In 1963, in a newly developed suburb of Washington, D.C., Margaret, Viv, Bitsy, and Charlotte form a book club and choose as their first book Betty Friedan's daring treatise "The Feminine Mystic". Only the glamorous Charlotte has read it from cover to cover and the other three have mixed feelings about what they've read. However, as they get to know one another better, they begin to understand Betty Friedan's arguments and awaken to the things they'd still like to do in life despite society's expectations.

Margaret married young and started a family, but has always aspired to be a writer. Viv was a nurse in WWII and although still deeply in love with her husband and six children, she misses the fulfillment she felt as a nurse. Bitsy is newly married to the much older veterinarian "King" who desperately wants children. Bitsy had wanted to go to veterinarian school herself, but was denied a recommendation from a close-minded professor. And Charlotte is in an unhappy marriage with the philandering Howard who works in her father's bank.

Together, these four women start to question whether marriage and motherhood is the only path to happiness and support each other as they reach out for new opportunities to explore their passions.

I thought Marie Bostwick did a fine job of developing the four main characters; they seemed like real people. And I liked that the husbands were all as different as the wives.

Being a boomer, I enjoyed all the product references of the time from frozen orange juice cans to Tang to Wind Song perfume!

I thought it was a nice touch to briefly add real-life personalities Katharine Graham and Jackie Kennedy to the story as well.

I think this would be a wonderful book club selection!

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Focus for an ARC ebook of this tremendous novel.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women, by Marie Bostwick, is a feel-good novel about a group of 4 women in a book club. Though they are individually different from each other, they form long-time friendships through their support of each other in daily life events.
I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

A perfect story to be read in March as it introduces us to four American women in the 1960s who confront prejudices and sexist stereotypes that still exist. A book that I really enjoyed and that also deals with the power of reading in social struggles.

This was a fun read that covered many aspects of the beginnings of the women’s movement in the early 1960s. The members of a suburban women’s book club formed in 1963 to read Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique bonded as friends as they gained independence and self-awareness. I was inspired by the choices these women made, and somewhat saddened that it is all still so relevant.

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

the writing was solid, and the story had potential—I just wish I had connected more with the characters. A decent read, but not particularly memorable.

A wonderful historical fiction focusing on the rise of feminism. The book club is a varied group of women, all with their own stories and difficulties, but I enjoyed reading about them all. Wonderful character building that puts you into the minds of this group of women and makes you really care about their struggles and triumphs.

I love a good feminist exploration novel, especially with all of the different characters and personalities that Bostwick writes. I thought it was very well done and now I'd like to be a Betty too. Stories for women, by women! Love it so much.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women isn't a groundbreaking new story, but it is the book that I needed right now. This one follows the Bettys, a group of women who decide to start a book club following WWII. The Bettys give us an interesting peek into this window of time, when men and women were renegotiating their roles in the household.

Throughout the story, we see these women manage their husbands--who range from rancid to actually decent--and balance their careers with their motherhood. One of the Bettys is a nurse who goes back to work, only to discover she's pregnant. Another is an aspiring veterinarian whose dropped out of school to become a mother, only to discover her husband has cheated on her and impregnated someone else.

This book brought these women to life, and gave a sort of "slice of life" feeling of seeing into this time period. I particularly enjoyed getting to see Margaret at the end of this book, having fought for the life she wanted.

I gave this book a four-star rating because I enjoyed it and would recommend it to a friend, but I wouldn't read it again.

I was not a fan of this book. There was so much exposition, which made the characters feel distant and flat. The premise was interesting and the author tried to tackle some serious issues, but it was so watered down and the stakes were very low that it felt like all their problems were magically solved in the end.

This book was heartwarming and entertaining. I liked the characters and the premise. Towards the end it felt a bit preachy and heavy-handed, but I still enjoyed the book overall. It was fun and informative to read about the feminist awakening of four suburban moms in the 1960's.

Traveling back to the 1960s when Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique was a popular book club read, four women—Margaret, Viv, Bitsy, and Charlotte—struggle with their place in the world in The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick coming out April 22.

Living in a planned community in Virginia, the women call themselves the Bettys in a salute to the author of Mystique. Bonded by their book club, the four each deal with various struggles: raising children mostly single-handedly, dealing with troubling times in their marriages, and dissatisfaction with their current life.

Though Margaret is devoted to her three children and her husband, she wants to do something more with her life. A writing contest catches her eye, causing her to wonder if she could brush up on her skills to become a successful writer.

Viv is proud of her “six “terrific, respectful, clean-cut, all-American kids,” loves her sexy husband, and really wants to get back to work as a nurse now that the kids are all in school. Frustrated with her doctor who will not prescribe birth control pills without her husband’s signature, she realizes her back-to-work plan is a fail as the smell of greasy pepperoni sends her to the bathroom…twice.

Bitsy is the youngest of the wives at 23. Having grown up with horses, Bitsy has always wanted to be a veterinarian but has been frustrated when none of her college professors would write her a recommendation for vet school because she is a woman. She marries a veterinarian and works as a stable hand where she gets to ride and care for horses.

Charlotte is new to the community of Concordia, quickly earning a reputation as an “oddball.” For some reason not yet known by the others, her husband has banished her from the New York she loves to suburban living in Virginia. Her marital problems seem most profound as her husband is rarely home and is known to have a wandering eye. She finds joy in her four children and her ambitious painting projects.

While they attribute their willingness to try new outlooks and actions to having read Friedan’s book, they also give credit to the bonds they have created as they deal with the past, cope with a changing world, and redefine themselves.

