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Wednesday #1
The Wednesday Sisters
When five young mothers—Frankie, Linda, Kath, Ally, and Brett—first meet in a neighborhood park in the late 1960s, their conversations center on marriage, raising children, and a shared love of books. Then one evening, as they gather to watch the Miss America Pageant, Linda admits that she aspires to write a novel herself, and the Wednesday Sisters Writing Society is born. The five women slowly, and often reluctantly, start filling journals, sliding pages into typewriters, and sharing their work. In the process, they explore the changing world around them: the Vietnam War, the race to the moon, and a women’s movement that challenges everything they believe about themselves. At the same time, the friends carry one another through more personal changes—ones brought about by infidelity, longing, illness, failure, and success. With one another’s support and encouragement, the Wednesday Sisters begin to embrace who they are and what they hope to become, welcoming readers to experience, along with them, the power of dreaming big.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
About the author
Meg Waite Clayton
12 books1,376 followersMeg Waite Clayton is a New York Times bestselling author of 8 novels, most recently the international bestseller THE POSTMISTRESS OF PARIS, which is a Good Morning America Buzz pick, New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, Costco Book Club pick, People Magazine, IndieNext booksellers, LoanStars librarians, USA Today, Book of the Month Club and Amazon Editors’ pick and Publishers Weekly notable book the San Francisco Chronicle calls "gripping … an evocative love story layered with heroism and intrigue — the film ‘Casablanca’ if Rick had an artsy bent … powerful.”
Her prior books include the international bestseller and National Jewish Book Award finalist THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON, the #1 Amazon fiction bestseller BEAUTIFUL EXILES, the Langum-Prize honored national bestseller THE RACE FOR PARIS- and THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS, one of Entertainment Weekly's "25 Essential Best Friend Novels" of all time. Her THE LANGUAGE OF LIGHT was a finalist for the Bellwether Prize (now PEN/Bellwether Prize). Her novels have been published in 23 languages.
She has also written more than 100 pieces for major newspapers, magazines, and public radio. She has participated in the Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman sponsored The Writers Lab for screenwriting, mentors in the OpEd Project, and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the California bar. megwaiteclayton.com
Her prior books include the international bestseller and National Jewish Book Award finalist THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON, the #1 Amazon fiction bestseller BEAUTIFUL EXILES, the Langum-Prize honored national bestseller THE RACE FOR PARIS- and THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS, one of Entertainment Weekly's "25 Essential Best Friend Novels" of all time. Her THE LANGUAGE OF LIGHT was a finalist for the Bellwether Prize (now PEN/Bellwether Prize). Her novels have been published in 23 languages.
She has also written more than 100 pieces for major newspapers, magazines, and public radio. She has participated in the Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman sponsored The Writers Lab for screenwriting, mentors in the OpEd Project, and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the California bar. megwaiteclayton.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,492 reviews
November 7, 2022
Enjoyable book about a group of women in the late 60s/early 70s who become friends and then form a writing group.
I have had this book on my shelves for a long time, and I decided that it's about time to start reading or start culling! So yay for the TBR Takedown and I will be diligently working on this from here forward.
This book starts in 1969 and five young women meet in a park in Palo Alto. Their husbands are all working at various jobs that have brought them to the area, and they bond over shared interests. When they discover that each of them enjoys writing, they decide to form the Wednesday Sisters Writing Society. Through numerous trials in marriage, motherhood, careers, illness, and the changes in the early 1970s, these women support each other in their quest to become the best writers and women they can be.
Although this book at times becomes way too "issues" forward, I admired the heart of the women and really connected with them and their joys and sorrows. Some of the characters were much better defined than others and seemed like real people rather than the vessel for another issue to be brought forward. And like I said, my oh my there are a lot of issues. I feel like the author could have left some of them out and just focused on a couple rather than SO many. I did love the aspects abut the writing and their individual goals surrounding their writing.
Overall, this is a book worth reading if you like women's fiction. I listened to part of this as an audiobook and it was a fine interpretation, the narrator was good and conveyed the story well.
I have had this book on my shelves for a long time, and I decided that it's about time to start reading or start culling! So yay for the TBR Takedown and I will be diligently working on this from here forward.
This book starts in 1969 and five young women meet in a park in Palo Alto. Their husbands are all working at various jobs that have brought them to the area, and they bond over shared interests. When they discover that each of them enjoys writing, they decide to form the Wednesday Sisters Writing Society. Through numerous trials in marriage, motherhood, careers, illness, and the changes in the early 1970s, these women support each other in their quest to become the best writers and women they can be.
Although this book at times becomes way too "issues" forward, I admired the heart of the women and really connected with them and their joys and sorrows. Some of the characters were much better defined than others and seemed like real people rather than the vessel for another issue to be brought forward. And like I said, my oh my there are a lot of issues. I feel like the author could have left some of them out and just focused on a couple rather than SO many. I did love the aspects abut the writing and their individual goals surrounding their writing.
Overall, this is a book worth reading if you like women's fiction. I listened to part of this as an audiobook and it was a fine interpretation, the narrator was good and conveyed the story well.
