This was such a great book to read in the current environment, however, the ending just didn't stick, and I think that if Bostwick had left that part of the book alone the book would have been a 5 star favorite with me.

"The Book Club for Troublesome Women" takes place in 1963 in a Virginia town called Concordia (just think close to Alexandria and D.C. The book follows Margaret, a stay at home mother of three; Charlotte, also a stay at home mother of four children; Bitsy a stay at home wife focusing on getting pregnant; and Viv a mother of 6 who hopes to get back into nursing after a decade plus long absence. Margaret has an idea of a book club to get to know Charlotte better. She includes Bitsy and Viv because they seem like the women in their neighborhood who would be of similar mindset. The first book up, the women read "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan.

The book follows all of the women as we see the impact of this book, others, and just the general societal impacts happening during 1963 (school integration, assassination of Medgar Evers, March on Washington, etc.).

I honestly liked all four of the women in this one. Each one has a different dream, but realizes they don't need to put down any of them for wanting something different. Bitsy dreams of being a vet, but had that dream denied to her since she's a woman. Margaret wants to be a writer, Charlotte an artist, and Viv is happy being a wife and mother, but wants to go back to nursing.

The flow of the initial part of the book is a little slow, but once you get to them reading "The Feminine Mystique" things take off.

I found myself reading the book straight through at one point because it was so good and I loathed some of these women husbands.

The only sticky point for me was the ending. Way too much got stuffed into it. And I think working in two real life people in this fictional book just felt very far-fetched. I didn't buy it, and it took me out of the book. Also the fast forward in the end didn't work either. I think it would have been better to leave the book open-ended and heck, even show not everyone gets to what they dream to do and you can just keep trying for it anyway. I think Bostwick wanted to tie a nice and tidy bow that didn't quite work.

I think the thing that makes me most sad in 2025 is that we are back right here again. We have society, politicians, countries trying to say what a woman is and what she should be doing full stop. We have proposed legislation that is going to make it harder for married women, adoptees, and transgender people to vote too. It knocks the wind out of my sails though that this book taking place in the 1960s really showed the way everyone tried to keep women and their dreams so small and we are back here again.

Thank you Netgalley & Harper Muse for an eARC ♥️



I couldn’t stop thinking about these women. ♥️

1960s suburbia, four housewives sipping coffee while the world expects them to stay small. Then—**BOOM**—*The Feminine Mystique* lands like a lit match on gasoline.
Charlotte, with her sharp wit and bruised heart, clawing her way out of a marriage that suffocated her. Bitsy, sweet but shrinking, learning she was never the problem—**the system was**. The way they leaned on each other, not just in shared frustration, but in real, messy solidarity—it wrecked me in the best way.
But here’s what got me: the book didn’t pretend this was every woman’s story. These were privileged women—women who got an allowance like children, while others worked three jobs just to survive. That honesty? **Chef’s kiss.**
By the end, I was sobbing into my tea, furious and hopeful all at once. Isn’t that why we read? To feel the past rattle our bones and remind us how far we’ve come—**and how far we still have to go?**
If you’ve ever read something that **changed you**, if you love stories where women **rage and heal and outgrow the boxes the world puts them in**—this one’s for you. **Hell yes.**

Margaret is the definition of a 1960s housewife. She stays at home to look after her three kids, cooks and cleans the house. But she is bored, and feels as though her life is lackluster. She finds camaraderie amongst the other women in her neighborhood, who experience similar feelings to her. When Charlotte moves in, she stirs things up by starting a book club with the first read being about not repressing yourself as a woman.

I love the theme of female friendship and how it can be so uplifting. The women in the book club all have their own struggles and lean on each other to begin to find some independence. I liked how they were all in different places in their lives, and the time period added a lot to the cultural context of the story. I did find it a bit similar to other books I have read, with the writing not particularly standing out. However, I did enjoy it.

”Books sprung from an author’s imagination can be just as meaningful as those based on facts, figures, and events, or even more meaningful. Novels force you to think—to make your own conclusions about characters and themes, and decide if they’re valid or relevant or true or good, or the opposite or maybe somewhere in between.”

The Book Club for Troublesome Woman is a story set in the 60s and is about the daily lives of four different ambitious, talented, opinionated and resilient women who found inspiration in a book named, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. These women formed lifetime of friendship through sharing of their thoughts on their book club pick’s, the ebb and flow of life as they try to chase their long forgotten dream amidst the hurdles that faced on their way, and their unwavering support to one another.

”Why settle for enough when you can have more than enough?”

I really admire the characters in this book as these women(Margaret, Viv, Bitsy, and Charlotte) still mirrors every kind of women in modern society. A women that will do whatever it takes to achieve her dream and be the best version of herself. A women who not only loves her career but also loves her husband and children. A women who have a backbone to fight for her rights, her opinions and prove others wrong. A women who have the means to support her friends and loved ones in times of need and that they can rely to one another.

Through this book I was able to learn that there a lot of things that women were not allowed to do during that time, such as opening a bank account on their own, which is kind of appalling and that particular scene really show how it’s such a “man’s world.” I really enjoyed reading this book and will absolutely recommend it. Hopefully, I will be also be part of the ‘Bettys’ and how can I sign-up?