Marie Bostwick writes uplifting historical and contemporary fiction. Marie’s popular Cobbled Court Quilt series has been embraced by quilters and non-sewers alike. Her novel The Second Sister was made into the Hallmark Hall of Fame feature film “Christmas Everlasting.” If she is not reading a book, Marie most likely is in her office writing one. She lives with her husband in Washington state.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting April 2, 2025.

I would like to thank Harper Muse, an imprint of HarperCollins Focus LLC, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Marie Bostwick is an auto buy author for me. I loved her latest, The Book Club for Troublesome Women was awesome!

Book Review

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The Betty’s, I loved them. What a fabulous story about four women hell bent on finding their own way during a time when women had to ask permission. The Book Club of Troublesome women finds four women, The Betty’s, in a book club after reading The Feminine Mystique.

Margaret, Bitsy, Viv, and Charlotte… All looking for their own calling, in their own way. They come together and realize they can be exactly who they want to be and this story follows each of their paths as they journey to find themselves. Living a life with husbands who run the households, banks that require their husband’s signature , and places of employment that favor men.

Set in the 1960s, these women were on the cusp of finding something bigger and something better. And each of their stories is worthy of reading.

I could not put this down and I could not have loved it more. A top five read in 2025 for me.

For sure, I am a troublesome woman!

Thank you to @netgalley and @harpermusebooks for this advanced readers copy. Out on April 22nd, you want to miss this one!

#troublesomewomen #mustread

Four housewives come together to start a book club and it ends up changing their lives during the 1960's. This book shows how a simple book club can evolve into a movement of personal empowerment. Highly recommend reading! Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF - I had high expectations for this book, but after starting it, my attention was not grabbed in the way I prefer. This is not necessarily a bad book, but I'm not interested in finishing it at this time.

4.25 stars.

Set in the 60s, about a book club, female friendships, and revolves around women finding their place in the world. Check, check, check, and check. Marie Bostwick's formula for The Book Club for Troublesome Women first called to me when I saw the cover but the description only furthered my desire to read it. I am such a sucker for a story like this and I'm elated to say that I wasn't disappointed.

Margaret Ryan is our main protagonist but each character had enough presence and development to make it feel like they were all front and center. Although Viv Buschetti and Bitsy Cobb were wonderful characters in their own right, Charlotte Gustafson (and her Samantha Jones demeanor) was my personal favorite.

It was a joy to observe such a deep bond blossom between these four women who couldn't have been more different from each other. Female friendships are always important but especially so during a time when women weren't allowed to do much of anything without permission from a man. Although The Book Club for Troublesome Women is rooted in the past, it is very relevant to our current climate and I believe that made it all the more important.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was everything! I fell in love with the characters and the entire storyline was perfection. Bostwick was able to make every woman in this book brave and complicated, each having their own unique to them (but not unique to the time) challenges with husbands, bosses, and overall expectations and limitations placed on them. I rooted for every single one and loved how they pulled together for each other when times were tough.

Be prepared to be annoyed though, as it was certainly infuriating to think it wasn't all that long ago that a woman couldn't even open her own checking account without her husband's signature.

One of my favorite books as of late, definitely recommend this gem of historical fiction!

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

Thank you @netgalley and @harpercollins for the eARC of this book.

Four women living outside of Arlington, Virginia in the 1960s form a friendship within their book club over the newly published "The Feminine Mystique." Their personalities and marriages are all different, but something they share is a desire to change some things in their lives to find greater purpose.

I enjoy historical fiction and imagining how women in America's lives have changed over the recent decades. The layers of female friendship and self-discovery bloomed throughout the book. I really enjoyed how mental health was integrated as a subplot for one of the women's stories and it wasn't vilified or the focus of her story. It felt real, like these women were in one of my book clubs talking about their lives, and was an enjoyable read!

The premise of this book is great - it's actually the perfect antidote to all the things going around currently that state a woman's place is to stay home / be a traditional wife; it's all nonsense and I really loved the idea of reading something that was anti-that. This however felt like it was all over the place - the pacing was just way too fast in some areas and it dragged on for far too long in other areas so it was just strange.

I loved the discussions on the invisible labor that women were doing and how traumatic and hard it was to keep a career and also keep a home. I loved how it touched on the use of prescription drugs to manage their lives and feeling overwhelmed. I also really loved all of the propaganda in America that was shown.

However, I was disappointed in the characters for the most part. Only Charlotte dared to speak out and it really wasn't much. Margaret and Bitsy had no changes in their life - it was all only what their husbands changed. There was so much forgiveness being thrown around, and instead of having the women speak up for themselves they would bit their tongue and be timid and make themselves small in order to get the approval of their husbands. It wasn't really what I expected at all - I thought the women would be well - troublesome, that they'd fight back against the fact that how in 1963? They couldn't open their own bank account, they couldn't get any contraception, nothing without their husband approving and signing paperwork. I wanted someone to just truly fight back.

Regardless though this is a powerful story - the writing alone is really beautiful, and I do love the imagery in this book! It really does paint the picture really well. I also think that this book would be an absolutely tremendous read for book clubs all over, and would love to join one myself that was covering this one! So many deep and interesting questions can arise just from reading this book and there are SO many significant things to note and discuss.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

Sometimes you just need to read a heartwarming, feel good book and I desperately needed one - and The Book Club for Troublesome Women delivered.

We follow four suburban housewives, Margaret, Charlotte, Viv and Betsy, as they bond and take control of their lives with the support of each other.

I love how the book dove into serious topics without getting too serious. It stayed on the light-hearted fluffy side while still trying to be empowering.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!