June 11, 2016
Here's what I believe: we need The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton.
Clayton's stories will help third- and fourth-wave feminists avoid political matricide. The pungent stench of fear and powerlessness that Clayton's characters face at critical junctures in their lives are--in a large part--history because of the work of second wave feminists.
I offer the following in a desperate attempt to convince high-school and college-aged women to read this scandalous book.* With their mothers. And their grandmothers. And then fall down and kiss the Birkenstock-wearing feet of the nearest second-wave feminist in their neighborhoods.
When I graduated from high school, I received two "Senior Most" Awards. One of them was "Senior Most Likely to Become a Women's Libber." I'm not sure that this category survived much beyond my graduating class, to tell the truth. But it was a label I felt proud of. I converted to feminism at the age of 10, on the afternoon that a boy in my class told me I couldn't do something because I was a girl, and Mrs. Molitor gave me the word "sexist" to describe it.
And that's just it--I could feel proud of being "Senior Most Likely to Become a Women's Libber" because people like Mrs. Molitor had schooled me into feminism. Mr. Haake handed me Herstory when I complained about the sexist bias of our "Bennedy" text. Mrs. Grotto got a group of high school girls together and showed us a VHS tape called Killing Me Softly. And in college, I took three semester's worth of women's history with Victoria Brown. These authors and women told me their stories, and helped me see how my own was connected, like pieces of a quilt. They trained me to see my story in light of what could have been, as well as in light of what still ought not be.
But most of my peers missed this training. And now, I spend nine months out of every year surrounded by girls who are growing up without this training. In its place, they have a constant live feed of Disney princesses and sexualized car advertisements on their iPod screens. In class discussions, these girls will defend their oppressors to the death, insisting that their gender hasn't limited them in any capacity, and that feminism has passed its usefulness.
We third and fourth wave feminists often cannot see the connections between our stories and the stories that once were, because we don't know the stories that once were. The Wednesday Sisters can help to bridge that gap.
*Disclaimer: Clayton's book establishes some characters with very life-like marriages, for good and for ill. This may be considered mature content by many readers.
Clayton's stories will help third- and fourth-wave feminists avoid political matricide. The pungent stench of fear and powerlessness that Clayton's characters face at critical junctures in their lives are--in a large part--history because of the work of second wave feminists.
I offer the following in a desperate attempt to convince high-school and college-aged women to read this scandalous book.* With their mothers. And their grandmothers. And then fall down and kiss the Birkenstock-wearing feet of the nearest second-wave feminist in their neighborhoods.
When I graduated from high school, I received two "Senior Most" Awards. One of them was "Senior Most Likely to Become a Women's Libber." I'm not sure that this category survived much beyond my graduating class, to tell the truth. But it was a label I felt proud of. I converted to feminism at the age of 10, on the afternoon that a boy in my class told me I couldn't do something because I was a girl, and Mrs. Molitor gave me the word "sexist" to describe it.
And that's just it--I could feel proud of being "Senior Most Likely to Become a Women's Libber" because people like Mrs. Molitor had schooled me into feminism. Mr. Haake handed me Herstory when I complained about the sexist bias of our "Bennedy" text. Mrs. Grotto got a group of high school girls together and showed us a VHS tape called Killing Me Softly. And in college, I took three semester's worth of women's history with Victoria Brown. These authors and women told me their stories, and helped me see how my own was connected, like pieces of a quilt. They trained me to see my story in light of what could have been, as well as in light of what still ought not be.
But most of my peers missed this training. And now, I spend nine months out of every year surrounded by girls who are growing up without this training. In its place, they have a constant live feed of Disney princesses and sexualized car advertisements on their iPod screens. In class discussions, these girls will defend their oppressors to the death, insisting that their gender hasn't limited them in any capacity, and that feminism has passed its usefulness.
We third and fourth wave feminists often cannot see the connections between our stories and the stories that once were, because we don't know the stories that once were. The Wednesday Sisters can help to bridge that gap.
*Disclaimer: Clayton's book establishes some characters with very life-like marriages, for good and for ill. This may be considered mature content by many readers.
July 17, 2009
When I read the teaser on the inside jacket of this book, I thought I was about to embark on the great story of five women writers in the late 1960's and early 70s. What I got instead was five paper doll cut outs that were passed off as characters that were barely distinguishable from the next one as they crowded around their picnic bench talking about how nice their writing was while a housekeeper watched their passel of children for $1.60 an hour. All of the characters were flat. Two of these women had men's names. Their husbands were static characters that mimicked male stereotypes. The only purpose their passel of children served was to bring them together in the beginning. Why else would all these women go the park each day? (Well, except for Ally...) Their lives were nothing but cliches and stereotypes. This book could have been so much more, but instead it's a shallow and fluffy attempt at telling what should have been a great story.
May 8, 2024
I really liked this book. It made me think of my best friends and the bond of friendship among women. Meg captures all of that beautifully. The other thing I really appreciated about this book is it wasn't a male bashing - woman's power sort of book. There are good men in it, great men and a crappy man. I am so sick of books that make women perfect and men the root of all evil. Loved that.
