I loved this book. My favorite genre of historical fiction is mid century and this one was just perfect to dive into the lives of four very different friends. Set in the early 1960s, we meet four very different housewives trying to figure out new roles, their identity in the ever changing world of the 1960s. With the creation of their book club by reading the controversial novel of its time, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, they call themselves the Betty’s and begin to explore what it means to be fulfilled outside of housework and husbands and kids. A topic that still is relevant today.

I love the character development of each woman as they become who they want to be without losing themselves as mothers and wives can do in their families. I didn’t want the book to end and it would be the perfect book for a book club to read and discuss.


Thank you Netgalley to read the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Will definitely recommend this book to others.

Coincidentally, I began this book at the same time I was repeatedly having thoughts of women in our society, what it means to be a feminist and the countless ways men have negatively impacted society and the lives of women. I really resonated with the Betty's and how the Feminine Mystique was a catalyst for their new lives. I, too, have a book that caused a domino effect of experiences and lessons to come into my life to bring me to where I am today. Watching these women experience this as middle aged mothers (besides Bitsy) and not let their age or the expectations thrusted upon them stop them from making a change truly evoked hope within me. As a college student, people make it seem like your twenties are the years where dreams need to be reached, you need to figure out what you want and get settled with life. Like this book has shown me, I can't say I entirely agree with this belief. I don't see how someone can stop dreaming and learning by the time they are 30 when there is so much life to be lived.

Tying the events of the book to U.S. history of the 60s was very effective and helped create an emotional aspect to the story since I'm sure many readers are familiar with the civil rights movements, the Kennedy's, and the feminist state of the U.S. at that time. Lastly, I appreciate the acknowledgement of the privilege the Betty's have as rich stay-at-home mothers. I definitely did not expect a large focus on minority women but with the characters in the book, Bostwick expressed thoughts that I believe are universally felt by women very well.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women is a historical fiction novel set in the 1960s. It follows four women—Viv, Margaret, Betsy, and Charlotte—whose lives are changed after reading The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. The book inspires them to challenge the limitations placed on women during that time and sparks a transformation in each of their lives.

The story isn’t just about discussing books—it’s about how reading Friedan's work becomes a catalyst for personal growth and change. The women begin questioning the roles they’ve been expected to play in society and seek more freedom, purpose, and equality. Through their journeys, the novel highlights the inequalities women faced in the 60s—and still face today.

The characters are spunky, determined, and full of drive, making it a story about empowerment, courage, and the fight for change. Many thanks to NetGalleu and Harper Muse for the opportunity to read The Book Club for Troublesome Women.

In historical fiction, I love mid-century-era stories about the moments when women wake up--when they see the world accurately, see what's available to them and start to ask questions about why the rest of the opportunities aren't. This book captured that well. The characters were enjoyable to spend time with; each one had her own satisfying story arc. I loved this book!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book is for the girls who are longing for a book club of their own!

I’m a big fan of historical fiction and this scratches the itch. I felt like the characters were my friends and they a written in a way that makes them all relatable in different ways

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’m excited to read more

Thank you for the opportunity to read!

I did like this book, the characters were pretty well thought out and the story talked about some topics that are still affecting women to this day. It didn't feel special and felt slow in some places. I didn't really connect with any of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Love that this book highlighted some important gender topics that help shed light on issues that continue to affect women and relationships today. We’ve come so far in some ways and not nearly far enough in many other ways.

The character development was lacking in my opinion. I didn’t feel strongly connected to any of the characters. In some ways, I felt that they were caricatures of a generic group of middle class white women in the 60s. Found myself skimming the last few chapters.

This is a fluffy read with nicely fleshed out and likeable characters, but it's just not very special in my opinion. It felt very heavy on wish-fulfilment, with the characters always having the 'cool retort on the spot' and the 'badass walk out while everyone stares open-mouthed'. I appreciate the feminist take this book is meant to be, but it's heavy-handed and has the same level of depth as that one speech in the Barbie film. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not bringing anything new to the table.

If you're just looking for a sweet and easy historical feel-good novel, this might be for you.

This book was emotional for me. I loved it truly because it was so powerful. The author captured the times so perfectly. I highly recommend this book to anyone. I definitely would love to own this book. 10/1000 recommend. It’s been a while where I enjoyed a book so much.

I think this cover is spot on, clean great color choices, I was interested right away. You could tell right away that the author put in a lot of time and research. Her inspiration for the characters was well presented, I felt like I really knew them. I enjoyed following the women on their journey to friendship. The only miss I felt was the ending, the entire book each chapter felt like a perfect period, but the ending fell flat for me. I feel like it needed an inspirational quote from the inspired book club book to tie the whole thing together. Other than that, everything was a joy.

