks that make most of them human and likeable. The book is sectioned into backstories of the most important characters interspersed with descriptions of a climatic event. The pacing is perfect, and it was quite hard for me to put down. HIGHLY recommend!

Wonderful! I loved reading from each different character's perspective and hearing their stories. Love the found-family theme and the twist at the end. Highly recommend!

I feel as if I can finally call myself a devoted fan of Kate Quinn because this woman never misses.

The Briar Club follows a group of tenets in the Briar House during the time of the Red Scare, and focuses on each of their individual stories and how they all tie together. It follows their pasts and then the present which is where the whole house is being investigated for a murder.

This story is a compelling and absolutely captivating read. The story is beautifully woven and the characters are some of the most developed fictional people I have ever read. Truly Kate Quinn has such a way with words, story progression, and characters, and she excels at engaging you with the story and making you feel as if you are truly there in the house with them.

The plot was truly one of her most suspenseful yet and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book, It truly is one of the best historical fiction I have ever read.

Additionally, the historical details in this novel were meticulously researched and added a rich layer of authenticating to the story. Quinn always stays true to the real history, both commonly known and unknown.

The Briar Club is a compelling and intricately plotted novel that I would highly suggest to anyone who wants an intriguing historical fiction with mystery, love, and secrets embedded in each page.

Unputdownable!! I drank in this book like ice water on a hot day. While this isn’t your traditional Kate Quinn book you will still be carried away with spies, history, strong female characters, and loyalty to no end. Grace finds herself renting the last room of Briarwood House. As she settles in she starts to turn her room into her home. The walls are painted, a supper club is formed, and friendships are forged, and tested when a murder takes place. Each character is so beautifully written that you can’t help but identify with all of them in some way.

Phenomenal. I am a big Kate Quinn fan, and this is my favorite book I have read so far this year. I never wanted it to end; I was so wrapped up in all of the women's lives, and even Pete and Lina.

Grace, a widow, moves into the 4th floor room of a boarding house and we meet all the women that live there. Each chapter is devoted to their story, and I devoured every page. One of my favorite aspects is the House - Briarwood is it's character, and the interstitials come from the House's perspective. It made me feel like I was looking at the house as though it was a dollhouse, and I could see what was happening throughout.

The author's note at the end was exquisite, and so much was based on real people and real experiences that it really cemented the whole story in my mind. The best part is when Quinn tells us to google her inspiration for Grace's room - that room is perfection and perfectly fits the narrative.

I cannot recommend this book enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this read. All opinions are my own.
I adore Kate Quinn's previous books. The Rose Code had a plot line that broke my heart. Quinn includes strong female protagonists with sometimes complicated lives in all of her books. The Briar Club had a unique twist where the house itself was a character, leading us through the story by introducing flashbacks of cameos for each of the residents. Something I really enjoyed was the nuance each of the characters presented. They all had something going on - post-partum depression; survival after sexual assault; family pressures; and many others. The ability of the Briar Club (a unique gathering of the women residing at a boarding house) to meet the needs of the residents while simultaneously not asking them to change was inspirational.

As a massive Kate Quinn fan (hello Rose Code!), I was so excited to receive access to THE BRIAR CLUB! This novel seemed very different than Quinn's previous novels (not in a bad way -- it just took some getting used to!) Read if you enjoy historical fiction, character-development, & multiple POVs. I especially LOVED the chapters uniquely written from the perspective of the house.

Another great book from Kate Quinn. I love that she gives us author notes at the end of each of her books with more information about events that take place during her stories, and this one was no exception.

It was such fun getting to know the members of The Briar Club. I loved their Thursday get-togethers and how they became family even though they all were from such different backgrounds. I also enjoyed the chapters from the houses' point of view. How to fun to even work in the Pillsbury bake-off competition!

This one is a definite must read for historical fiction lovers, Kate Quinn fans and all the readers out there!

It's the 1950's and the Briarwood House of Washington DC has seen better days. The all-female boarding house is run by a curmudgeonly mother of two who rents out rooms and closely monitors the boarders- sometimes by pawing through their belongings. When Grace March moves into the tiny attic room she begins to draw the boarders together, and an unlikely family drawing together.

Set against the backdrop of McCarthy's Red Scare, author Kate Quinn weaves together the story of women whose lives will be forever intertwined. Leading toward a brutal murder, the story unfolds, drawing the reader in and the characters together. Beautifully told, this is a historical mystery readers won't be able to put down.

Kate Quinn has never disappointed me - and The Briar Club might be my favorite of her novels thus far. It’s possible I say something like that after each of her new novels. Set in a boarding house (maybe I’ll become fascinated by these like I was with boarding schools and am with fancy resorts (oh, but I’m reading a book about to change that!), The Briar Club focuses on the very, very different women and children who live there. Grace, a new and rather mysterious resident, brings them all together for a meal each Thursday evening in her tiny attic room furnished with just a tiny fridge and hot plate. These disparate folks form a family of sorts. Each chapter of the book focuses on one of the house’s residents. Their individual stories come to a crescendo in a complex way illustrating the power of strong relationships even to overcome the darkest secrets.

