I'm so glad the synopsis and cover caught my eye. The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club is well written and kept my attention from start to finish.

This was just ok for me. I love the idea behind it, but it seemed like the ending was a bit rushed. I could see this as a tv series.

A historical novel set in the 1950s, when sadly few women went to college let alone Cambridge- The reading club follows a local book shop - 4 of the Radcliffe college women and the bookshop owner. What is poinant is that they read and discuss books written or concerning women.
Interesting characters and interesting part of the story when one night something terrible happens to one of the women. circumstances that will rock all of their lives.

A really interesting read.

3 stars (forgot to log this book in July of 2023-- apologies to the author and publisher)

I always go into historical fiction kicking and screaming, but then enjoy the story. While I enjoyed the plot overall, I felt the writing structure was not for me. Though I could guess what was happening, I would feel lost at moments because of this.

I enjoyed watching the women develop over time and how reading brought solace during harder times. As a book people, we can all totally relate. Which is probably what drew me to request this book in the first place!

Set in the fifties, this story centres around four young women who meet for the first time when they enter Radcliffe University. Newly independent, it is an interesting time for them. The idea of a woman having a career and a life of her own is still very rare and some of these women are torn between their ambitions and the expectation they will be married by 20.

Weaved in with college life, they meet with Alice, a bookshop owner, once a month for a book club. Alice sets the reading and hopes to empower and challenge the young women on what they can achieve using different novels she has read and poweful female authors such as Jane Austen.

I enjoyed the storyline, I thought it put a spotlight on how friendships can evolve, endure or fall away depending on the challenges life throws at you.

Thank you to @netgalley for the opportunity to review.

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3.5 This story follows 4 young women as they start at Radcliffe in the 1950s they meet at a small bookstore where a newly started book club had just started. We follow these young women try to figure out what they want in life when women were still considered to primarily be wives and mothers. These four women all come from different backgrounds and social status but they bond over the love of books throughout the year as we follow this slice of life story.

I really enjoyed this book I was surprised by some of the topics that they covered in this book but I thought it was done really well. The characters were engaging and really had me invested in what happened next. I really enjoy these slice of life historical fiction stories where you just get to see how it was to live in a different time and the domestic drama kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next. This is the first book I have read by this author but really enjoyed the writing and really want to pick up more from this author in the future. I would like to thank net galley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

DNF @ 19%

The characters had the personalities of cardboard and the book club that was promised barely appears. This is not a book about books

This book is absolutely not for me. I didn't connect with the writing style or any of the characters. I found the whole thing incredibly boring.

DNF at 35%

I liked this story and recommended the library put it on the shelf. The story is about a woman who opens her dream bookstore. When she decides to start a book club four young women from the college decide to join. Not only reading the books, they compare their lives and what goes on in them. Life can be heartbreaking, misunderstood, but friends and books can be a wonderful force.

Julia Bryan Thomas’ Radcliffe Ladies Reading Club is a delightful read for lovers of books and historical women’s fiction. Centered around a bookstore book club frequented by 1950s Radcliffe college students,
Thomas’s novel may be a nostalgic look at old favorites for the oldest readers or will tempt at least somewhat younger readers to pick up titles from the past. More importantly, however, Thomas brings a group of Radcliffe students to life as they enjoy literature and the sharing of reading and friendship as they face the lives of young women in an elite college during an era putting a different set of pressures on young women than those more commonly confronting them today.

Although I was much younger in the ‘50s than these students, I could hear my mother’s voice attempting to shape my thinking and expectations.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance reader copy of this look into the past. Julia Bryan Thomas helps us see how college life has changed over the years but also reminds us of the importance of literature whatever our generation.

Shared on Goodreads and Barnes & Noble.

So many things to like about this novel. A book club, of course, plus a woman owning a bookstore in Cambridge by the Harvard and Radcliff campuses--with an apartment upstairs! I added two books to my TBR list, Gift from the Sea and Bonjour tristesse.

Add in co-eds in the early 50s starting their freshman year of Radcliff from different classes and states. I would have liked to know what classes they *had* to take as freshmen.

Who else went to Radcliff?
Stockard Channing, Magaret Atwood, Ursula Le Guin, Gertrude Stein, Helen Keller and Caroline Kennedy to name a few.

There was a twist listening to book club owner consider books that were new, such as Lolita, Lord of the Flies and The Catcher in the Rye but then going back to the old classics of Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina. Glad I've never been in a book club that read that, over 900 pages!

What college girls wore to dances in 1952:
collegeprom

Just how big were their closets? And were there dry cleaners within walking distance of the dorms?
Did the housemother really teach the girls how to make aprons and cakes during a snow storm when classes were cancelled?

