They say the best revenge is living well. The heroines of my new novel, The Book Club For Troublesome Women, would agree wholeheartedly.
When four dissatisfied but very different suburban housewives form a book club to read the controversial 1963 blockbuster The Feminine Mystique, the page is turned in an eye-opening, horizon-expanding journey. The books they read together will become the glue that helps them hold fast through tears, triumphs, angst and arguments — and what will prove to be the most consequential and freeing year of their lives.
Here are seven more books, with settings from the 15th Century to the present day, featuring characters who could be sisters to my Troublesome Women, heroines who avenge themselves by overcoming roadblocks and pushing back boundaries to live fully, adventurously and very, very well.
Anna of Kleve: The Princess in the Portrait by Alison Weir
Anna of Kleve focuses on the fourth wife of England’s notorious King Henry VIII. As anyone with even a passing knowledge of the Tudor history knows, outcomes for Henry’s brides included divorce, banishment and even beheading. Rejected by the royal court as well as the King, awkward, hopeful and highly intelligent Anna outwits and outdoes the queens who come before and after her, navigating the twisting paths of political intrigue to create a free, independent and happy life for herself.
The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin
A thrice-widowed countess of questionable reputation allows women of prim and restrictive Victorian London to unleash their minds and escape their domestic duties through the unified power of the written word. Much as my characters find solace and conversation with Betty Freidan’s The Feminine Mystique, so Martin’s heroines subvert and avenge the pressures and societal expectations of their world through sisterhood and intelligent discussion.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
This powerful classic depicts the story of Celie, a poor and largely uneducated African American girl from rural Georgia who is separated from her beloved sister and the two babies born from an incestuous relationship with her abusive stepfather. Forced into a sham marriage with an equally abusive man, Celie pours out her heart and troubles in letters to God, traveling a slow but steady path from simply surviving to renewal, redemption, freedom and love.
The Recipe For a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown
The Recipe For a Perfect Wife tells the story of contemporary heroine Alice Hale, who discovers 1950’s housewife Nellie Murdoch through the notes scribbled in the margins of a vintage cookbook. Nellie’s picture-perfect recipes and baking tips are a stark contrast to the darkness and secrets rippling beneath the facade of her Donna Reed skirts and supposedly happy family life. And when domesticity is wielded as a strong weapon, Alice learns just how imperfect a perfect 1950s woman actually was.
The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley
This novel highlights the reckless and adventuresome spirit evoked in its titular nod to Thelma and Louise. Two women separated by a generation gap and circumstance forge a common bond as they rail against the caregiving roles and emotional labor so often ascribed to women throughout the centuries. Taking the reins and asserting control, they prove that even contemporary women must sometimes break the mold to find true freedom — and an adventure that leaves good reputations and good judgment behind.
Out of the Clear Blue Sky by Kristan Higgins
Lillie Silva anticipates both sorrows and joys as she transitions to life as an empty-nester. What she doesn’t anticipate is her husband’s abrupt departure from the marriage, or that his announcement would leave her feeling not heartbroken, but absolutely furious. After several hilariously satisfying attempts to make her ex’s life as miserable and humiliating as humanly possible, Lillie begins to forge new alliances, repair broken relationships and find a way forward as a changed woman in a new life, one that is better than she could ever have imagined.
Morning in this Broken World by Katrina Kittle
Morning in this Broken World features a tightly knit group of women who forge friendship and found family during the recent COVID-19 lockdowns. Here, vengeance is a rallying cry for hope and joy against vapid circumstances. Explored through the very real pressures of women trying to keep themselves together as the world is falling apart, Katrina Kittle inspires women to fight for what no pandemic or socio-economic recession can possibly take: the indomitable strength of sisterhood.