April 3, 2013
I came away from this book missing my friends....my great group of girlfriends I left behind in California. The ones who support me and encourage me....the ones I used to meet for coffee so we could discuss everything we needed to without the "guys" around. This book showed how easy it is for women to find some kind of common ground to bind them together. The women in this novel hadn't known each other forever when they met for the first time but by the end of the book they had become sisters in every sense of the word. Loved it....great story!! :)
September 13, 2011
I wanted to like this book. It seemed to have all the ingredients that would attract someone like me: the book primarily takes place from 1967-1975 and I graduated from high school in 1970; the women meet to encourage each others' writing efforts and become friends in the process; and there is a lot in here about women juggling children, marriage and sometimes a career. But this was not a sweeping novel of five women's lives. The later years are rushed through and tacked on at the end. The women never seem to fully engage in the events of the day (or at least I didn't feel that they did); the writer bits were not as revealing as I had hoped; and the family-marriage-work conflict only comes up for one of the five women. Also I felt that the book didn't have enough suspense; it wasn't a mystery, but I think every novel should keep you guessing and this was just too predictable. Nor is there a true climax unless it would be when the women show their solidarity for one of the women who is battling breast cancer.
The book isn't completely without merit. It just didn't quite hit the mark. The main character wasn't that interesting. The conflicts never seemed to fully erupt. And most of all, the characters didn't seem that real.
The book isn't completely without merit. It just didn't quite hit the mark. The main character wasn't that interesting. The conflicts never seemed to fully erupt. And most of all, the characters didn't seem that real.
September 11, 2008
They're not sisters and they don't meet on Wednesdays,; not anymore. The Wednesday Sisters...Frankie, Allie, Linda, Kath and Brett...are five women who meet in the park in 1968. Strong, smart and talented, they grew up in the 1950s when women became wives and mothers, not realizing it was possible to do anything else. In the following decades, the women continue to meet and realize that they each have an interest in writing. They become a writing group, reading, critiquing and supporting each other's work. Through the pieces they write, they learn more about themselves and each other. Over the years, their friendship is tested and cemented by life issues such as infertility, divorce, and cancer. Through it all and against the backdrop of the women's movement, the race to the moon and other life-altering events they flourish and emerge stronger than ever.
The Wednesday Sisters is a multi-layered novel. Each woman is a stereotype for a woman's issue, yet a fully developed character in her own right. Readers will laugh and cry and women will definitely find something of themselves in at least one of the characters. A vivid, riveting read. I couldn't put this one down.
The Wednesday Sisters is a multi-layered novel. Each woman is a stereotype for a woman's issue, yet a fully developed character in her own right. Readers will laugh and cry and women will definitely find something of themselves in at least one of the characters. A vivid, riveting read. I couldn't put this one down.
October 17, 2009
I hated that the author spanned nearly 10 years -- presumably to fit in more historically-significant events? Unfortunately, I read The Help before reading this and loved how that author treated some of the same theme in a more compelling way. I struggled to find a theme I could latch on to and rally for in The Wednesday Sisters, and I suppose it's supposed to be feminism and sisterhood. I just wasn't feeling it. I might have loved the story if it wasn't written solely from Frannie's point of view -- if each of the sisters had been given a voice (along with Arselia too).
March 20, 2011
I liked this book as a quick beach-read. There is no plot to this story; it reads as more of a memoir-style book. It had enough references to past pop-culture to make it relevant to me, but didn’t get bogged down in them…which kept the story moving along. However, I thought the character were unevenly developed. Revealing in some areas, but then not in others: really, it took 8 years of friendship for Brett to reveal her glove-secret? And really, none of her supposed friends would know or ask before 8 years passed? It also seemed strange that as close as these women were, that they did everything as a group…Frankie didn’t pull Ally aside and tell her privately what she heard about her niece? Kath didn’t have a private conversation with Linda about her illness? Why wouldn’t Linda speak to Ally privately about the drug she was taking, especially after Ally was so uncomfortable with discussing it in the group? These are minor quibbles I have with the book, but they are there. I liked the scene on the Carson show, even though it didn’t really ring true; it was, however, entertaining and unexpected.
Dislikes: the haunted-house “ghost”.. there was no point whatsoever to that part of the book, even after the house was destroyed. Why was that in there??? The references to the Cubs: that was like “who cares?” especially since it seemed to be the only sports reference in the entire book (not counting the marathon and Olympics and the relation to women’s rights). The far-away Indian mother-in-law and the fertility god that was sent. Why was that scene in the book at all?? The whole glove-thing….forced literary device. The coffin picture; that also felt forced as well as unbelievable.
Likes: The author admits less-than-perfect thoughts and actions on her part, such as her prejudice and naïveté. The scene where Ally reveals Jim is Indian. The zoomed-in scenes, like when Dr. Seuss’s granddaughter visited, or Kath’s vacation trip with her “husband”..those felt very real.
