The Book Club for Troublesome Women
By Marie Bostwick
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

“If women stuck up for one another the way men do, this would be a very different world.”

•Strong female friendships
•Book club
•Second-wave feminism in the 1960’s
•Family drama

I was immediately drawn to this book based on the title alone, and I’m happy to report the novel exceeded my expectations.

Four dissatisfied 1960’s era housewives form a book club that develops into lifelong friendships. Through their book club meet-ups, the women realize they all yearn for more despite seemingly having it all. They band together to support each other when it feels like the world, and even their husband’s, don’t value them as individuals.

This is uplifting historical fiction. It’s such an interesting portrait of being a suburban middle-class woman in the 60’s and it’s striking to see how much has changed, how much has stayed the same, and how relevant these topics are nonetheless. I found each character relatable and heartfelt and loved their hilarious banter. I was rooting for these women, angry for them, and overjoyed for them. This is a fantastic read that left me with a smile on my face.

Do bear in mind the very particular focus of this book– a group of white housewives living in a “planned community” in Virginia. Troublesome may bring up a different image today, but for these women, they were troublesome indeed.

Thank you Harper Collins Focus and Harper Muse for this advanced copy e-book!

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I grew up in the 70's but I could relate to some of this book. I grew up in a time when moms stayed home and it was rare to know of a divorce. I'm not sure how much in this book is true or exaggerated some. I especially was shocked at the woman not being able to get a savings account without her husband's signature. This book was just a little too much for me about women's rights and it got a little montonous reading constantly about Charlotte lighting or smoking a cigarette. I did find myself skimming the last few chapters.

I did think there would be more "book clubbing" in this book than there actually was, but I do realize that there weren't a ton of options for literature back then. I liked how each woman's story played out, and I think that each was given equal "page" time. I knew each character equally throughout the novel, which kept me invested in their lives.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women follows Margaret Ryan, a 1960s housewife living the stereotypical American Dream- she's got a husband, three beautiful children, and a suburban home in an idyllic neighborhood. When Charlotte and her family move into town, Margaret's interest is piqued as Charlotte is unlike anyone Margaret has ever met before and in order to develop a friendship with her, Margaret starts a book club. Charlotte agrees to join if they read the controversial book The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. Margaret recruits her best friend, Viv, and another woman she knows from town, Betsy to join her book club.

After discussing Betty Freidan's book and realizing that they all want more, they deem themselves "the Bettys". The Bettys develop a deep friendship that challenges and pushes each of them to figure out what they want out of life when society has told them a husband, kids, and a house should fulfill them. Bitsy wants to finish college, Viv wants to go back to work as a nurse, Charlotte wants to be an artist, and Margaret wants to write. In a patriarchal world, they must navigate their way through societal obstacles in order to get the happiness and contentedness they crave.

In our current troubling times, this book gave me so many mixed emotions. I loved seeing these women find ways to fight for what they want when others tried to keep them down. However, it was exhausting to see that despite all the progress made in the 50+ years after, women are in such a similar place where the patriarchy keeps women (and men) tied down to push the patriarchal agenda. I loved reading the journey the Bettys all took in their lives and friendship. I've also added quite a few books mentioned in this book to my TBR and I'm excited to join the Bettys in being a troublesome woman.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for an advanced copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review!

WASN'T REALLY WHAT I EXPECTED

If your give me book with the title "The Book Club for Troublesome Women" I am going to be expecting two things - a book club and some troublesome women. I didn't really feel like this book delivered fully on either one of those, which was a disappointment.

What I liked

👍Feminism: I adore stories of women discovering their feminism and starting to demand what's theirs.

👍1960's: I liked the 1960's setting and vibe, it was a good background for this story in particular.

What I didn't like

👎Pace: The pacing was just too slow for me, not a lot happened to grab my attention.

👎Book club: I so wanted the book club - and especially "The Feminine Mystique" - to take center stage of this book. Sadly, I didn't really feel like the book(s) got the attention, they deserved. I wanted more debate about the books, their effects on the women and their thoughts. You know, like a book club.

👎Troublesome women: Aside from Charlotte, I didn't really feel like any of the women were particularly troublesome.

4 stars for this Mid Century, burgeoning feminism in the burbs story. Answering the question, what happens when you give four white suburban idyllic women Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique? You get a nice read about how Second-wave feminism influenced middle class women.

I am sure this book will take hold on BookTok and that will be awesome for all the 20 something readers to learn about some of the classic archetypes of 1960’s women who were looking for feminism to come into their lives but didn’t know how to name or capture it: the housewife who wants more and something for herself, the house wife who is content with her 6 kids and husband and deserves affirmation for that, the mentally ill wife because she must mentally ill otherwise she would be happy with what she has, and the woman who almost missed her dream career because boys clubs barred her entrance. That’s all good to learn about, but in addition to the angst that mid-century women & housewives felt, readers will learn about how their grandmothers and great grandmothers felt - called upon in WW2 as essential to the war effort through their work, but then left abandoned and forced back into the home after experiencing a whole different way of life.

