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.