I would recommend this book for a quick read, like on a plane or week’s vacation. 2.5 stars
Dislikes: the haunted-house “ghost”.. there was no point whatsoever to that part of the book, even after the house was destroyed. Why was that in there??? The references to the Cubs: that was like “who cares?” especially since it seemed to be the only sports reference in the entire book (not counting the marathon and Olympics and the relation to women’s rights). The far-away Indian mother-in-law and the fertility god that was sent. Why was that scene in the book at all?? The whole glove-thing….forced literary device. The coffin picture; that also felt forced as well as unbelievable.
Likes: The author admits less-than-perfect thoughts and actions on her part, such as her prejudice and naïveté. The scene where Ally reveals Jim is Indian. The zoomed-in scenes, like when Dr. Seuss’s granddaughter visited, or Kath’s vacation trip with her “husband”..those felt very real.
I would recommend this book for a quick read, like on a plane or week’s vacation. 2.5 stars
March 31, 2009
What drew me to this book was that I had read it was set in Palo Alto, California, my old stomping grounds. It was fun to read about familiar places: Stanford University, Stanford Mall, University Avenue, Winchester Mystery House, the Linear Accelerator, etc., and even Menlo Park, my home town...
The story is about 5 young mothers who meet in a park in the late sixties. They discover their shared love for reading and writing. They decide to meet once a week in the park to read and critique each other's writing, and share their dreams of becoming published. Through the years they become best friends and go through each other's ups and downs as well as experience the historical events that happen during that time period together.
Though I was quite a bit younger than these characters during many of the events they went through, reading about them brought back many memories: the first landing on the moon, the sit-in protests in San Francisco, the women's liberation movement, the war in Viet Nam, etc.
There were a few parts of the book that I just couldn't bring myself to believe, but overall, I loved the author's comfortable, chatty writing style, and found myself really caring about the women as they each faced the challenges in their lives...
The story is about 5 young mothers who meet in a park in the late sixties. They discover their shared love for reading and writing. They decide to meet once a week in the park to read and critique each other's writing, and share their dreams of becoming published. Through the years they become best friends and go through each other's ups and downs as well as experience the historical events that happen during that time period together.
Though I was quite a bit younger than these characters during many of the events they went through, reading about them brought back many memories: the first landing on the moon, the sit-in protests in San Francisco, the women's liberation movement, the war in Viet Nam, etc.
There were a few parts of the book that I just couldn't bring myself to believe, but overall, I loved the author's comfortable, chatty writing style, and found myself really caring about the women as they each faced the challenges in their lives...
February 9, 2017
Another half star would really make more sense for this weighty book about the friendship of a group of women who met randomly. It tells of their lives and lives and true passion, writing. Lovely.
December 31, 2010
The Wednesday Sisters should be my kind of book. It's all about a group of women who meet regularly to critique each other's writing. Sounds like something I would love doesn't it? Well unfortuntately reading about writing is really dull. This book also seemed to strive too hard to become either a record of the feminist movement or a revival of it. I couldn't really tell which but either way the reader was beat over the head with the tenets of feminism in just about every chapter.
The writer also stuffed as many cultural references from the 60's and 70's as she could into the book, and usually did it not very eloquently.
The book did get better in the last half when there was a lot more show and a lot less tell. The action picked up the pace and the general tone of the book but the plot still managed to drown in the sea of editorializing and "teaching" by the writer.
Sadly not one I would recommend.
The writer also stuffed as many cultural references from the 60's and 70's as she could into the book, and usually did it not very eloquently.
The book did get better in the last half when there was a lot more show and a lot less tell. The action picked up the pace and the general tone of the book but the plot still managed to drown in the sea of editorializing and "teaching" by the writer.
Sadly not one I would recommend.
May 27, 2018
Friendships
The Wednesday Sisters is a nostalgic, heartfelt, honest look at 5 young married women who become more like sisters than friends. Beginning in 1967, this wonderful book follows these women through the joys and sorrows, the disappointments and accomplishments that make up their lives. As the women endure illnesses, infidelity, and insecurity, they are living through Miss America pageants, Vietnam, women's lib, prejudice, and astronauts landing on the moon. As the years go by, they slowly peel back the layers that hide their true selves, and the physical and mental scars they've hidden from the others. Along with compelling storylines, these women will have you laughing, crying, and cheering them on, always hoping that they will be successful and content with everything life puts in their path.
The Wednesday Sisters is a nostalgic, heartfelt, honest look at 5 young married women who become more like sisters than friends. Beginning in 1967, this wonderful book follows these women through the joys and sorrows, the disappointments and accomplishments that make up their lives. As the women endure illnesses, infidelity, and insecurity, they are living through Miss America pageants, Vietnam, women's lib, prejudice, and astronauts landing on the moon. As the years go by, they slowly peel back the layers that hide their true selves, and the physical and mental scars they've hidden from the others. Along with compelling storylines, these women will have you laughing, crying, and cheering them on, always hoping that they will be successful and content with everything life puts in their path.