Note that the book feels really white, and it is about white women. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, it reflects the setting and the suburban movement of Second-wave feminism. It’s worth mentioning because it will stick out in the reading of the book, but that also reflects the time and how often Black and women of color were left out of this movement. It becomes something to be thoughtful about.

Last but not least, each reader gets a list of essential books leading and shaping the feminist movement.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus , a division of Harper Collins Muse for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

So many things intrigued me about this book, first and foremost a Bookclub, but in the 1960’s , talk about things coming back around. An era where women were homemakers and “the working woman” almost unheard of!

Margaret, Charlotte, Bitsy and Viv, all neighbors in an upscale new neighborhood in Virginia started the “Betty’s” (their bookclub)by reading their first book “The Feminine Mystique”. It opened their eyes to what they were all secretly feeling. Feeling dissatisfied, unfulfilled and longing for “something more” the Betty’s formed a bond like no other and encouraged each other to fulfill their own dreams and goals.

Author Marie Bostwick did such a great job with character development allowing me to completely imagine exactly what these ladies were like and how they fit together. It’s like a sisterhood we have in today’s day and age and the empowerment of women leading in areas like never before. The hope and familiar family genre let you relate back to the 60’s in a time of historical change and power.

Such a great novel, reminding us that “anything is possible”! The bonds of friendship are unequivocally so important and the lifeline that changed an era!

Highly recommend this novel! It’s an endorsement to strive for more knowing we all have our own version of what makes us happy and fulfilled!
I look forward to the book discussion with Author Brenda Novak’s book group in July.
Thank you @harpermuse and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!
Review will be posted on instagram @shereadswith_coffee , Goodreads , Amazon , Bookbub

I had high hopes for this book. As an American history teacher with a focus on women's studies I waited months to read this. I was sorely disappointed. The characters were stereotypes of what modern women think women were like during this age. The research was lacking. The writing was mediocre. This could have been a top historical fiction book of 2025; the concept of the book is fantastic. The carrying out of the concept fell down.

A nice story that would make a great book club read as I can see it sparking some solid conversation if read with a group. I appreciated the variety of characters and viewpoints, as well as the critique of the missing voices from Friedan’s work. The ending was satisfying as well.

For me, the connection between the historical setting and the plot lacked some depth. I wish some of the big lessons went a little deeper or greater context was given. It was hard to connect to the idea that the characters were struggling with their identities as wives and mothers. The oppressive nature of the perfect housewife illusion could have been more obvious. There was a shallow nod to the idea that patriarchy hurts men as much as it hurts women, while then making the actions of the men the catalyst for most of the big changes that happen to the characters, which felt like a disconnect. It also felt unnecessarily slow at times.

Overall, I enjoyed it, though! I would definitely recommend it as a book club read.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women takes a look at the roles of women in the 1960's in America. The book follows the story of four women who form a book club and, in the process, learn about their own abilities and roles in their marriages and families. Every woman grows in her own way. Some marriages end and some recover. I appreciate that this book does not simply vilify the marginalization of women during this era, but it also points out the way that this affected men. The book examined this issue from a lot of angles and family types, giving a well rounded view.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
This was an inspiring journey! It often amazes me how one person’s words can inspire so many.
A small group of women gathered to discuss a profound book and it changed their lives.
All from different backgrounds and circumstances found a family of women that learned so much about themselves. Through so many significant life changes they encouraged and challenged one another and championed their causes.
I absolutely loved reading this journey of women finding their way and supporting one another in ways no one could imagine.
This is told from multiple points but only to characterize the journey.
In the 1960s, four housewives found a gold mine with the sisterhood they formed with a book club. They live in a “planned community” and appear to have it all.
Margaret Ryan, Viv Buschetti, Bitsy Cob and Charlotte Gustafson come together discussing the controversial “The Feminine Mystique”. They call themselves “The Bettys”.
The book introduced them to the possibility of what could be, and planted hope among their frustration and dissatisfaction as they navigate a world of change, their sisterhood carries them into the future.
This is historical fiction covering women’s rights, Jackie Kennedy, and more.
I loved it! Four women, four friends take on the world after reading an inspiring book! 5/5⭐
I would like to say Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review the ARC of both the e-book and the audiobook. Both are phenomenal!
The narration is excellent!

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Muse for the ARC.
4.25 ⭐️
A book every woman/femme should read in 2025, especially American women. This book does not sugarcoat anything and it threw subtlety out of the window, and I loved every bit of it.

It was also charming, funny and quite thoughtful. The friendships between the women was so special.
These experiences are just so special, it celebrates multiple experiences. I’m especially fond of Viv.