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Harper Muse, and HarperCollins for giving me an eARC of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Margaret Ryan never really meant to start a book club . . . or a feminist revolution in her buttoned-up suburb.

By 1960s standards, Margaret Ryan is living the American woman's dream. She has a husband, three children, a station wagon, and a home in Concordia--one of Northern Virginia's most exclusive and picturesque suburbs. She has a standing invitation to the neighborhood coffee klatch, and now, thanks to her husband, a new subscription to A Woman's Place--a magazine that tells housewives like Margaret exactly who to be and what to buy. On paper, she has it all. So why doesn't that feel like enough?

Margaret is thrown for a loop when she first meets Charlotte Gustafson, Concordia's newest and most intriguing resident. As an excuse to be in the mysterious Charlotte's orbit, Margaret concocts a book club get-together and invites two other neighborhood women--Bitsy and Viv--to the inaugural meeting. As the women share secrets, cocktails, and their honest reactions to the controversial bestseller The Feminine Mystique, they begin to discover that the American dream they'd been sold isn't all roses and sunshine--and that their secret longing for more is something they share. Nicknaming themselves the Bettys, after Betty Friedan, these four friends have no idea their impromptu club and the books they read together will become the glue that helps them hold fast through tears, triumphs, angst, and arguments--and what will prove to be the most consequential and freeing year of their lives.
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I have read many of Marie Bostwick’s books in the past and always enjoyed them, so when I found this on NetGalley, I was quick to request it. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, and I have never (although I am a feminist) read The Feminine Mystique. However, I think the impact Betty Friedan had on women’s realization that there was more to life than what they found in their roles in the family is pretty well known.

Bostwick tells the story of four very different suburban housewives brought together by geography and bonded by what first is a “little” book club but then becomes so much more with such beauty and care and humor. Each women’s story is very different from the other, but the lengths they are willing to go to for each other shows how strong female friendships can hold us up and carry us through all the stages of life. I found myself feeling a full range of emotions, celebrating victories for the women and shedding a tear on an occasion or two. This book is definitely one that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys strong female characters, historical fiction of a period that is perhaps not often written about, and an uplifting story that celebrates the strength of women coming together in community.

Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique was the first book Margaret, Charlotte, Viv, and Bitsy chose for their book club- and it changes how they look at their lives. It's 1963 and these women are conforming to societal expectations, even if they're struggling. Bostwick, a good storyteller has a knack for creating characters you'll care about. Each woman's story feels very real. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Stirring up trouble isn’t a bad thing. If you liked Lessons in Chemistry, you will love this! This is my favorite book that I’ve ever so far this year, and genuinely can’t wait for everyone in my own book club to read it.

Getting to read an advanced digital copy of "The Book Club for Troublesome Women" by Marie Bostwick was an absolute treat! The story of four 1960s-era suburban housewives, Margaret, Viv, Bitsy, and Charlotte all long for something beyond their perfect-seeming lives. After reading "The Feminine Mystique," a groundbreaking and highly controversial book, and strengthened and supported by each other, the four women are inspired to make some much needed changes to their lives.

This book was heartwarming, charming, and insightful. Though I believe it will mostly appeal to readers of a certain age (I am 45), I also think woman of any age will be able to find themselves in this book and identify with the characters. Though the book does not criticize those woman who choose a more traditional way of life, it is clear that Ms. Bostwick believes that women are just as entitled as men to the fulfillment of their dreams and goals, and that goals other than homemaking and child rearing are just as valid. The book does not shy away from difficult topics, though the overall tone of the book is lighthearted, and this is a pretty easy read. I do wish, however, that the pacing was more even, as the book lagged in several places and didn't really pick up speed for me until well past the half-way mark. Like all of Ms. Bostwick's books, this one will make an excellent book club selection as there are a lot of interesting and relevant issues to discuss and unpack.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of this book.

I was really intrigued by the premise of The Book Club for Troublesome Women, but ultimately the book was "just okay". The plot tells the stores of four white women in NOVA living typical lives and they start a book club together. I didn't find anything about the women or their actions to be "troublesome" so I felt the book title was a bit misleading. I think the plot would have vastly improved if there had been differences amongst the women: class, race, education, *something*. The four characters were just ordinary women living ordinary 1960s lives.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins Focus, and Harper Collins Muse for the advanced copy. The Book Club for Troublesome Women hits shelves on April 22, 2025.

Marie Bostwick beautifully captures the society in which the four main characters meet and become life-long friends. She ably captures the roles the women are assigned that control their lives in and outside their homes. Her writing is nuanced and non-judgmental so her readers feel each character’s angst and anger having to live within societal norms when each wants to be more than she is allowed to be. Her characters are well-developed and depict what it was like to live in 1950s America. The author’s writing is crisp with no unnecessary added angst and no saggy parts.

If you are a woman, read this book so you understand what the women, your grandmother and perhaps your mother, who came before you endured in order for you to have the freedoms you may have been taking for granted.