October 8, 2011
There are times when I read the other reviews that I wonder if I read the same book. There seems to be a lot of people who really liked thi book. I am not one of them. I felt like the author had a check list of hot button issues of the late 60's and said, "Breast Cancer? Check. Interracial dating? Check. Protests? Check. Women attending college? Check. Women in sports? Check. Marital infedility? Check." It was amazing what these five women lived through. Still, it is hard for me to believe that Palo Alto was in the center of hot bed activity especially when two husbands were doctors and one a founding member of Intel.
This book tries hard to capture the flavor of the period but it tries too hard. Perhaps if it didn't try to do so much, it would have better.
This book tries hard to capture the flavor of the period but it tries too hard. Perhaps if it didn't try to do so much, it would have better.
January 26, 2013
The Wednesday Sisters recounts a friendship among five women who live in California during a pivotal time in American history. Their common bond is a love of books, which eventually turns them in the direction of becoming writers themselves. I loved the references to books that I also found enthralling. The novel traces their individual challenges that include infidelity, inter-racial marriage, cancer, infertility issues and assorted insecurities. The sense of the women's movement is strongly reflected in this book, and it parallels their emergence as individuals in their own right. I particularly liked the part of this book that dealt with the compassion and solidarity shown when Linda faced a devastating situation, but I didn't find any of the characters endearing or sympathetic. There is a juxtaposition between the narrator as the "I" in this book and then the narration in the third person. I prefer books where all the characters speak as "I" in different chapters so the reader can get a sense of each total person, but this vehicle worked in imparting the depth of their friendship.
April 21, 2010
I had high hopes for The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton. (Maybe I had such high hopes that I had raised the bar too high?) I had read somewhere that Ms. Clayton used to be a corporate transaction attorney at a large law firm. After she ceased practicing law, she wrote this book. As a lawyer and aspiring writer, I was drawn to it from that angle. Then there was the fact that the book is about a group of aspiring writers, who form a writing group and try to publish. That sounds like me, so I thought I could relate. Finally, the book takes place in San Francisco starting in the 1960's. The interview I'd read with Ms. Clayton said she'd scoured old newspapers and magazines for historical tidbits to include in the book. How exciting! I thought.
Well... I have to say that the beginning of The Wednesday Sisters: A Novel really didn't meet my expectations at all. I found the first third of it quite dull. The characters all seemed stereotypical and flat to me. And it seemed like the story was dragging and almost nothing was happening! I pushed on, thinking a big part of it was that I just couldn't relate to these women. They admitted that they had put their dreams on hold, or permanently curtailed them, to marry their husbands, and their lives revolved around their children. It's not that I didn't want to read a book about housewives, but I think that many housewives, in real life and in books, are awesome. Many have confidence, charisma, interests and hobbies. But these women were so self-defacing that it was annoying. The main character, Frankie, tells the entire story, and she's always saying things like, "I can't imagine that I could actually write a book... I'd like to, but I'm no good, and what would these other women think?" We're not talking about writing a masterpiece novel here, or publishing, just writing in general. I wanted to scream at her, it's not that hard, just get a little self-esteem and try it! I really didn't understand the big deal.
Knowing the author's background, and that she was both a lawyer and a mother, I started thinking that maybe the problem was that she was writing what she didn't know, and it didn't seem real. But even the historical parts weren't that interesting in the first third of the book. The characters were on the outskirts of society, seemingly purposefully left out from everything exciting that was going on. They would see feminist protests on the news, but not attend. (Then Frankie would couch the events by saying something like, "We didn't know what to think of these crazy women on TV... we are just little stay at home moms who don't know anything about the world." Honestly, if I were a housewife I would be offended at the way that women in my profession/position were portrayed by the characters in the book!) Then there would be tidbits of history dropped in all too conveniently, like, "we read in the news that this happened..."(couched by Frankie in terms of "not that we understand what it all means, of course"), which to me isn't all that exciting. It's like too much historical data was given without the main characters really being a part of the context.
I kept reading The Wednesday Sisters since I had had such high hopes. Towards the middle, the book started to get better. And then the last third turned into a pretty good read. I think it's because the characters were actually doing something, making decisions instead of letting life just happen to them. For the first time, some of them seemed like separate characters, instead of all being lumped into one stereotypical housewife. (Some of them still fell flat to me even during the exciting parts). And they also went out into the real world and took part in some of the historical goings-ons, which made the historical parts a lot more interesting.
In the end, I think that the best parts of The Wednesday Sisters make for kind of a stereotypical chick-lit-for-mature-chicks read. Like, ladies that belong to knit clubs and church socials would probably like some of this book. But I bet even they'd be bored with a lot of it. It just doesn't go anywhere, or do anything, until near the end, and I don't know if a lot of people would hang on that long! I hate to give negative reviews, so I'll throw in something positive and say that this book has a lot of interesting parts about writing and the writing process, and it includes some good quotes and tips from famous writers. But even that part is annoying, because one of the women, Bret, will say things like, "Well, you know, Mark Twain always said..." at the beginning of their writing groups, causing Frankie to must out loud "How does Bret have such a good memory and always remember what all these great writers said?" Still, The Wednesday Sisters has some appeal for writers, so I recommend it, with reservations, to other writers. For this reason I give it two stars.