Chapter 9 was brilliant.

The relationship between Charlotte and her daughter, Denise was a really challenge to read.

Women thrive in community and simultaneously guide communities to thrive. I love how this was highlighted in the book.

This is was one of the most memorable quotes for me as a mother:
“At age seventeen, Margaret had promised herself that she would grow up to be nothing like her mother. After a promising start, the fruit of her early efforts had shriveled. Now, at age thirty-three, Margaret sometimes wondered if every woman was destined to become her mother eventually. Recently, however, things had started to shift.”

I would like to read Marie Bostwick‘s back list and would be interested in books she writes in the future.

This was such a great book to read in the current environment, however, the ending just didn't stick, and I think that if Bostwick had left that part of the book alone the book would have been a 5 star favorite with me.

"The Book Club for Troublesome Women" takes place in 1963 in a Virginia town called Concordia (just think close to Alexandria and D.C. The book follows Margaret, a stay at home mother of three; Charlotte, also a stay at home mother of four children; Bitsy a stay at home wife focusing on getting pregnant; and Viv a mother of 6 who hopes to get back into nursing after a decade plus long absence. Margaret has an idea of a book club to get to know Charlotte better. She includes Bitsy and Viv because they seem like the women in their neighborhood who would be of similar mindset. The first book up, the women read "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan.

The book follows all of the women as we see the impact of this book, others, and just the general societal impacts happening during 1963 (school integration, assassination of Medgar Evers, March on Washington, etc.).

I honestly liked all four of the women in this one. Each one has a different dream, but realizes they don't need to put down any of them for wanting something different. Bitsy dreams of being a vet, but had that dream denied to her since she's a woman. Margaret wants to be a writer, Charlotte an artist, and Viv is happy being a wife and mother, but wants to go back to nursing.

The flow of the initial part of the book is a little slow, but once you get to them reading "The Feminine Mystique" things take off.

I found myself reading the book straight through at one point because it was so good and I loathed some of these women husbands.

The only sticky point for me was the ending. Way too much got stuffed into it. And I think working in two real life people in this fictional book just felt very far-fetched. I didn't buy it, and it took me out of the book. Also the fast forward in the end didn't work either. I think it would have been better to leave the book open-ended and heck, even show not everyone gets to what they dream to do and you can just keep trying for it anyway. I think Bostwick wanted to tie a nice and tidy bow that didn't quite work.

I think the thing that makes me most sad in 2025 is that we are back right here again. We have society, politicians, countries trying to say what a woman is and what she should be doing full stop. We have proposed legislation that is going to make it harder for married women, adoptees, and transgender people to vote too. It knocks the wind out of my sails though that this book taking place in the 1960s really showed the way everyone tried to keep women and their dreams so small and we are back here again.

Thank you Netgalley & Harper Muse for an eARC ♥️



I couldn’t stop thinking about these women. ♥️

1960s suburbia, four housewives sipping coffee while the world expects them to stay small. Then—**BOOM**—*The Feminine Mystique* lands like a lit match on gasoline.
Charlotte, with her sharp wit and bruised heart, clawing her way out of a marriage that suffocated her. Bitsy, sweet but shrinking, learning she was never the problem—**the system was**. The way they leaned on each other, not just in shared frustration, but in real, messy solidarity—it wrecked me in the best way.
But here’s what got me: the book didn’t pretend this was every woman’s story. These were privileged women—women who got an allowance like children, while others worked three jobs just to survive. That honesty? **Chef’s kiss.**
By the end, I was sobbing into my tea, furious and hopeful all at once. Isn’t that why we read? To feel the past rattle our bones and remind us how far we’ve come—**and how far we still have to go?**
If you’ve ever read something that **changed you**, if you love stories where women **rage and heal and outgrow the boxes the world puts them in**—this one’s for you. **Hell yes.**

Margaret is the definition of a 1960s housewife. She stays at home to look after her three kids, cooks and cleans the house. But she is bored, and feels as though her life is lackluster. She finds camaraderie amongst the other women in her neighborhood, who experience similar feelings to her. When Charlotte moves in, she stirs things up by starting a book club with the first read being about not repressing yourself as a woman.

I love the theme of female friendship and how it can be so uplifting. The women in the book club all have their own struggles and lean on each other to begin to find some independence. I liked how they were all in different places in their lives, and the time period added a lot to the cultural context of the story. I did find it a bit similar to other books I have read, with the writing not particularly standing out. However, I did enjoy it.

”Books sprung from an author’s imagination can be just as meaningful as those based on facts, figures, and events, or even more meaningful. Novels force you to think—to make your own conclusions about characters and themes, and decide if they’re valid or relevant or true or good, or the opposite or maybe somewhere in between.”