In The Book Club for Troublesome Women, four women living in the same newly built suburb outside of DC in the mid 1960s become friends after starting a book club together. calling themselves the Bettys after Betty Friedan, the author of their first book club selection, The Feminine Mystique. Each woman is a narrator, with their own struggles and troubles that they face in the book. Margaret Ryan is an unhappy housewife, mother of three children and struggling to connect with her husband and yearning to use her mind and college writing skills to help her family make ends meet, she eventually finds a small job as a magazine column writer. Viv Buschetti is the mother of 6 children, looking forward to returning to work as a nurse now that her youngest child is in school. Bitsy Cobb is a young woman, newly married to a veterinarian nearly 20 years her senior, desperate to use her knowledge in the equine field, while also hoping to start a family. Lastly, Charlotte Gustafson, a mother to four children, but deeply unhappy in her life, and using medication and psychiatric help to cope.
Margaret was the main narrator, but as mentioned previously, each woman has their own chapters elaborating on their lives and troubles that they are working through with the help of the other Bettys from the book club. This book was fairly predictable but at the same time, I enjoyed seeing how each woman connected with the group, and how they relied on each other to resolve their various conflicts. The focus on the time period in particular lent itself to helping the reader understand the limitations of being a woman and how frustrating it would have been to feel unequal to one's husband. Overall, not exactly a revolutionary work of fiction, but still well written and very enjoyable to read.
Thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

The evolution of women in the workforce has been a transformative journey marked by significant milestones and challenges. Marie Bostwick, in her insightful historical fiction work, sheds light on this by highlighting the struggles and triumphs of homemaking and the want to be more. Margaret, along with her four friends, create a book club and they affectionately call themselves “The Bettys”, which is based off of their first monthly read, The Feminine Mystique. The book follows these women and their forged friendships, highlighting the pains of the motherhood, marriage, and personal want and drive.

This book would be an excellent choice for a book club discussion due to its relatable characters, their friendships, and their struggles. The personalities of Margaret, Bitsy, Viv, and Charlotte are familiar and relatable.

I was drawn to this book because in two of the university courses I teach, we dedicate a week to discussing and learning about the historical impact of the war and the subsequent societal expectations. This book will now be included as recommended reading as we examine the role of women both at home and in the workplace.

This book was easy to understand and had many positive aspects, while shedding light on a topic that is not easily discussed enough with younger generations. I read this book as a pre-release, and I am very thankful as I think this book will resonate well with readers and educators alike.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women is a delightful historical fiction with a focus on feminism. As a grad student who was been reading and writing a lot of feminist topics, I really enjoyed this book. I loved being able to be in the heads of different women as they read and process The Feminine Mystique, a classic piece of feminist literature that clearly changed the perspectives of a lot of women.

I absolutely loved reading this book and getting to know these women. I loved how they all had their own little quirks and that none of them were perfect. I can see this book being a huge discussion started for a book club, perfectly depicted by the book itself.

I really enjoyed the author's witty writing style; I lost count of the number of times I caught myself grinning while reading the book. I also adored the letter in the prologue; it really made me appreciate the book.

I think as a society, it can be really easy to forget just how far we have come in the last century. It is so easy to get caught up in the modern world and to forget just how challenging things were for our ancestors, for women all around me. It is so easy to forget that there are still some women on this planet that remember a time when women were not allowed to vote and were treated as less than. It is a scary time in the world right now, but we need to fight. For all of the women that came before us, and for all of the women that will come after us. We cannot allow the next generation of women to have fewer rights than we do now. Together, we can make magic.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. A big thank you to Marie Bostwick and Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

What an interesting story! It follows the lives of four women in the 1960s as they learn about themselves and who they are in a time where women didn’t have the same rights and opportunities as we do today. They are introduced to Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique and start their own book club. They call themselves The Bettys.

I really enjoyed each of the main characters and their individual journeys.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gosh, I loved this book! The characters were so well-developed, they felt like my own bosom friends! Of course, the setting of small-town America in the 60’s was fascinating, as was the surge of feminism throbbing throughout the book. I feel like I learned so much from this book! The author mentions so many prominent events from the time and includes the characters’ reactions; this was so well done, I really felt I was there! I can't say enough good things about this book: the plot was multi-layered and something interesting happened on practically every page. This could not be more well-written, in my opinion. Bravo, Ms. Bostwick! Thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. What a treat this was!

If you want a history of the decade that changed America—the 1960s—this is about as good as it gets in fiction. Four women — ‘stay-at-home housewives’ -bemoan their fate as women and start a book club just as the controversial book by Betty Friedman hits the market, awakening a renaissance in the way women perceived their roles after WWII.

