Rating: 3,5/5 stars

I'm thankful to NetGalley and HarperCollins/Harper Muse for the ARC

Marie Bostwick's The Book Club for Troublesome Women introduces us to four sixties-era housewives who, in their quest for more meaningful lives, form a book club that evolves into a profound sisterhood. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing America, the novel delves into themes of self-discovery, persistence, and the power of female friendship.

While the narrative offers a nostalgic and thought-provoking exploration of women's roles during a pivotal era, it occasionally feels a bit forced in its portrayal of the characters' transformations. The pacing can be slow at times, allowing for deep character development, but it may test the patience of some readers. The humor and heartfelt moments are present, yet they sometimes come across as contrived.

Overall, The Book Club for Troublesome Women is a charming read that celebrates the bonds of sisterhood and the journey toward self-empowerment. However, its execution may leave some readers desiring a more organic and engaging narrative.

Just okay for me. I appreciated the time period and characterization. But it was a bit didactic and preachy.
I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Harper Muse, Harper Muse Audiobooks and NetGalley for sending me an ARC and Audio-ARC of The Book Club for Troublesome Women in exchange for review.

Firstly let me just say, I absolutely adored this book and am very grateful I not only got to read it but then immediately after I finished was able to listen to the audio version as well.

This book is a wonderful combination of women of different backgrounds coming together to form a strong bond and endure life’s injustices. It’s hilarious and sad, with the perfect amount of feminine rage.

Being born in the 90s I very luckily missed this time of cruelty towards women of the 1970s. However does it really ever end? We still are fighting for our rights. Though these days we ARE able to open our own bank accounts.

The stories of each of these women being based in truth makes it feel so real. Along with the writing, I felt like I knew these women. I could picture each of them and their struggles. The narrator also did a wonderful job differentiating between voices for each of these women so if you want to read or listen to this book both ways are fantastic.

I felt on a high listening to the end of Charlottes story. It was just so good. They all took back their power in the most meaningful ways. I can’t stress how much I liked this book enough! They were all so relatable.

Thank you so much for the magnificent read!

When a book club decides to read Betty Friedan's groundbreaking The Feminine Mystique, their lives are changed forever in big ways and small. A timely novel about women's place in society.

I was drawn in by the book title and stayed for the characters!

As a book club member myself, I was intrigued to read a book on the topic. I walked away with a few book recommendations from the Bettys book club and I'm not mad about it!

Margaret, Viv, Charlotte, and Bitsy were all well-written characters and I loved watching their growth throughout the novel - both individually and as a group.

I love the 1960s as a history teacher and I enjoyed how the author wove the major events from this time period into the plot. Would definitely recommend this to my students to read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can't recommend it enough! I really enjoyed this book, I couldn't put it down, I finished it in a couple of days!

There aren’t enough stories about female friendships, and the Bettys are a group of women looking for their place in the world - and they found each other. A book about a rebellious, feminist-fueled book club who challenge the world around them and dare it to bend to their new perspectives was a fun story to read. It successfully highlights the struggles women faced in striking out with their own independent pursuits, and reminded the reader of the power of women who come together to build each other up. A great read!

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, the characters were well developed. I'd recommend to friends once published.

Interesting book about a time in history that I am not very familiar with. and it took me a while to get used to the time period. , but once she started getting into the characters in their lives it improved. Interesting premise and good character development.

I honestly didn’t think I was going to love this book as much as I did. I picked the book up not really knowing what to expect but it was wonderful. You follow four friends and the lives that they have built for themselves. It was moving, it was tough, and as a wife myself, certain parts were still a bit relatable.

NetGalley also gave me a chance to listen to the audiobook, so following along with the ebook made the experience more vibrant. I really liked the narrator, she did a good job of bringing each character more animated. The audio was clear and the narrator was easy to follow. I definitely enjoyed listening to it.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick is a heartwarming and empowering story set in the 1960s. It follows Margaret, a suburban housewife who seems to have it all but feels like something is missing.

This book is all about friendship, self-discovery, and pushing against society’s expectations. Bostwick does a fantastic job capturing the struggles and strength of women during that time. If you love stories about strong female bonds and personal growth, this one’s definitely worth a read!