The Book Club for Troublesome Woman is a story set in the 60s and is about the daily lives of four different ambitious, talented, opinionated and resilient women who found inspiration in a book named, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. These women formed lifetime of friendship through sharing of their thoughts on their book club pick’s, the ebb and flow of life as they try to chase their long forgotten dream amidst the hurdles that faced on their way, and their unwavering support to one another.

”Why settle for enough when you can have more than enough?”

I really admire the characters in this book as these women(Margaret, Viv, Bitsy, and Charlotte) still mirrors every kind of women in modern society. A women that will do whatever it takes to achieve her dream and be the best version of herself. A women who not only loves her career but also loves her husband and children. A women who have a backbone to fight for her rights, her opinions and prove others wrong. A women who have the means to support her friends and loved ones in times of need and that they can rely to one another.

Through this book I was able to learn that there a lot of things that women were not allowed to do during that time, such as opening a bank account on their own, which is kind of appalling and that particular scene really show how it’s such a “man’s world.” I really enjoyed reading this book and will absolutely recommend it. Hopefully, I will be also be part of the ‘Bettys’ and how can I sign-up?

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Harper Muse, and HarperCollins for giving me an eARC of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
—————-
Margaret Ryan never really meant to start a book club . . . or a feminist revolution in her buttoned-up suburb.

By 1960s standards, Margaret Ryan is living the American woman's dream. She has a husband, three children, a station wagon, and a home in Concordia--one of Northern Virginia's most exclusive and picturesque suburbs. She has a standing invitation to the neighborhood coffee klatch, and now, thanks to her husband, a new subscription to A Woman's Place--a magazine that tells housewives like Margaret exactly who to be and what to buy. On paper, she has it all. So why doesn't that feel like enough?

Margaret is thrown for a loop when she first meets Charlotte Gustafson, Concordia's newest and most intriguing resident. As an excuse to be in the mysterious Charlotte's orbit, Margaret concocts a book club get-together and invites two other neighborhood women--Bitsy and Viv--to the inaugural meeting. As the women share secrets, cocktails, and their honest reactions to the controversial bestseller The Feminine Mystique, they begin to discover that the American dream they'd been sold isn't all roses and sunshine--and that their secret longing for more is something they share. Nicknaming themselves the Bettys, after Betty Friedan, these four friends have no idea their impromptu club and the books they read together will become the glue that helps them hold fast through tears, triumphs, angst, and arguments--and what will prove to be the most consequential and freeing year of their lives.
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I have read many of Marie Bostwick’s books in the past and always enjoyed them, so when I found this on NetGalley, I was quick to request it. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, and I have never (although I am a feminist) read The Feminine Mystique. However, I think the impact Betty Friedan had on women’s realization that there was more to life than what they found in their roles in the family is pretty well known.

Bostwick tells the story of four very different suburban housewives brought together by geography and bonded by what first is a “little” book club but then becomes so much more with such beauty and care and humor. Each women’s story is very different from the other, but the lengths they are willing to go to for each other shows how strong female friendships can hold us up and carry us through all the stages of life. I found myself feeling a full range of emotions, celebrating victories for the women and shedding a tear on an occasion or two. This book is definitely one that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys strong female characters, historical fiction of a period that is perhaps not often written about, and an uplifting story that celebrates the strength of women coming together in community.

Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique was the first book Margaret, Charlotte, Viv, and Bitsy chose for their book club- and it changes how they look at their lives. It's 1963 and these women are conforming to societal expectations, even if they're struggling. Bostwick, a good storyteller has a knack for creating characters you'll care about. Each woman's story feels very real. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Stirring up trouble isn’t a bad thing. If you liked Lessons in Chemistry, you will love this! This is my favorite book that I’ve ever so far this year, and genuinely can’t wait for everyone in my own book club to read it.

Getting to read an advanced digital copy of "The Book Club for Troublesome Women" by Marie Bostwick was an absolute treat! The story of four 1960s-era suburban housewives, Margaret, Viv, Bitsy, and Charlotte all long for something beyond their perfect-seeming lives. After reading "The Feminine Mystique," a groundbreaking and highly controversial book, and strengthened and supported by each other, the four women are inspired to make some much needed changes to their lives.

This book was heartwarming, charming, and insightful. Though I believe it will mostly appeal to readers of a certain age (I am 45), I also think woman of any age will be able to find themselves in this book and identify with the characters. Though the book does not criticize those woman who choose a more traditional way of life, it is clear that Ms. Bostwick believes that women are just as entitled as men to the fulfillment of their dreams and goals, and that goals other than homemaking and child rearing are just as valid. The book does not shy away from difficult topics, though the overall tone of the book is lighthearted, and this is a pretty easy read. I do wish, however, that the pacing was more even, as the book lagged in several places and didn't really pick up speed for me until well past the half-way mark. Like all of Ms. Bostwick's books, this one will make an excellent book club selection as there are a lot of interesting and relevant issues to discuss and unpack.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of this book.