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Friday, February 27, 2009

The Wednesday Sisters- my thoughts

The Wednesday Sisters
- MegWaite Clayton
Published 2008
320 pages

From Goodreads:
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.

Well, where do I start? For me this is pretty simple...I did not like it very much. I honestly did not connect with the characters at all. In fact, I simply wasn't buying into the story about these ladies lives and how they came to be friends and how they would meet every week and write and critique each others stories. Then, how eventually two of them became published authors. I could go on but what is the sense in that? If the above description from Goodreads sounds interesting to you then I think you should at least try reading this book. I wanted to like it, what's better than people bonding over books? But it fell short for me...maybe I will try to read it again when I can be more focused on it and am in a different frame of mind. However, because of course I'm a passage/quote addict, I will leave you with two passages that I DID LIKE!
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You could see the Linda who'd settled herself on a tree branch where no one could see her and tried to spin for herself a web of imaginary friendships, a world of Charlottes and Ferns and Wilburs. The child who built I-don't-care-if-I-offend-you walls, who decided she didn't want friends other than the ones she found in books.

p. 147
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"This is preposterous, "Brett said. "We're supposed to boil four hundred manuscript pages down to a single paragraph?"
"Like churning sweet milk," Kath said. "How about this, y'all? How about you start with a question to draw in the reader, then give them a little peek at the story but don't tell the ending? Show them a little ankle, maybe some calf, but don't go sleeping with the boy before the wedding day."

p. 199

Other Reviews:

Lesley's Book Nook

16 comments:

  1. Hopefully you like your next book better.

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  2. thanks Heather...I just finished Bliss and it was fantastic!!

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  3. Sorry to hear that you didn't like this book. I appreciate your honesty. You know, that happens to me sometimes...I will start a book and really dislike it. I'll put it down and sometimes go back to it months later and then love the book. For me, it's state of mind sometimes. I have this book on my wishlist and will let you know what I think after I read it.

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  4. I hate it when a book doesn't meet your expectations. Sometimes the publicity blurbs sound so great and the books are so blah!

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  5. You know I'm sort of relieved to read this. Now I can some of that "I really should read this" pressure off, because frankly it's probably not my type of book anyway. Then again, for your sake, I am sorry you didn't enjoy it more.

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  6. Palo Alto...that's my neck of the wood. Local bookstores were really pushing it but it wasn't received very well. I couldn't decide on it so I actually read a substantial amount at the bookstore. I did enjoy the parts when they shared about the love for literature.

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  7. This was my first Library Thing ER book and it was ok. I also found it hard to connect with.

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  8. I heard more bad than good things about this book. I commend you for getting through it. If I don't like a book, I usually just stop reading it and don't give it a chance. I've always been like that. I guess I'm just too impatient.

    I hope you are enjoying your Saturday and that you are feeling better!

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  9. Too bad you didn't like this more. I know what you mean about not buying into the story.

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  10. I've heard some mixed reviews on this one but I'm still interested enough to check it out.

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  11. I've given you an award!! Please stop by and pick it up!! Have a wonderful Sunday - I love yhour blog!!

    www.southerngal-lisa.blogspot.com

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  12. I thought this was pretty good. Not great, but not terrible. You can read my review here if you like.

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  13. Matt- your comment makes me feel a little better about not caring for the book. I too enjoyed the parts when they shared their ove of literature, but that was about it!

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  14. You know I think I may have bought this book a while ago. I'll have to check.

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  15. I read this book last month and thought it was just okay. I understand your thoughts totally.

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  16. Joy- good, now I don't feel so alone!!

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