This will definitely make the book club rounds. We've got four women (all with different color hair!) who are all married in the 1960's, who meet each other at a neighborhood mixer and decide to start a book club. The "Samantha" of the group suggests reading The Feminine Mystique and this starts some things off.

All of the women end up re-examining their lives to some extent and make decisions that they might not have made if they didn't have each other as support. One goes back to work for a while. One writes a column in a women's magazine and eventually tries to go beyond the tripe that she's expected to write. Two get divorces and careers.

Only one of these women has what I'd consider to be a good marriage, although one ends up being reparable in what feels like a frankly unrealistic realization that the husband comes to.

I think what I liked about the book is that it's one of those books where everyone gets their version of a happy ending. This is meant to gently challenge traditional (patriarchal) assumptions with everything carved out so black and white that there's no doubt what you're supposed to think as the reader. This is no Feminine Mystique, Women's Room, or any of the other literature name-checked in the book. It's training wheels consciousness raising. I suppose the sad thing is that this is probably all that a lot of its readers might be ready for. We haven't really come all that long a way from the 1960's in terms of misogyny, even thought I'd like to think differently.

But if what you want to read about is developing friendships and things all working out okay with maybe a little bit of a message, this will do just fine.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women is an enjoyable visit to 1950s America, where women stayed home to keep house and raise children while husbands brought home the bacon. When a group of women stumble across Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, they begin to question how much autonomy they actually had when making the choices that defined their lives.
Bostwick created a fun, likeable and relatable group of women to read, debate, and grow together. Each woman looks back on her life and the choices that shaped it, some opting to swap that life for what they hope will be a happier one. As a Women's Study minor in college who has read all the books mentioned in the novel, it was fun to revisit the classroom conversations and debates they sparked.
I enjoyed the book up until the end, where the author goes pulls it all together at a reunion where we learn what became of the book club "Bettys". The ending felt detached from the style of the rest of the book, and a bit rushed as well. Perhaps letting the reader imagine what became of each Betty may have been a more effectual choice. The ending knocked it from four stars to three.

What a great book! I absolutely loved how twisty and clever this one was! I was totally engrossed from beginning to end and would definitely read from this author again, So, so, so good!

I really enjoyed this book! It activated my feminine rage without a doubt. This is such an important read because we need to remember how much women before us have fought for us to be where we are today.

I fell in love with the characters and they were so relatable in so many ways. I think every woman will be able to identify one way or the other with one or several of these characters.

Marie is an incredible writer and I was completely enthralled from start to finish! This was such a wonderful read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, HarperCollins Focus, Harper Muse and Marie Bostwick for giving me an ARC of this incredible book!

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book earlier. Overall, this is a good read for historical fiction lovers. I found it the writing to be a bit dry at times, which I’m not sure was a stylistic choice to be representative of the time or just the author’s style.

Such a good book! I love that it followed different women who had very different lives. It was so nice to see this side of motherhood and see the side of women being more than mothers. It highlighted how women are so much more than just their wife/mom boxes. Found family trope!

Margaret Ryan, a housewife in the sixties forms a book club with a few women in the neighborhood. She goes outside her comfort zone and invites Charlotte a new neighbor relocated from the “big city” - Charlotte will come if she can pick the book. This is the begin of the Betty’s.

This story is a fantastic look into the life of a woman in the 1960s. The expectations society puts upon them and what women are expected too tolerate from the world around them. These women find friendship and support and challenge expectations pushed onto them. It was a great story and the characters are relatable- a great read!

What a sweet novel of four newfound friends who joined together to form a bookclub and nicknamed themselves “the Betties” after the author Betty Friedan who wrote The Feminine Mystique. This Nobel follows tremendous growth and empowerment of each Betty. Though set in the 60s a lot of these themes sadly ring true today. No matter the time or the obstacle, there is no limit to how much we can accomplish together as women ! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of this delightful story!

This book was so special.
I love a good 60’s era story. This one shed light on how hard it was to be a woman during that time, and the expectations they dealt with on the day to day. These smart and capable women were told what they were best for was supporting their husbands from the home. Now, I am an old fashioned girl at heart, but watching these characters navigate the times was emotional and difficult.
The characters were layered and complicated and beautiful and the friendship they form over the book club is more beautiful still. Love this book. Will read more Bostwick for sure.