There were two issues I have with the plot, one is that book club was held with only four members--I wish more characters had been introduced. In the same vein I hoped more would be written about Alice, the bookstore owner. Maybe sequels are coming?

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for an electronic advanced reader's copy.

This book follows a group of girls at Radcliffe colllege. They join a bookclub and as the year starts out they all all hopeful and fancy free but as the year progresses they face some really hard things and have to learn to become stronger than they thought they could be.

The premise of this book entails a young, single woman, Alice, owning and running a bookshop in Cambridge. She decides to start a book club that becomes a haven for some nearby college students. All women, there’s definitely some strong feminist vibes in this storyline but, this story takes a turn towards darker, serious topics.

I didn’t expect this book to have such strong bones and address such serious issues…and I don’t feel like I can even reveal what they are without giving anything away. Suffice to say, if you enjoy a good historical fiction that grips you and makes you think…pick this one up!

Do you love books about books?
Does your heart go pitter-patter for classic lit?
Do you love historical fiction with campus vibes?

If you answered yes to these, then be sure to add this book to your Autumn TBR.

✨The Radcliffe Ladies’ Reading Club by Julia Bryan Thomas✨
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Grab a cozy blanket and a steaming cuppa and prepare to be transported to Cambridge, Massachusetts circa 1954. Alice Campbell has fled across the country and found herself on a cobblestone street in front of a derelict building. She does what we all probably have dreamt about at some point—opens an enchanting bookshop that she hopes will comfort the broken hearted. Starting a book club, Alice soon befriends four college students, Tess, Caroline, Evie, and Merritt, who are each trying to navigate being newly independent during a time when the world would rather have them don aprons. A truly terrible event happens to one of the women and the threads of their friendship begin to unravel.

What Julia Bryan Thomas does best in her newest novel is weave together classics that have been handpicked by bookshop owner Alice for book club with the narratives of each character in order to remind us of how books can both speak to us independently and also bring us together. I’m only a part-time classic enthusiast, so I did not recognize many of the classics mentioned, but I think it would be a fantastic reading experience to read this and the classics mentioned in tandem. My only other criticism is that a lot of rife between the friends would have been alleviated with talking about all of the things, but I get the feeling that that comes along with this particular time period.

It’s a book about books, friendships, and independence. I recommend checking it out. The audiobook made for a cozy weekend read.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read & review this book.

A book about a bookclub at a bookstore is always an attractive premise. I enjoyed how the books they were reading paralleled the events in the storyline. The book gave you a good feel for life in a women’s college in the 1950s.

Trigger warning: rape

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read a copy for my honest opinion.

This story fell into the nice "group of people bond over books and are forever changed" trope and I enjoyed it. I loved the treatment of these 1950s women and how they maneuver their world.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC; all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me- it did not land for me. I could not connect with any of the protagonists and it felt rather obvious in what was happening.

Examining the perspectives of women in different points of their lives and coming from different backgrounds, Thomas weaves a story of growth, survival, and letting go in order to begin again. Four young women embark on their college journey in the mid-1950s, excited for their new independence and examining their next steps in their lives. Do they continue on the path that is expected of a woman in the '50s or do they break from the societal norms to live their dreams? A fateful decision leaves one woman reeling with the consequences beyond her control and forever changing the course of her life. Will she return to the live that is expected of her or will she set forth on a journey to finally be true to herself? Guided by the owner of a bookstore, working to impart both a love of literature and the courage to think for themselves, The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club chronicles the journey from adolescence into adulthood and the decisions brought on through the transisiton.

Overall, Thomas captivates the pressures young women faced in the 1950s in America. Live the life that is expected of you or forge your own path? Learn to think and dream? Or let the world tell you what you should and should not like? Thomas uses notable books to guide the journey of the women and to tell the story of their year stepping into adulthood.

I loved the premise of the book. I loved how books can be an escape historically for the treated as less than by society. The group reminded me a bit of the movie The Mona Lisa Smile, obviously with a bookish theme instead of art. It was amazing to read about women in such a misogynistic time finding their way and who they wanted to be outside of the norm. It was a bit of a slow start but I was glad I continued on with it because it was well worth it!

I was able to read this as an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher. I enjoyed this book about strong women, a little bookstore, and their book club. It also gave me an appreciation for being a woman today, 2023, as opposed to the mid 1950's. The Radcliffe Ladies Reading Club is an emotional and heartwarming read that will leave you with a profound appreciation for the beauty of women's friendships and the ways in which books can shape our lives. It's a testament to the enduring power of connections forged through shared experiences and a shared love of reading.