The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club by Julia Bryan Thomas
This novel, set during the mid-1950s, revolves around a group of four girls, all freshman at Radcliffe, and a female bookstore owner who decides to start a reading club at her store. Alice Campbell left her home town of Chicago and opened a bookshop in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This store had been a dream of hers that she was only able to realize at this point in her life, with her backstory gradually coming out through the course of the novel.
The four young women we come to know as well, both through the book club and through their activities at college. Tess comes from Ohio and is a serious student. She grew up with several brothers, a subdued mother, and a bully of a father. She comes to Radcliffe as a scholarship student, is an English major, and aims to excel in her studies and escape the life she grew up in. It is Tess who sees the flyer for the reading club at the bookstore and suggests it to her roommate and other friends she has made.
Her roommate Caroline is quite different. Caroline comes from a wealthy family in Newport, Rhode Island, and is a beautiful young woman who uses her charm to keep young men clamoring for her time. On arrival Caroline takes over the room, but in a nice way. She provides a matching set of bedlinen to Tess, saying she likes things to match, and Tess falls for her charm. Caroline is studying art history and her travels have given her direct experience with art.
Evie grew up on a farm in upstate New York, and is studying economics
Evie's roommate Merritt is from San Francisco and is studying art. Merritt is an only child and her mother passed away when Merritt was still a young girl.
The reading club starts with the classic Jane Eyre and over the course of the year, one can see how the books mirror certain aspects of the young women's lives. The discussions around each book are very interesting. Alice is good at asking questions that get the others talking, and one of the first things she says is that there is no right or wrong when discussing a book, but instead the club is about how the book affects you and how it makes you feel. She manages the discussions well, and while she doesn't become friends with the others, she does manage to gain the trust of some of them.
This was quite an interesting read, and I was interested in what happened to the characters and how their experiences changed them. I also found it interesting to think about the books chosen and about how I might respond to some of the questions Alice asked.
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