Women, Writing, Friendships, 1960s ( )

This is a great novel about friendship and the difference between what people considered to tribulations. I found it to be a rather quick read since I found myself attached to the characters and wanting to know what happened to them next. ( )

A nice,gentle story that is written with such love. This doesn't appear to be much of a story on the whole, but once you get to know these characters, you will really enjoy it. It reminded me a lot of books like the YAYA Sisters and The Help, but I enjoyed this one much more than The Help. This is another one of those books that sneaks up on you. You won't realize how much you enjoyed it until you put it down. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. The author does a great job in grabbing from the first. The way the characters are built around each other really works. Notone of them could be deleted without the book falling. The only draw back about the book is there was too much detail on the intimate relationships between spouses. Even though they were married, which I greatly appriecate, we do not need details. Let the readers imagination take over.

I really enjoyed this book. The historical information of 20 somethings dealing with the changing times of the late 60s and early 70s was so very interesting. Many times I had to stop and think that it was really like this for women and how much has changed in 35-40 years. The friendship among the women is very real History is woven in in such a way as to not be boring. Definitely a great read and one that is perfect for a discussion group. ( )

What happens when mothers go to a park with their children? They find other women like themselves who enjoy discussing books that they've read. These 5 women also discovered that they would all like to write and be published. So, that's what they did. They set up a time on Wednesdays when they would meet at the park and critique each other's work. Some did get published & others went to work at a publishing company.
It is also historical fiction in the fact that the story started in the 1960's and went into the 1970's. These women did not work outside the home but felt the need to write, to do something with their lives other than being a mother.
The 'sisters' also became best friends supporting each through pregnancy issues, becoming single mothers, cancerand husband & wives going their seperate ways yet coming back together again. Very much like reality at its best. ( )

I loved The Wednesday Sisters. I identified with Frankie from page one where she "shows" a group photo of the women describing her self as in a chubbier phase back then and admitting that the skinnier self is actually more of a phase the chubby self. I quickly came to love all of the women, seeing a little of myself or a close friends or family member in each of them. I love that although each of the women keep secrets from one another from at one time or another, the when the time comes to be honest the narrator reveals the full story to the reader at once. It ensures us that the friendship continues despite their differences. I love the support group the women give each other through their honest critiques of their writing pieces.

The book has a thread of femininity and feminism unique to the 60s on first glance but many of their struggles with equality are still relevant today. The plot addresses how they are each affected by their choices to stand up for themselves or to be submissive without being overtly political. I was surprised to learn women were originally barred from the Boston Marathon and many Olympic events. As a child in the 80s I took it for granted I could participate in any sport I wanted, ironically I despised sports as a teen and choose not to participate but thankfully I had the choice.

I just finished reading the book and am still thinking it over. I can't help comparing it to Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan in which 4 women build a lifelong friendship a generation after the Wednesday Sisters. ( )

At last, a book I could really get into. A story of friendship among a group of women. They all have secret sufferings, and like all of us, don't always share them easily. And it captures that friendships aren't always easy, that we have envy at times.
One of the better early review books I have received. ( )

I really liked this book -- even though it had a LOT going on. It tackles the issues of friendship, women's rights, femininity, mother/child relationships, adultery, infertility, racism, writing/literature, America in the late '60's/early '70's and the role of women during that time.

I felt like I was getting a history lesson, courtesy of cable tv...something that's enjoyable and you learn a little despite yourself. If there weren't some heavy subjects that would be inappropriate for little girls, I would ask that this book be a primer in all elementary schools. It was only 30-some years ago that women were blatently treated as second-class citizens, and our little women today need to be reminded of how far we've come...and that it's not over by a long shot.

Meg Clayton did a great job capturing the fragility and strength many women have -- I laughed, I cried and all in all really enjoyed this book. ( )

I was surprised to receive this book and wondered if I would really enjoy it, but once I started I found it hard to put down. The way in which the lives of the five women came together and was worked in with events of the day made it compelling for me. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. I loved that the book intermingled the story of the 5 women with the current events and the views of time. I was really inspired by the support that they gave each other through marriage woes, medical issues, and their writing. I think it is the perfect book for any mother especially if you have a great group of friends to share your hopes and dreams with ( )

This was an absoutely wonderful read, from cover to cover. I enjoyed the spirit of female friendship as well as the drive to write. ( )

Part sisterhood, part Forrest Gump, this book is the story of five women who form a bond in the summer of 1968. Frankie, new in Palo Alto, takes her children to the park and meets Linda, Alley, Kath and Brett. They bond over their love of books and desire to write. And as their friendship progresses we see the times they are living through the women’s lib movement, the first lunar landing, and protests over the Vietnam War. For those of us who actually were young adults in 1968 it’s a trip down memory lane as books such as The Godfather and movies like Love Story are mentioned. ( )

Captivating! This read was one that was hard to put down! The friendship between these women is a very "real" theme that one can associate with. Women coming together over their children, and then over a common goal to be able to write makes for a very enjoyable read. ( )

