Washington, D.C., 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, 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; police officer’s daughter Nora, who is entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Bea, whose career has ended 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 apart the house, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: Who is the true enemy in their midst?
Paperback, 432 pages
First published July 9, 2024
by William Morrow
3.5/5 stars
Kate Quinn‘s new book is a departure to her usual writing style. Taking place in 1950 Washington DC is the story of a boarding house and its occupants. With extremely long chapters, each one reads like a short story until everything comes together in the last quarter of the book
I found the first 50/60 pages a little bit hard to get into but then once I caught on to what Quinn was doing, it wasn’t hard to be captivated. The prologue from the point of the view of the house was such a unique perspective, knowing what transpired did keep me wondering what happened and who was all involved.
The Briar Club is a story of friendship and secrets. Quinn touched on a number of issues relevant today - depression, women's role in the home and control of their own bodies...and more. Known for her spot on research and knowledge of the times showed up here. A character driven story that revolved around real historical events and characters that came together in a unexpected way that highlighted the importance of friendship and loyalty.
The author notes at the end were wonderful and I love how Quinn talked about motivation, history and brought unknown pieces of history to light. A nice way to finish off the story
This book was part of my 2024 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge
PS - get the print copy, lots of yummy looking recipes
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