Author, Meg Waite Clayton, created a lovely book about friendship in her novel “The Wednesday Sisters.”  Ms. Clayton actually belongs to a book club that meets on Wednesday night, hence the title.   I was 12 years old  in 1968, and involved in tween things not yet understanding the world around me.  I wasn’t aware of how repressed women were, it was just the way it was.  But, looking back at my mother, I see how hard it really was for her, and how fortunate women are today, if for no other reason than we now have choices.

The characters of the novel, Brett, Ally, Frankie, Linda, and Kath, meet at a neighborhood park and become life-long friends.  They bond together and form a writing club that meets on Wednesday mornings in the park.   Clayton’s sense of time and place is very good in this novel.  Everyone watched the Miss American Pageant in the 60’s.  Clayton takes the Pageant, which is very reflective of that point in time, and contrasts it against the smoldering civil rights movement.  The characters are wives and mothers and it’s interesting to watch how they navigate through this period.

My only criticism would be that most friendships are not as smooth as the relationship among the Wednesday sisters, there tends to be more friction and bumps along the way.  And that friction and those bumps either create very strong lasting friendships or cause their demise.

Book clubs can discuss the point in time the novel is set and contrast that with today.  Also good discussions could be had on friendships, from types to longevity.

Clayton has a wonderful website with a section for book clubs see www.megwaiteclayton.com.  You can access questions for book club and also learn more about the author (just in case you didn’t realize that most authors do have websites and provide a lot of information).

Rating 7.5