The Wednesday Sisters is pleasant, engaging, and a friendly read. For what I would consider lit-lite, it manages to get across some fairly important themes about self-discovery, self-reliance, and of course feminism and friendship. The characters feel slightly stock, but you care about their stories. The stories are slightly cliched, but they hold your interest. It would be just right for a book club whose members like to bring their own experiences into the discussion, as the aforementioned themes will touch on experiences that most women share. For a richer feminist-popular-literature experience, read The Women's Room by Marilyn French. But while it's, yes, slight, and a bit Hallmark-hokey, The Wednesday Sisters is perfectly adequate for a quick beach read. ( )

Charming book...shows how women bond...light and an interesting read. The way the women and most women bond is extraordinary...this book shows that wonderful world of female bonding and support. ( )

Meg Waite Clayton has definitely captured the essence of friendship among women and proved that while "blood may be thicker than water" you get to "pick" your friends while you "inherit" your relatives.

We meet Linda, Ally, Kath, Brett and Frankie, the narrator, during 1969 in Palo Alto, California where they are all young married women. All but Ally have children and in fact, that is was attracts Ally to the group in the first place as she observed the others in the park each week with their kids. Slowly, this group of women decide they should meet every week to write. Write for writing's sake, you know, that burning desire to release that one "great book" that each of us has in us. The current events of the time have influence on the course that some of them take, but others are simply curious sideline observers. At one point in the book, I almost left the women in frustration, because this had been a prime time in my life. I was a young woman, not married, but on my own and experiencing first hand many of the issues i.e., Equal Rights for Women, Vietnam, Peace Movement, Racism that they wavered on because of the values that had been instilled in them by their families.

I am glad to say that I hung in there with the "sisters" and they grew, matured, and learned that they could choose a different course than their parents, and the world would not come to an end. The depth of the friendship and bonds that developed for these women was heart wrenching at times, and heartwarming at others. This is a book that can be enjoyed by any generation but it is a wonderful read down memory lane for those of us that came of age during the 60's. ( )

excellent story to read. Frankie, Linda, Kath, Brett and Ally find themselves meeting every Wed. at a part in Calif. It starts with kids playing, then women confiding and then trying to write. The kids grow, lives have turmoils and the women become best of friends. Very very good. ( )

I plan to read this one summer day by the beach

I probably would have liked this book better, if not for the fact that I started reading _Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons_ soon after starting to listen to this one. AHEB is soooooo similar to The Wednesday Sisters that I spent less time focused on the characters' lives than on how ridiculously (and eerily) similar the books and characters were.
***Beware spoilers below!***

Set in the sixties with Robert Kennedy's assassination one of the first bonding events in women's friendship? Check.
Woman who's boisterous, says anything and unashamedly loves sex? Check.
Ironically (I'm rolling my eyes), that sexy woman's husband is cheating on her? Check.
Opinionated woman's lib-er, who happens to be a fitness fanatic? Check.
Ironically (ditto), that incredibly health-conscious woman gets cancer? Check.
Woman who wants desperately to have a child, while suffering through miscarriages and/or other deaths? Check.
Woman does get a child (differing circumstances for each), who happens to be of mixed race, causing the expected prejudices during the sixties? Check.

Ugh. The characters ended up seeming trite and predictable. I was annoyed by both. Sigh. ( )

A group of 5 women gather at a local park in the late 60's. Their friendship begins with their love of books, then progresses to writing. Throughout the years they learn and grow from each other.

If you love women's fiction regarding friendship and the sharing of life's ups and downs, this book is for you. The story line is true to life, even with the following of 5 different women/families. My rating is indicative of my lack of caring for the genre, in general, not the writing. There have been books in this genre that I have truly loved, but this one did not hit the spot. What I really liked, though, was the time period and watching all the changes take place as they moved into the 70's. According to all the reviews I have scanned, it is well-loved. I believe reading this with a group of women would have been beneficial; unfortunately, I did not. (3.25/5) ( )

This books seems like it is a tale of female friendship and it is. But, it is a tale of changing ideas on feminism & racism, as well. We were lucky enough to arrange a chat with the author over coffee - she's lovely and the book is terrific. ( )

An entertaining and thought-provoking read! This is a delightful story of five women who gradually become friends and begin to see life through each other's eyes. Perfect beach reading. The writing is thoughtful and imaginative. The story moved somewhat slowly in parts, but overall, completely enjoyable. ( )

I found this book interesting because it was about a group of moms in the era that I was born in. They bonded around their interest in writing and I liked hearing about this period of time from their perspective. ( )

I'm sorry but this is the second time I've tried to read this book and this time I made it 30 pages and found my mind wondering to other things when reading a page. This author is too wordy and introduces too much information right from the beginning. She needed to have introduced everyone and later in the book let us see inside those people. I doubt if I ever finish reading it. ( )