⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Four friends are forever changed by reading a book, The Feminine Mystique. This is about housewives in the 1960’s who become closer through motherhood, community and feminism. Fans of uplifting historical fiction will love this book. I was cheering for Charlotte as she overcame a bad marriage and outsmarted her controlling father. I was rooting for Bitsy that she would see her worth and value. One thing that I appreciated was the acknowledgment that The Feminine Mystique was written for women of privilege who were manipulated into having a lesser role. Other women were already working multiple jobs out of necessity. These women got an “allowance” and were treated like children. It’s a book that reminds us why we read.

Thanks to @netgalley and @Harpermusebooks for the ARC. Book to be released April 22, 2025.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

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A book full of timely topics!

Apparently, President Kennedy said 'the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened' which should've been 'human' instead of 'man,' but very a theme very much alive these days with the world being on fire. This book is also about being-good-enough, misogyny, racism, women being judged, and their lack of control.

And yet... with the four main characters and their lives, struggling with all the difficulties of the 60s, I am miffed with the happy-endings. All four of them tied up in a neat bow.
These women were not that much in control of their lives, whatever made those happy-endings possible was serendipity. It was not raw nor tragic, as apparently The Feminine Mystique Betty Friedan is.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse
Pub Date: 4-22-25

Thank you @netgalley, @harpermusebooks, and @mariebostwick for this eARC.

Over several months in 1963 four women build strong bonds when they form a book club and begin to share their lives with each other.  The first book they select to read is The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. 

Margaret, Charlotte, Bitsy, and Viv - forevermore to be known as The Bettys - live in a new suburban development in Northern Virginia.  Each is married. Not all have children.  Each wants more in their relationships and their lives.

I was swept up in the lives of these four women.  A story set in a time that makes me thankful I was born in 1970 - needing your husband to sign to allow you to open a bank account, needing your husband to go to your doctor appointment to approve your birth control prescription.  Only the tip of the iceberg, I know!

“I just joined a book club,” Bitsy offered. “Maybe I’ll find friends there. We’re reading The Feminine Mystique. It’s interesting."

"And controversial.” Mrs. Graham nodded appreciatively. “I like these women already.”

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Like so many stories set during the 1950s and 60s this one was frustrating due to being so well written — I really felt like I was a part of this group of housewives, so I couldn’t help but feel frustrated and angry with the way they were treated by their husbands and the world. It was engrossing to see the women step into a sense of self and independence in different ways, and how books and writing helped to bring them there. There was four women at the center of the story but each felt unique, with their own struggles and joys of womanhood, making it easy to keep them distinguished.