My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for an eARC.

In the wake of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, the women of Concordia, Virginia will never be the same. Margaret, Bitsy, and Viv are the picture perfect housewives in their comfortable Northern Virgina homes until Charlotte moves to town from New York and upends their entire world view. The women begin a book club, reading Friedan together.

Marie Bostwick does an incredible job in The Book Club for Troublesome Women, making each character truly their own and giving the reader a sense of urgency and frustration from the limitations put on women of this time.

I was fortunate enough to get both audio and paper copies of this story and I think that the audio does a great job of putting you right into the story with excellent narration.

This book was a powerhouse of a story
I'm kinda glad I didn't grow up in the sixties. I did however loved the story and the characters a definite recommend.

Thank you Publisher and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and isn't influenced by anyone else
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I’m not reading this book—not because I don’t think I’d enjoy it, but because the formatting on my Kindle is awful. I’ve only made it through five pages, and it’s already giving me a headache. Sentences are breaking halfway through the page, and there are huge gaps that make it really difficult to follow the text. It’s frustrating because the story seems like something I’d genuinely enjoy, but the formatting is pulling me out of the reading experience entirely. I’ll have to purchase a copy so I can get a better experience.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women is a piece of historical fiction taking place in the 1960's. This novel tells the story of a group of women called the Betties. I loved this group of women and their bucking of the gender norms of the 1960's and the way they support one another. Many of the men in this book made me angry because they are so dismissive of their partners and the women in general which I know was just "the way it was." I am so glad that I did not live in this time. There were also many references to literature that would be reminiscent for many.

Thank you Net Galley, Marie Bostwick and Harper Collins Focus for the opportunity to preview this title. The opinions shared are my own.
The Book Club for Troublesome Women is expected to be released April 22, 2025. Put this on your TBR!

"The invisible fence of rules and mores that confined women to a small, carefully defined patch of human achievement impacted men as well, required them to carry the bulk of a family's financial burden, even if it meant does work they disliked."

When four suburban DC sixties era housewives begin a bookclub with the illustrious and controversial title The Feminine Mystique, it prompts a spark of change in each of their households.

Remember, in the early sixties, women couldn't open a bank account, hold a job with her husband's approval, and Roe v Wade wasn't a thing yet.

I loved the balanced story telling and vignettes from these ladies life during this pivotal time. It's clear that it was a once in a lifetime experience stuck with them all deeply. I especially loved the candid conversation between the women, yes, but also the married couples.

This book continued to grow on me until the very end. Like I said, feminism and equal pay/workload isn't in a bottle and it also effects men. Bostwick did a helluva job in this area and it's one of my very favorite areas of exploration on this subject.

Feminism + Marriage is a great mystery that we continue to explore with open arms and appreciation for those that have gone before. I loved this book and the discussion that it will garner.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women brings together a group of unhappy housewives in the 1960’s. Their first book “The Feminine Mystique” changes their lives forever.

We follow four friends -Margaret, Viv, Bitsy, and Charlotte- as they become closer through motherhood, friendship, and the fight against social expectations.

Historical Fiction lovers you will eat this book up. You can’t help but root for the characters in this uplifting novel. Reading The Book Club for Troublesome Women was thought-provoking while remaining easy to follow and enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this Advanced Copy. This is an honest review.

ugh this book was far to relevant to today than should be possible. it is honest and telling of how woman were manipulated into staying in their place and the tactics used to do this was stark. and how relevant this still is today(even with differing methods used) is a bit depressing.
but the great thing in this book is the supportive group these woman form. and how that creates the most supportive of changes in them all. and how it gives them all the strength to fall apart but also fall back together.
this was a book from the 60s but one any woman or man can related to difficulties or topics of today. and the telling of friendship between them all was all youd ever want from a book. i want to be part of a troublesome woman's club please!
i loved getting to know these woman and felt they all had main character energy and were given the space they all deserved and all their parts felt true and heartfelt.
its one of those books where you think who would i be out of them all. or how would i cope with things they went through and sadly many are going through still to this day.

Three housewives Starr a book club in 1963. They are joined by a fourth woman, a bit of a free spirit who convinces them to read The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. Little by little, pushed by each other, the women begin to make some big changes in their lives, just as society is changing also. An enjoyable read.

When I requested this ARC I was hoping it will fill the void that has been missing since Mad Men ended and boy was I surprised. Not only did I enjoy the story itself and all the different POVs for Margaret, Viv, Bitsy, and Charlotte, but reading this in our current political climate was a little eerie in the best way. To see how the American propaganda was used, knowing what impact it has had on later generations, made my stomach twist.

THE BOOK CLUB FOR TROUBLESOME WOMEN describes a small group of women who react positively to Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique. Author Marie Bostwick fills the book with specific details of life in the early 1960s. Cereals, clothing, attitudes and setting are highlighted with recognizable name brands interspersed with more generic descriptions. I wish I enjoyed this book more, though. I was a young child during this period and rather than feeling nostalgic throughout the book, I felt a bit bored. I don’t think I am quite the right audience for the book. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.