Well... I have to say that the beginning of The Wednesday Sisters: A Novel really didn't meet my expectations at all. I found the first third of it quite dull. The characters all seemed stereotypical and flat to me. And it seemed like the story was dragging and almost nothing was happening! I pushed on, thinking a big part of it was that I just couldn't relate to these women. They admitted that they had put their dreams on hold, or permanently curtailed them, to marry their husbands, and their lives revolved around their children. It's not that I didn't want to read a book about housewives, but I think that many housewives, in real life and in books, are awesome. Many have confidence, charisma, interests and hobbies. But these women were so self-defacing that it was annoying. The main character, Frankie, tells the entire story, and she's always saying things like, "I can't imagine that I could actually write a book... I'd like to, but I'm no good, and what would these other women think?" We're not talking about writing a masterpiece novel here, or publishing, just writing in general. I wanted to scream at her, it's not that hard, just get a little self-esteem and try it! I really didn't understand the big deal.
Knowing the author's background, and that she was both a lawyer and a mother, I started thinking that maybe the problem was that she was writing what she didn't know, and it didn't seem real. But even the historical parts weren't that interesting in the first third of the book. The characters were on the outskirts of society, seemingly purposefully left out from everything exciting that was going on. They would see feminist protests on the news, but not attend. (Then Frankie would couch the events by saying something like, "We didn't know what to think of these crazy women on TV... we are just little stay at home moms who don't know anything about the world." Honestly, if I were a housewife I would be offended at the way that women in my profession/position were portrayed by the characters in the book!) Then there would be tidbits of history dropped in all too conveniently, like, "we read in the news that this happened..."(couched by Frankie in terms of "not that we understand what it all means, of course"), which to me isn't all that exciting. It's like too much historical data was given without the main characters really being a part of the context.
I kept reading The Wednesday Sisters since I had had such high hopes. Towards the middle, the book started to get better. And then the last third turned into a pretty good read. I think it's because the characters were actually doing something, making decisions instead of letting life just happen to them. For the first time, some of them seemed like separate characters, instead of all being lumped into one stereotypical housewife. (Some of them still fell flat to me even during the exciting parts). And they also went out into the real world and took part in some of the historical goings-ons, which made the historical parts a lot more interesting.
In the end, I think that the best parts of The Wednesday Sisters make for kind of a stereotypical chick-lit-for-mature-chicks read. Like, ladies that belong to knit clubs and church socials would probably like some of this book. But I bet even they'd be bored with a lot of it. It just doesn't go anywhere, or do anything, until near the end, and I don't know if a lot of people would hang on that long! I hate to give negative reviews, so I'll throw in something positive and say that this book has a lot of interesting parts about writing and the writing process, and it includes some good quotes and tips from famous writers. But even that part is annoying, because one of the women, Bret, will say things like, "Well, you know, Mark Twain always said..." at the beginning of their writing groups, causing Frankie to must out loud "How does Bret have such a good memory and always remember what all these great writers said?" Still, The Wednesday Sisters has some appeal for writers, so I recommend it, with reservations, to other writers. For this reason I give it two stars.
January 1, 2018
What a wonderful story about female relationships -- those kind of relationships forged in brutal honesty, understanding, compassion, and forgiveness. Five women with at first nothing more in common that a Wednesday afternoon in a park. A woman in gloves, another woman's stares, an innocent word and magically a friendship is formed that will sustain them through trials of infidelity, childbirths, miscarriages, childhood traumas and more. The catalyst that keeps them together is words -- printed words, written words and spoken words. They journal; they try their hands at writing that one story that everyone supposedly has in them. They share with each other their written works along with their hopes and dreams.
In their own way, each possessed the talent, beauty and education/intelligence to have been a great contender in a Miss America contest. Bert Parks move over because you are about to meet your match with the Mrs. Americas.
A good book to start the year with and a friendship all literary enthusiasts long for.
In their own way, each possessed the talent, beauty and education/intelligence to have been a great contender in a Miss America contest. Bert Parks move over because you are about to meet your match with the Mrs. Americas.
A good book to start the year with and a friendship all literary enthusiasts long for.
July 30, 2020
I saw a patron check out this book at the library and was intrigued enough by the description to place a reserve on it. It was just what I needed...friendship, life struggles, courage. I finished it in the lunchroom at work with tears falling.
May 29, 2021
I really enjoyed this book! It was a fun read about a group of friends who just needed each other to navigate through the sort of things women face throughout life. It was just a heart-warming, lovely, and nicely written book.
August 6, 2012
First of all, this was such a great book idea that I couldn't wait to begin reading. This was a selection in my book club, and I'd recommend it to all women's book clubs. It's a great book for discussion, and I have to give it credit.
However, as an enjoyable read, I found it lacking. The characters are a bit stereotyped, and although I love the time period, it didn't truly come alive for me. I think everything just fell a little flat for me--setting, characters, plot, etc. Some of the ideas were a bit hard to believe (white gloves all the time?), and the author definitely takes on a "preachy" tone on several occasions. This is an example of girl power to the extreme, and although I'm a modern working woman, I felt this was too much at times.