Even though it starts with a murder - a ghastly one, I’ll admit, at first I was a bit baffled at this novel. I had come to expect certain things from Kate Quinn, in terms of history and suspense. And though surprised a bit, I loved the structure immediately. I have been recently fascinated by the short story form (thanks Sidle Creek!), so I love how Quinn creates chapters that focus on a member of the Briar club and reads much like a short story. We get to know Pete a young boy living in the house owned and operated by his single mother; Nora who loves her job in the National Archives (and maybe a gangster too), Reka an immigrant artist who is furious at what has been taken from her; Fliss who lives with her daughter there while her husband serves as a doctor in Korea, Bea who is missing her career as a professional baseball player; Claire who is working multiple jobs to earn the money for a home of her own; Arlene who works for HUAC and has been left embittered by an affair from her youth; Grace who seems maybe the most mysterious but is also the glue that holds this group together with her Thursday night gatherings, until she needs them in a big way. We meet many of their “people” along the way, learning a great deal about life just after WWII in our world. The subtlety with which Quinn builds her overarching story within these stories is creatively amazing and reflective of her extreme writing talent. I am so glad she used this format to create such an unexpected work. She concludes each chapter with a recipe based on the featured character. Quinn also used the boarding house as a character - between each chapter was a brief interlude where the house would update the reader on the murder. So many elements working so well together.

As with my recent read of Maggie Smith’s You Could Make This Place Beautiful and Jolene McIlwain’s Sidle Creek, I am struck very much by the form and its function in this work. If I were still teaching English - I’ve said that a time or two of late - I would have so much material here. I also love the illustration here of the power of friendship. In this novel, friendship alleviates loneliness, enables and supports strength and courage, quite literally saves lives, supports change. Quinn tackles mob mentality, gender equality, corruption, domestic abuse, child neglect, crime, and more. She teaches history, creating the spirit of Washington DC in the 50s - we see politics, recipes, a national baking contest. How I admire Quinn’s ability to do all of this in such an inviting, suspenseful, and entertaining way. Kate Quinn’s The Briar Club publishing on July 9 is a must read.

This locked-door mystery set in Washington, D.C. during the McCarthy era not only teases whodunit, but also, who is/are the victims. The setting is a sentient boardinghouse for women on Thanksgiving of 1954 and the story weaves together the time of the murder with the various characters and each of their back stories. Every one of the women has a reason to murder someone, but who actually does it and why is absolutely not what the reader would suspect. That's what makes this story so far above the ordinary. The key person is Grace March when she moves into the Briarwood boarding house. Her interactions with the other characters are what tie the story together, and does a wonderful job of it. Nobody is what they seem to be on first impression, and how all the characters develop throughout the story makes for compelling reading. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

I am a long-time fan of Kate Quinn and will devour anything she writes. This book was so beautiful and was very character driven, which is my favorite kind of book. This is the first book in awhile that Kate has written that is NOT set during WWII or is WWII adjacent. I loved the departure. Another thing I love is that the book is set in a boardinghouse in DC and there are only eight chapters. You get to know each of the boarders in each chapter and then their histories and experiences all come together and intersect at the end and it was so satisfying. It reminded me of a Maeve Binchy book or the Olive Kitteridge books by Elizabeth Strout.

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This one I’m struggling to rate! Kate is one of my favorite authors! Rose Code, The Huntress, Alice Network, and Diamond Eye are all books I DEVOURED. This book is different than her usual style and I can’t say I was obsessed. It is very character driven and a little bit slower moving, but does get better at the end when all of the pieces connect. It follows 8 different women, and some storylines are more interesting than others, so hang on because the end gets good!

This book starts with 2 dead bodies at a boarding house and police at the scene. It jumps back and follows the story of 8 different women living in the house, and by the end you find out how it all connects.

Pub. Date: July 9, 2024.

Perfect if you like:
•Character driven story.
•Found family.
•Strong female characters.
•Washington D.C. in the 1950’s.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️
Mood: 🍿🍷

🚪: implied intimacy.
⚠️: explicit language.

I've been on a contemporary romance kick and wasn't completely sure if I wanted to dig into something historical that also was likely to be a bit heavier (based on my prior experience with the author). I thought I'd give it a try and see if I was in the mood for it or not, and of course Kate Quinn sucked me right in. The Briar Club tells the story of the residents of a women-only boardinghouse in Washington DC in the 1950s, right after a mysterious new boarder joins the house and begins to slowly draw the other residents together. We know from the first page that this is going to end up with a body count (again, this is pretty standard for Kate Quinn), but we don't know who the bodies are or how exactly we got there. The story alternates between narrators, starting with the young son of the embittered matron of the house and then cycling through other residents, letting us get to know each woman and her secrets as we see how their stories intertwine. The character development was fantastic, and while I get the sense that these women were kind of meant to serve as archetypes for women in early post-war America (the wife of a doctor sent to serve in Korea, an injured female baseball player mourning the end of the all-female league from the war years, a woman working for the House Un-American Activities Committee who has gone all in on the Red Scare), each woman still felt complex and authentic on her own. This was one of those books I stayed up late reading, as the pace just kept picking up as I went along. Content warnings for references to intimate partner violence, references to past abuse, and on-page violence).

Thank you to the publisher William Morrow and Netgalley @netgalley for this e-arc. All thoughts are my own.


Briarwood house is an all women boarding house in the D.C area. Set in 1950, Grace March, a widow, moves into the attic room.

Each week Grace throws a dinner party in her small yet cozy room, so when a shocking act of violence takes place in the house, the women are shocked to their core. Is there an enemy in their midst?

I am finding this review hard to write because I have enjoyed some of the author’s previous works, but this book was a miss for me. The chapters were overly long, and each chapter was told from a different character’s perspective. While this did allow me to get to know each character, it left me wanting more from each of them. I felt that I was reading multiple short stories, rather than one cohesive story. The pacing was also very slow, which is something I dread, especially for historical fiction. I did appreciate the amount of research that must have gone into this book, and that aspect did shine through. While it is historical fiction, it also had undertone of cozy mystery, which makes sense with the slower pacing and subject of murder taking place in the house. I also didn’t appreciate the inclusion of recipes in the book the way others have. I don’t think that the recipes added any value being included within the chapters besides making the chapters even longer. If you’re going to include them, I think they belong in the back of the book.