This is a wonderful story and I found myself disappointed that it came to an end.
The story is set in the early 1950s in a woman's only boarding house on the corner of Briar and Wood streets in Washington D.C. The house is affectionately dubbed Briarwood House for obvious reasons. We get to meet all the residents during the 4 years the story involves. Each of the seven residents get a chapter (a long one) to share their story. Quinn cleverly keeps the stories in sequential order so that we are always moving forward in time with the characters and not revisiting something we've already read through a separate set of eyes.
The woman are all fascinating in their own unique ways. We get to empathise, rage at, like, not like through Quinn's remarkable story telling. Grace March is perhaps my favourite. She's the captain of the ship, so to speak. She's the last to arrive and the one who establishes the Briar Club Thursday night dinners in her upstairs 4B room which becomes a weekly calendar marker for each of the ladies. They take turns supplying dinner and grow to trust each other through their camaraderie. Grace is a mystery. She doesn't reveal much about herself, and is a tremendous listener and problem solver for the other ladies. She is gutsy, streets mark and won't let someone play her.
It's a strange time in America. Post WWII, a war going on in Korea which no one cares about but there's agreeing fear about Communist Russia fuelled by Joe McCarthy's incessant badgering through the media. Women are discovering they can look after themselves, can gain employment and be in control of their relational needs. But misogyny is ever prevalent and we get to witness how our ladies grapple with it.
Each of the women are so different, I loved how Quinn brought us this vibrant collection of personalities and characters. It was wonderful. I enjoyed meeting them all. Yes, there were some that frustrated me and I struggled a little to like them but the way Quinn presents each woman we get to better understand their situation, background and their rationale for acting the way they do.
There are also some interesting male characters. Pete, the 13 year old who grows through his teens during the story, is a lovely demonstration of a young man having female role models who help shape him. His father deserted Pete and his younger sister, Lina, and their mother a few years back and he lacks for male modelling. But what he learns from the women will keep him in good stead as he matures.. Xavier Byrne, Nora's love interest is fascinating grappling with being born into a master's family.
Quinn introduces us to a tremendous microcosm of America in that period through the eyes of these women and the others who play a role, some small, some large, in their lives. It's historical (modern) fiction at its best.
I feel very fortunate having received access to the story via the Net Galley app by the publisher, however, this had no bearing on my review.
Val Jackson
Ian Acheson
Rebecca Rosenberg