Friendship, loyalty, and love lie at the heart of Meg Waite Clayton’s beautifully written, poignant, and sweeping novel of five women who, over the course of four decades, come to redefine what it means to be family.
For thirty-five years, Frankie, Linda, Kath, Brett, and Ally have met every Wednesday at the park near their homes in Palo Alto, California. Defined when they first meet by what … by what their husbands do, the young homemakers and mothers are far removed from the Summer of Love that has enveloped most of the Bay Area in 1967. These “Wednesday Sisters” seem to have little in common: Frankie is a timid transplant from Chicago, brutally blunt Linda is a remarkable athlete, Kath is a Kentucky debutante, quiet Ally has a secret, and quirky, ultra-intelligent Brett wears little white gloves with her miniskirts. But they are bonded by a shared love of both literature — Fitzgerald, Eliot, Austen, du Maurier, Plath, and Dickens — and the Miss America Pageant, which they watch together every year.
As the years roll on and their children grow, the quintet forms a writers circle to express their hopes and dreams through poems, stories, and, eventually, books. Along the way, they experience history in the making: Vietnam, the race for the moon, and a women’s movement that challenges everything they have ever thought about themselves, while at the same time supporting one another through changes in their personal lives brought on by infidelity, longing, illness, failure, and success.
Humorous and moving, The Wednesday Sisters is a literary feast for book lovers that earns a place among those popular works that honor the joyful, mysterious, unbreakable bonds between friends.
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Meg Waite Clayton’s The Wednesday Daughters.
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I can’t begin to share the gamut of emotion I experienced with every turn of the page. These women, The Wednesday Sisters — who actually meet on Sunday and aren’t related — have a way of crawling under the reader’s skin as they bring everything from good, bad, to indifferent, out into the open in an up-close-and-personal way. From out loud guffaw laughter, to anger and tears, Linda, Brett, Kath, Ally, and Frankie will rivet themselves to your heart!
Great time period book about women and friendship and finding your voice.
This book reminds us of the lifestyle of the 60’s. We see women going through their lives experiencing life that was normal at that time, laying the foundation to understand with greater perspective how much our lives have changed since that era.
Loved the characters and their relationship to each other. It is a book about pursuing your dreams–and having friends who help you realize what your dreams actually are. A great book about friendship.
I liked it. The theme was fresh and well done. The characters were well developed.
Enjoyed the friendship of the women and the changes in the world during the years.
The characters were women I would want to have as friends-honest, caring, and always there, supporting one another. I read the book in one sitting and would definitely read more from this author.
This book tops my favorites list. As soon as I read it, I bought copies for all my girlfriends. The story is beautifully crafted and I loved the characters so much that I didn’t want to leave them. It is one of the few stories that I reread-and often! I also had the pleasure of meeting the author and she genuinely connected with each of the readers at the event and that counts for a lot in-excuse the pun-my book.
I loved this book! I was very glad it continued with the next generation!
Five strangers meeting together really is not such an oddity. It is that one ingredient that brings about the chance meeting, the glue forming a precious bond. I belong to a group of 11 women, each living in a different state plus one from Australia. We are as close as sisters while spanning thirty years in age. We attend and cheer each other’s writing accomplishments, share our families’ joys and sorrows. While we will never appear on Johnny Carson, we have met in Texas, Florida, Missouri, and other states. We are sisters.
This heart warming story takes the reader through the memorable 60’s, keeping true to the historical time, issues faced by young mothers, and the kindred spirits formed through suffering.
I absolutely love this story and have already recommended it to friends. Now I am highly recommending it to you. I read a copy received from my local library.
Cute read, sweet & sad like life with friends.
I got pretty bored with it, but kept going and it was an “all right” read.
Nice summer read. May take it to my book club –
Fabulous coming to adulthood and emerging confident women – lived this book! Encouraging to me, as I am considering writing.
Great character development, felt like I was sitting right there at the picnic table with the Wednesday Sisters.
Poorly crafted story of first world problems. Little authenticity.