The Briar Club begins with two dead bodies found in a Washington D.C. boarding house in 1954. The story then time jumps to 4 years earlier and tells the stories of the women who are boarding at the house. Nora, an Irishwoman from a family of corrupt policemen who is in love with a gangster; Fliss, an Englishwoman suffering from postpartum depression whilst her husband serves in the Korean War; Claire, who does everything and anything to save for a home of her own after her family loses everything in the Great Depression, but she falls in love with an unexpected person along the way; Reka, a Hungarian refugee who was an art professor but is now impoverished and widowed; Bea, an Italian woman who has recently retired from professional baseball; and Grace, the newest occupant of Briarwood house who has a mysterious past but brings the residents together over Thursday night dinners at the so called “Briar Club”.

This book started quite slowly and took awhile to get into, but once I did I was invested in each woman’s story. The intertwined stories take place against a backdrop of the McCarthy era where anyone with suspected Communist or homosexual sympathies or behaviours were persecuted. There was a large cast of characters but it was easy enough to follow who everyone was. I really enjoyed learning about this era of American history from the perspective of women who lived through it. I was even more impressed when I found out that most of the characters were based on real people - this book was extremely well researched, as all of Kate Quinn’s books are. The mystery aspect was returned to in between character chapters and helped to bring the book together. The found family aspect provided all the warm and fuzzy feelings.

Loved this one! It was beautifully written and had me hooked from the beginning of the novel. Will definitely be reading more from this author! Thank you for the ARC💜