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The Wednesday Sisters: A Novel
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| Editorial Reviews: | | |  | 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 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. | |
| Custom Reviews: | |
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| Inspirational Look at the Power of Friendship | |
| | What do you get when you combine five women, a shared love of reading and a park picnic table? The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton, of course.
In the late 1960's five very different women meet as their children play in a Palo Alto park. United by their love of books and a shared passion for the Miss America Pageant, the five women - Frankie, Linda, Kath, Brett and Ally - become friends. Eventually their love of books leads to the creation of a writing circle. The characters grow as women and as friends through their writing, and that growth is a fascinating process to watch.
We meet these remarkable women at a crucial point in American history. The Vietnam War is dividing the nation and the Summer of Love is at its peak. The first meeting of the Wednesday Sisters takes place the day after Robert F. Kennedy is shot, and the women find themselves drawn to the park; each one looking for comfort and normalcy on that dark day. As their friendships blossom, they watch in awe as Neil Armstrong walks on the moon and re-evaluate their roles as wives and mothers in light of the Women's Liberation Movement. All the while, they continue to write and encourage each other to pursue their dreams.
Meg Waite Clayton did an excellent job in creating vivid, interesting characters and showing how their lives changed as a result of their friendships and the turbulent times in which they lived. This is a fun, easy read, but there's also a lot of meat to the story. It's sure to be a popular choice for book clubs. I wouldn't be surprised to see The Wednesday Sisters on the silver screen at some point. This inspirational story of the power of friendship has a wide appeal.
| | | The Wednesday Sisters is the compelling story of friendship between five women who first meet in a 1960s Palo Alto park as their children play. Clayton has developed strong characters in Kath the spoiled doctor's wife, Linda the athlete, Frankie from Chicago, scientist Brett, and secretive Ally. Four are college graduates; one is not. A fierce, enduring bond develops between these five very different women as they discover mutual loves--great literature, expressing themselves in writing, and the Miss America Pageant. Every Wednesday, they bring paper and pen to the picnic table in the park. They discuss their latest reads and then write and share their poems and stories, at first timidly, and then more boldly as their talent, confidence, and level of trust develop. When they begin to type their stories and articles, they make four carbons, so each member can read and critique before the next week's discussion.
As the years pass, the women become more proficient writers and venture into the daunting world of submitting their work for publication. They share leads and keep a joint file of possible agents. They share successes and disappointments. One becomes an editor. One succeeds beyond anyone's dream, landing herself a spot on Johnny Carson's late night show.
Their friendship matures along with their talent. Secrets are revealed and honored. They stand with one another through triumphs and tragedies--births, broken marriages, life-changing illness. Every year, the women gather to watch the Miss America Pageant. It becomes a metaphor of their own development, from youthful dreams and ambitions to a more informed, moderate feminism. They are witnesses to a changing world--the Vietnam conflict, man walking on the moon, and the women's movement. The author is faithful to the details of the changing decades of the 60s and 70s. The women transition from one stage of life to another, from one decade to another, sometimes grudgingly (as they switch from typewriters to computers, for instance) and sometimes with ease. The same determination that keeps them writing sustains them all, no matter what life brings. This is no fairy tale in which life is perfect and everyone is instantly successful.
Clayton develops strong individual characters and tells a powerful story that celebrates friendship, trust, and life. She shows the healing power of telling one's story and the importance of having a group of trusted sisters with whom to share those stories.
by Susan Ideus
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
| | A Look Back at Female Friendships | |
| | If your memories of the 60's include bell-bottom pants, tie-dye shirts, women's lib and Vietnam protests, you'll want to read The Wednesday Sisters. Or if your mother was of that era, you'll want to read this book to get a glimpse into the times that shaped her.
Clayton has written an engaging story that deftly balances strong characters and a vibrant account of the socio-political context of the times. Five moms, Frankie (the narrator), Linda, Kath, Brett and Ally find themselves neighbors living in Palo Alto, California. Their shared passion for literature evolves into a writer's circle. As the author takes us to their weekly meetings at the local park, we watch their personalities, intimate secrets, and aspirations unfold. With humor and pathos, Clayton portrays the prevailing attitudes of that era towards racism, divorce, motherhood, infertility, infidelity, and breast cancer.
At one point in the book, Brett quotes Henry Adams: One friend in a lifetime is much; two are many; three are hardly possible. Then she questions, "What is it we've done so right in our lives that has made us five?" You'll find yourself laughing and crying with the sisters, wishing you were surrounded with an any-day-of-the-week group of your own.
| | Intelligent & inspirational. | |
| | A nicely written novel about 5 women who become friends in a local park in California in the late 60's. Their struggles with womens' roles just as the liberation movement is gaining momentum is handled lovingly by the author. All five of the characters ring genuine and interesting and their common desire to write and later their desire to get published left me inspired. I'm sure most readers deep inside have aspirations to write and these women act upon that and encourage and support each other.
Overall an easy-to-read and enlightening look at life back then and how "we've come a long way baby!".
| | I want to be a Wednesday Sister! | |
| | This is an enjoyable story about 5 women who meet in the park and start sharing their love of books and Miss America Pagents :) Through some time, they begin to write and critique each other, along with helping each other through life's ups and downs. This book portrays women and friendship in such a beautiful way. A quick and very enjoyable read.
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