What readers think of The Briar Club, plus links to write your own review.

Narration by Saskia Maarleveld is always spot on. Her ability with accents and dialects is amazingly done to perfection. A favorite narrator of mine.

“It’s seen three wars, ten presidents, and countless tenants… but until tonight, never a murder. Now its walls smell of turkey, pumpkin pie, and blood, and the house is shocked down to its foundations.”

An eclectic group of women living at a boardinghouse, called Briarwood House, in Washington, D.C., set in the McCarthy era. The prologue is written from the POV of the house. Each chapter follows a different character, resulting in nine narrative voices giving us insight into what makes each of them tick. Grace, a tenant of the boardinghouse, holds a weekly impromptu dinner party in her attic-room for the other tenants, thus forming the Briar Club. Prior to this, the tenants have kept to themselves and now a diverse group of people have come together. They all have their fair share of secrets, some more terrible than others. When an act of violence tears apart the house, the women must decide once and for all: Who is the enemy in their midst?

“Quinn’s novels feature strong female protagonists who must navigate the constraints of their male-dominated cultures to assert their right to self-determination.” I thoroughly enjoy reading Quinn’s books and her writing style. The Briar Club is no exception. I liked the concept of the house becoming something of a character in its own right and having a voice in this story. I found each of the characters stories compelling and wanting to know all about them. I liked that she incorporated recipes at beginning of each chapter. She is a favorite author of mine and I always look forward to her next book.

Themes of McCarthyism, struggles of freedom, friendship, finding support and overcoming differences, misogyny, progression of insularity to community, abuse, systemic racism, and reproductive rights.