I did love how the characters interacted with each other, and how each woman had her own story. It was nice to see the contrast between how the characters behaved wtih each other and how they were at home with their husbands/families.
Don't expect it to be a page-turner. It wasn't for me, but it was enjoyable enough. It's a very light read. I'd recommend it for a weekend at the beach or on a rainy day.
However, as an enjoyable read, I found it lacking. The characters are a bit stereotyped, and although I love the time period, it didn't truly come alive for me. I think everything just fell a little flat for me--setting, characters, plot, etc. Some of the ideas were a bit hard to believe (white gloves all the time?), and the author definitely takes on a "preachy" tone on several occasions. This is an example of girl power to the extreme, and although I'm a modern working woman, I felt this was too much at times.
I did love how the characters interacted with each other, and how each woman had her own story. It was nice to see the contrast between how the characters behaved wtih each other and how they were at home with their husbands/families.
Don't expect it to be a page-turner. It wasn't for me, but it was enjoyable enough. It's a very light read. I'd recommend it for a weekend at the beach or on a rainy day.
June 10, 2020
Five married stay at home women who happen to meet in Palo Alto CA in the late 60's to early 70's. They form a friendship while meeting in the park with their small children. It was just an okay read for me. I had expected more and it could have been really, really good, but tying to develop 5 female characters and make them compelling was not an achievable task by this author. Too many stereotypes about men and women during that time. The book covers child rearing, wanna be authors (the 5), breast cancer, unfaithful husbands, infertility, interracial marriages, the women's lib movement and the Apollo launches. See? That's an awful lot for one book with 5 main characters. Best writing were 2 scenes. When Linda takes her children to NYC for the day and when the 5 go to see the Johnny Carson Show.
September 15, 2016
I can’t begin to share the gamut of emotion I experienced with every turn of the page. These women, The Wednesday Sisters — who actually meet on Sunday and aren’t related — have a way of crawling under the reader’s skin as they bring everything from good, bad, to indifferent, out into the open in an up-close-and-personal way. From out loud guffaw laughter, to anger and tears, Linda, Brett, Kath, Ally, and Frankie will rivet themselves to your heart!
October 13, 2019
This book got off to a very slow start. About 80 pages in I was considering trashing the book...but I stuck with it . I became more and more invested in the story and the characters as the book progressed. The story covered lots of issues from the 1960 . It earned a solid 3 star rating from me.
June 8, 2013
A book filled with friendship, humor, insights and a little history too.
Read
June 27, 2018It's the late 1960s. You're a housewife with a few little kids, and you're bored. And lonely. One day, at the playground, you strike up a conversation with someone else similar to yourself. This happens a few more times, and voila! You have the premise of The Wednesday Sisters.
Five women make up the Wednesday Sisters. There's Frankie the narrator, Brett, Kath, Ally, and Linda. Each is married to a successful man, and each struggles with her own lack of "things to do" because they're each intelligent. They begin by just visiting at the playground and meeting to watch Miss America. But then it turns into more. They each decide to start writing. As you might guess, most of them achieve success with their writing, some in spectacular ways. One faces a health crisis. Another encounters racial prejudice. One husband has an affair. In short, life happens.
The ladies' personal stories are interwoven with the events of the day -- Vietnam, the moon landing, the turbulence of the '60s, etc.
Some quotes I marked:
*"We hadn't yet learned that our best writing comes from pushing our emotional buttons with the kind of force needed to push that rocket ship into space."
*"Memory is an unmerciful thing sometimes."
*and, humorously: "I was glad I'd gotten to know her before I saw her house." (in this instance, because the woman was richer than Frankie had suspected and her house was palatial)
My main annoyance with the book was the way Frankie narrated it as she looks back at the events of the day from the current time. She does the expected shaking of her head, mentioning how "we didn't know any better back then," "we couldn't imagine that America might be wrong," etc. I wish more authors would just accept the events of a certain time without trying to superimpose 2018 sensibility onto them.
The book was undeniably well-written, though. And it made me wish for a tight-knit group of friends like the group in the book. "It makes me a little sad when I look back on it, to think how very many women didn't have Wednesday Sisters, to wonder who they might have become if they had."
Five women make up the Wednesday Sisters. There's Frankie the narrator, Brett, Kath, Ally, and Linda. Each is married to a successful man, and each struggles with her own lack of "things to do" because they're each intelligent. They begin by just visiting at the playground and meeting to watch Miss America. But then it turns into more. They each decide to start writing. As you might guess, most of them achieve success with their writing, some in spectacular ways. One faces a health crisis. Another encounters racial prejudice. One husband has an affair. In short, life happens.
The ladies' personal stories are interwoven with the events of the day -- Vietnam, the moon landing, the turbulence of the '60s, etc.
Some quotes I marked:
*"We hadn't yet learned that our best writing comes from pushing our emotional buttons with the kind of force needed to push that rocket ship into space."
*"Memory is an unmerciful thing sometimes."