Post-war women, having filled men's roles, found themselves reduced to the status of married servants to often difficult or absent husbands, a situation that angered many. These well-developed characters produced empathy in me, which I haven’t felt in a book in quite a while. These four women started a book club, which changed how they thought of themselves, their marriages, and their lives.

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale because I watched how women changed in that era and through the rest of the twentieth century. With Civil Rights peaking and political assassinations terrorizing the country, these four women found their voices, and these events forever changed their lives and the lives of others.

In an era where women fought to vote, get a credit card, a bank account, or hold a job after marriage, I applauded these four women throughout the story. That some of these problems still exist or are coming back into vogue in some political circles is cringeworthy after all these women endeared. But a reading of this history is something every woman should attempt to digest. You will understand your great-grandmothers, grandmothers, mothers, sisters, etc., in a new light. Women were tired of getting permission from their husbands for their daily needs.

I highly recommend this book to any woman who needs a dose of realistic history to understand how important these dreams were to the boomers and the young girls the women of this era raised. The story’s setting, how their husbands dictate what they can say or do, and what medicine or social aspects of life they may embrace are eye-opening.

I absolutely, totally, completely loved this book. I highly recommend it to all women who want a voice in their own lives and the lives of future women. The book is truly inspirational. I gave it five stars all around.

I want to thank Net Galley, the author, and the publisher, for the opportunity to read this book as a free ARC. This review is voluntary and is mine alone.

4.5 I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It takes place in 1962, in a suburb in Concordia, where 4 women form a book club to discuss The Feminine Mystic. While these women live in nice houses and have husbands with good jobs, their lives are not much different than women's lives have been for centuries. These women are educated, some served the war effort, and yet society's only acceptable expectation for them is to become a wife and mother and be an appendage to a man. They aren't allowed to get birth control without their husband's signature. Nor are they allowed to get a back account in their own name without a man's signature. They are denied career opportunities bc they "might get married". One woman manages to get a job writing a column for a magazine. While she tries to write about societal issues of women, the editor will only allow fluff pieces and recipes for jello salads. Her husband, like all the husbands in the book, is not supportive of her, feeling jealous that time might be taken away from him.

This book is a celebration of women's friendship. Each of the women was feeling isolated, unheard, and unsupported until they met each other. The bond the women forge is a basis to give them courage to ask for what they want from their lives.

While we think of the 60s as the Civil Rights Era, there were few civil rights for women. We think women have come a long way in society, but it was only 50 years ago women were still being treated like simple minded children who couldn't possibly have a mind of their own. Given the current political climate, and the efforts of a certain party to take women back to the 50s, I fear this is a cautionary tale about what is to come if women let their rights be taken away.

Thanks to Net Galley for this ARC opportunity.

Giving this a weak four stars. I read this over an extended period, and sometimes lost track of the characters. I appreciate how the author depicted the habits and attitudes of the era, however, it felt like the true attempt in this story was to make readers realize what women went through in the 50s in particular, and relate it to what women are facing now.

This approach made the book timely, but also a bit frustrating. I feel certain it wasn’t the author’s intention, but I frequently felt I was being subtly lectured. The ending was satisfying, but overall I felt it was written simply.

I really enjoyed this book! Each of the main characters were well developed and showed growth. I felt transported back to the 60s.

Sometimes there are stories that come to you when you need it the most, this was one of those. The premise is about a group of housewives in the 1960s who come together to read ‘The Feminine Mystique’ by Betty Friedman. They live in a suburban neighborhood with all the HOA rules & regulations that haven’t previously been imposed on this generation. They are not typical beatniks or radicals and represent about 80 percent of the white female population.

At a point in each of these women’s lives, they desire something that they can’t name. They are bored, restless and are missing…something. Throughout the book Ms. Bostwick sets the tone with the major historical events outside the insular community of Concordia. I caught myself researching events and policies for accuracy, because as a society we couldn’t have really been that ass backwards in the 1960s, right? I’ve never been so grateful for pregnancy tests that didn’t involve poisoning a rat with pee.

I’m now realizing that I owe my mother a bit more grace than I previously held. As a contemporary of the women of this story, she grew up with the limitations her gender provided and how she was ‘supposed to find true happiness’ in this role, or she was damaged. There is more to the story that my therapist will be so happy to go over with me in detail.

With the world seemingly against their gender, an unpopular war and a nation involved in a race war, these women find that they can conquer it all with the support of each other, just as a good book club should do.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this ARC and for me to start the weekend on a positive note.