The Saturday Evening Girls Club, a real organization in Boston’s North End in the early 1900s, was set up by progressive reformers to provide opportunities for daughters in working-class immigrant families. (Today it’s best known for the beautiful pottery produced there.) Healey’s winning debut brings readers into the lives of four women in their twenties, two Italian and two Jewish, whose friendship was cemented through this group. All are caught between their parents’ old-world traditions and their own aspirations.

Caprice Russo, whose hat-designing talents are popular with Boston society ladies, is the engaging narrator. She dreams of owning her own millinery shop and, eventually, marrying a man of her choosing—definitely not one of the Sicilian boys her father invites for dinner. Her plans are put on hold when her boss decides to move to New York and close her store. The friends’ close bond, and the generosity of the club’s patronesses, help them through rough times and difficult decisions. To escape her mother’s fate, Maria starts dating a rich Italian man with questionable morals; Thea considers an arranged marriage; and quiet, scholarly Ada, who hides her university studies from her conservative Jewish father, falls in love with someone unsuitable.

The writing is so smooth that readers may not consciously notice all the cultural details tucked in: the comforting scents of Italian families’ rooftop tomato gardens, the ties and rivalries carried over from Europe, and street festivals that celebrate heritage and faith. The four women, while fictional, interact with historical characters that their real-life counterparts would have known. Kindly philanthropist Helen Storrow is a strong supporter of the club and its “girls,” while Isabella Stewart Gardner’s elegant home shows off her large art collection and supercilious attitude. Fans of warmhearted sagas should enjoy this, and it’s suitable for YA readers, too.

(From the May 2017 issue of the Historical Novels Review)

I absolutely adored this book!
Set in turn of the century Boston, we meet four women who are members of the "Saturday Evening Girls Club," a social group on the North End of Boston, principally set up as a gathering place for young immigrant women, but which soon became the setting for their empowerment and evolution as modern American women.
The book is told from the viewpoint of Caprice. Through her eyes, we face the real world clash of family, ethnic and religious prejudice, and social class, the heartbreak of first love, and the birth of ambitions for a better life -- "The American Dream."
Caprice, Maria, Ada, and Thea all have compelling stories. I would be proud to know these women. I would be proud to be descended from them, too. And since my family also started their American tale in Boston, perhaps I *am" descended from them.... or someone very much like them.
I was very touched by this book, and loved it from the first page to the very last. I highly recommend this book.

This amazing book took me hostage as I couldn't put it down! I want to be in Saturday Evening Girls Club! The book follows Caprice, and her 3 best friends. Each of the girls struggle with different aspects of their life. The girls are there for each other always and it's an amazing story of friendship, of the girls wants and desires, and family. Being set in the early 1900's it amazing to see what changes in the world have occurred since then. I truly enjoyed this book and cheered for the girls and also cried with them. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me an ARC for an honest review.

"The Saturday Evening Girls Clubs" is a well-written historical novel about four young women trying to find their own way in early 20th century Boston.

While the story mostly follows upcoming hat maker Caprice, all girls have their own personality, problems and individual choices to make. At times I would have liked to see more of the girls beside Caprice because their stories all seem very interesting from the outside.

I did not like the resolution of Maria's story because it was not really developed that well, but thought that Ada's story was really well done.

4 young women, either immigrants or first generation Americans, have met through a community group, Saturday Evening Girls Club, and become the best of friends despite their religious and ethnic backgrounds. The book focuses on them after they have known each other for about 7 years and are now 20. Parents are focused on trying to marry them off, including arranged marriages, and the women are trying to find where they themselves want to be. The main focus of the story, Caprice, is trying to avoid her father’s attempts to set her up with good young Italian men and instead wants to set up her own hat shop. The struggles of dealing with tradition and family form the main story line. Ms. Healey did a wonderful job of balancing the old with the new. Admittedly, having every girl in their little foursome having a signature struggle is a bit too convenient, but necessary for the book. This was a nice view of the American Dream through the female immigrant perspective.

I have come to realize that I have a soft spot for historical fiction.

This particular title takes a club that DID exist and weaves together a story of 4 friends (who are not real people) brought together by this club. Two are Italian decent (and live in the same building) and the other two are Russian Jewish decent (living in a different tenement building.)

While reading about the relationships between the young women was interesting, what I really found captured my attention was a description of life in Boston at that time. My mom is a 2nd generation Italian-American, so she did not experience some of the same difficulties that the 1st generation Italian-Americans did in this story. However, there were aspects to the story which reminded me of ones I heard from my grandmother.

Part of what is so intriguing was to read how this club for girls helped to lift up the women and give them opportunities they would not have dared to dream for themselves. College? Owning a business? Marrying someone for love? Those were the things that became reality in the pages. Those are things that some take for granted now even though 100 to 150 years ago it was not common.

What a beautifully written story! A coming of age as well as lasting friendships story—this book involves traditions, friendships, family expectations and the hope for brighter tomorrows. Four friends gather each week and share with each other the disappointments, expectations and hopes for each of them. A story that I could not put down and I loved each and every chapter. As all friends face challenges these four are no exception---throw in some family problems, some romantic struggles, career aspirations and even some prejudice. But the friends remain true to each other and draw from each other what they need to become the people they aspire to be. Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to read this title prior to publication!