*and, humorously: "I was glad I'd gotten to know her before I saw her house." (in this instance, because the woman was richer than Frankie had suspected and her house was palatial)
My main annoyance with the book was the way Frankie narrated it as she looks back at the events of the day from the current time. She does the expected shaking of her head, mentioning how "we didn't know any better back then," "we couldn't imagine that America might be wrong," etc. I wish more authors would just accept the events of a certain time without trying to superimpose 2018 sensibility onto them.
The book was undeniably well-written, though. And it made me wish for a tight-knit group of friends like the group in the book. "It makes me a little sad when I look back on it, to think how very many women didn't have Wednesday Sisters, to wonder who they might have become if they had."
January 6, 2024
My last book of 2023. This book has patiently waited for me on my first kindle, a hand me down from my bff, since May, 2013. It got the nod at long last for fitting the Pop Sugar Challenge 2023 Challenge prompt, author with the same initials as me. It’s about a group of women who bond at the playground with their children in the late 60’s early 70’s. They are readers and decide to become writers. We see major events of the times through their eyes and their own trials and tribulations. I was born in that time period and wish my mom was still alive to have a conversation about some of her experiences that I wasn’t bright enough to ask about when she was still here. Enough time has passed that some of it seems more of a stereotype, but I am not old enough to really judge that. I daydreamed about being a part of that group, wishing I could be a writer myself, or wishing my group of friends could be the basis of someone's novel and what it would say about our times and trials.
January 12, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. Reading about women empowering women is always incredible, but even more so because this story takes place in the late 1960’s when women didn’t have as much opportunity. So many major events took place in the novel that at tiles I felt unsure of where the story was really going. 4/5 stars.
February 1, 2021
4.5 stars
I loved the way the author sets the book in silicone valley in the late and tumultuous 60’s and early 70’s as the plight of women’s roles in everything was evolving. These friends realize the hard truths about themselves and each other as the world tries to define them.
I came away missing being near old friends who love me regardless and give me truth even when it hurts.
I loved the way the author sets the book in silicone valley in the late and tumultuous 60’s and early 70’s as the plight of women’s roles in everything was evolving. These friends realize the hard truths about themselves and each other as the world tries to define them.
I came away missing being near old friends who love me regardless and give me truth even when it hurts.
June 17, 2019
A women's support group for writers that evolved into so much more.
January 13, 2021
The device of every character being talked about or giving first hand observations in each and every page and every chapter is dizzying. When there are five main characters it is a lot to keep track of, let alone their husbands and kids. I kept saying, "Now which one is Kath? Which one is Linda?"
Most books will focus on one or two characters at a time to give the reader a chance to learn about them. Clayton wished to show how their friendship came about, and how they decided to support each others writing. That part of the book was extremely boring, taking at least the first 2/3.
It was not funny, and to use the word that Frankie didn't want to use in critiquing her friends, I found it "trite." Frankie used the word "familiar," but that is not the same as trite.
Perhaps because I lived through the timeline of this book - late 60's to early 70's - I couldn't help but be jarred by Clayton's use of present day colloquial language such as "you guys;" referring to a woman as "hot;" and calling someone "gross." We didn't call women "you guys," "hot" was when something was stolen, and "gross" is a 90's skater term. We did not recycle our trash, separating out the glass in the 1960's either.
Sometimes I felt like Clayton used Alexa for her facts. "Alexa" tell me what movie was popular in 1972? It was NOT American Graffiti, which she mentions. That didn't come out until mid 1973.
I started fact checking her and indeed, her reference to Patty Cake, a baby gorilla, indicated that she thought it was a boy when it was a girl. And she mooned over the mother gorilla losing her baby, when in fact they kept the baby away from her for three months because the mother may have been the cause of the baby's broken arm. So yes, this use of facts to further story had no depth, and in several cases Clayton gets the facts wrong.
I could not wait to finish the book - I felt like I had to because it was assigned by my bookclub!
Most books will focus on one or two characters at a time to give the reader a chance to learn about them. Clayton wished to show how their friendship came about, and how they decided to support each others writing. That part of the book was extremely boring, taking at least the first 2/3.
It was not funny, and to use the word that Frankie didn't want to use in critiquing her friends, I found it "trite." Frankie used the word "familiar," but that is not the same as trite.
Perhaps because I lived through the timeline of this book - late 60's to early 70's - I couldn't help but be jarred by Clayton's use of present day colloquial language such as "you guys;" referring to a woman as "hot;" and calling someone "gross." We didn't call women "you guys," "hot" was when something was stolen, and "gross" is a 90's skater term. We did not recycle our trash, separating out the glass in the 1960's either.
Sometimes I felt like Clayton used Alexa for her facts. "Alexa" tell me what movie was popular in 1972? It was NOT American Graffiti, which she mentions. That didn't come out until mid 1973.
I started fact checking her and indeed, her reference to Patty Cake, a baby gorilla, indicated that she thought it was a boy when it was a girl. And she mooned over the mother gorilla losing her baby, when in fact they kept the baby away from her for three months because the mother may have been the cause of the baby's broken arm. So yes, this use of facts to further story had no depth, and in several cases Clayton gets the facts wrong.
I could not wait to finish the book - I felt like I had to because it was assigned by my bookclub!
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