Book Review -- The Wednesday Sisters

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton has been recommended by so many sources I couldn't even begin to list them. (Published May 2009 by Ballantine Books -- paperback -- 306 pages) I can only call the genre Literary Fiction, and I have no idea if that is even a genre, LOL

Five women, one passion, and the unbreakable bond of friendship

When five young mothers—Frankie, Linda, Kath, Ally, and Brett—first meet in a neighborhood park in the late 1960s, their conversations center on marriage, raising children, and a shared love of books. Then one evening, as they gather to watch the Miss America Pageant, Linda admits that she aspires to write a novel herself, and the Wednesday Sisters Writing Society is born. The five women slowly, and often reluctantly, start filling journals, sliding pages into typewriters, and sharing their work. In the process, they explore the changing world around them: the Vietnam War, the race to the moon, and a women's movement that challenges everything they believe about themselves. At the same time, the friends carry one another through more personal changes—ones brought about by infidelity, longing, illness, failure, and success. With one another's support and encouragement, they begin to embrace who they are and what they hope to become, as The Wednesday Sisters welcomes readers to experience, along with its heroines, the power of dreaming big.

This is a must read for every woman I know. I will remember this book for the rest of my life as a powerful portrayal of relationships, love, and beating the odds. Everyone will recognize one of the women in this story, either in themselves or in women they know.

Clayton pulls you in and holds you through the entire book. It is a well paced, fast read. The characters are sharply drawn, women you don't want to leave when the book ends, ones you'll want to return to again and again.

This lyrical novel will appeal to anyone who has felt truly moved by a book or an author and anyone who has had their dreams bolstered by good and faithful friends. Don't walk -- run -- to pick this one up! Definitely one for the keeper shelf. I have no idea how Ms. Clayton will top it.