Although I thought I would enjoy this because of the time period and being a woman-focused novel, I found myself not being able to connect with the characters or the writing. I found it a bit too simplistic and too YA for my taste. I believe the dialogues weren't realistic and although I enjoyed the context and the idea, I wanted to like this more than I finally did. I'm afraid I wasn't able to finish it, but I'm sure others would like this one a lot, it's just a matter of expectations.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Jane Healey for an ARC of "The Saturday Evening Girls Club" by Jane Healey for my honest review.
The genres of this book are General Fiction(Adult), and Women' Fiction. I also feel that this is Historical Fiction and Romance.
Kudos to Jane Healey who did the historical research about The Saturday Evening Girls Club, and other clubs in Boston North in the early 1900s.
The club offered young women, especially immigrants, the wonderful artistic opportunity for making pottery, and supporting the arts with drama and music. These clubs were sponsored by wealthy women and women who loved the arts. The club offered the opportunity for young women to have friends. The pottery became valuable, and is known as Paul Revere Pottery.
The story takes place in Boston North in the early 1900's when four young women become friends through the Saturday Evening Girl's Club. They are young immigrants working mostly in dress design and making hats. I like the way the author describes their homes in small apartments, and many neighbors. Although these girls were not rich, they were bound to their families traditions. Although the girls came from Jewish and Italian homes, they respected each other.
Caprice gave her pay check to her family and tried to save for her dream to own her own hat shop. When the store closes where she has worked, she starts to work at the pottery shop. Caprice is extremely talented in decorating and trimming hats, and holds on to her dream of owning her own shop one day.
Ada, is a young intelligent Jewish immigrant. She has been taking college courses at night, and keeping it a secret from her father. Ada more than anything wants to be a physician.
Maria is a gorgeous Italian dressmaker,who lives at home with an alcoholic father, who causes major stress to her family.
Thea is a young Jewish immigrant, who is the first to be engaged to a man , by an arrangement by her family.
Saturday nights are so important to these young women as they share there secrets,hopes and dreams. The club is so important to them. Caprice, Ada and Maria want to break with certain traditions and choose what they want to do in their lives. They want to choose someone they love. They want to live their dreams.
Jane Healey writes about family, friendship, tradition, choice, support, love and hope. The author also writes about goals, dreams, and working hard for what one believes in.
It is amazing how the author describes her characters, settings and situations. I enjoyed this intriguing and heartwarming novel and would highly recommend this.

This book was so good that I didn't want it to end. It had even more meaning to me when I found out The Saturday Evening Girls Club was real. Even though some of the characters were fictional characters there were also some characters that were real people. This is the story of four friends-Caprice, Ada, Thea and Maria-that belonged to this club and how it influenced their lives. This club provided friendship for them as well as guidance during a time when women were still expected to be happy staying home and taking care of their family. These women wanted that, but they also had ambition and wanted more (especially Caprice). This is such a fantastic book! I loved it, and would highly recommend it to all fans of historical fiction!

This book is a charming way to learn about life in immigrant communities at the start of the 1900s. The scene is set in the immigrant neighborhood of Boston through the eyes of 4 friends. The girls belong to THE SATURDAY EVENING GIRLS CLUB, which really existed.

It is a superficial view of the lives of Italian and Jewish girls and gives enough information to be a jumping off point for interesting discussions about the mores and customs of these young women. It doesn't explore the seamier side of immigrant life, especially for young unmarried women. The girls are surrounded by caring women, including a character based on a Boston philanthropist who helps them achieve their dreams.

These are girls with hope who fight against the old ways and move toward life as modern women. Yes, it is a feel good book but will give students a decent view of the issues. I will recommend it to my students, rather than more sophisticated adult readers.

I'm a huge fan of historical fiction, and this book did not disappoint. I really loved the setting of Boston at the turn of the century and the characters, especially Ada, were intriguing and felt very real and fleshed-out. Looking forward to whatever this author comes up with next!

Loved it! And now I'm very interested in doing a little research into the real Saturday Evening Girls Club. Thank You!

The Saturday Evening Girls Club tells the story of 4 young women living in Boston's North End in the early 1900's. As children of Jewish and Italian immigrants, they are all in their own different way trying to break free from their parents' ingrained ways of the old life. The new generation wants the American life but old traditions don't break that easily.

Caprice doesn't want an arranged marriage, like her parents did. Her dream is to open her own hat shop and eventually marry for love. Not exactly the plan her parents have in mind for her. Thea just wants to find a way to leave home. Maria struggles with an alcoholic father and Ada is secretly attending college classes.

The four are best friends and every Saturday, they meet up at the Saturday evening girls club. A social pottery-making group that offers them the chance to leave their hectic home life behind and dream of a better future.

They struggle with cultural prejudice, careers, families and romance. But through it all is their friendship. An unfailing bond which gives them strength to figure out their own path in life.

Unfortunately this just didn't work for me. It started out fine and then it seemed to taper off. I felt it lacked depth and focused more on potential romances than anything else. It wasn't really what I expected, nor what I look for in historical fiction. I loved the bond between the four friends but feel it could have been explored more. As it is, I couldn't really connect to any of them. I would have liked to have learned more about the club since it really existed and there is mention in the story of the actual founders. This is 1908. Times were hard, especially for women but I didn't feel that came across apart from housing tenements and the divide between the poor and the rich.

Also, when two people are having a conversation, it's really not necessary to repeat names in every paragraph. It gets annoying after a while and completely puts me off.

All in all, I feel disappointed as I think the potential was there. It just wasn't for me.

In early twentieth century Boston, four female immigrants try to find their place in their new world by joining the Saturday Evening Girls Club, where they make pottery and get to know each other and their adopted country. Caprice, Ada, Thea and Maria all come from different place, have different goals and expectations, but all want a piece of the American dream. This is such a beautifully written and timely story. It’s a good reminder of how our ancestors came here to make better lives for themselves and stood up for things like equality, fairness in the workplace and women’s rights. America has been and will always be only as great as her people