The Wednesday Sisters
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Powell's Books
Synopsis:
Five Readers, Five Writers, Five Friends, and One Story of Reaching Together for Our Dreams!
"Meg Waite Clayton's stirring novel will appeal not just to those who secretly wish to be writers, but to anyone with a love of great books; anyone who has felt truly moved by a book or an author; and anyone who has had their dreams bolstered by good and faithful friends. It will speak volumes to fans of THE FRIDAY NIGHT KNITTING CLUB and THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB. You'll want to share THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS with anyone who believes in the power of a good book—to inspire those close to us, and for those who inspire." - Bronwyn Miller, BookReporter
When Frankie, Linda, Kath, Brett, and Ally begin meeting on Wednesday mornings in a park in the late 1960s, their early conversations center on marriage, raising children, and a shared love of reading: Austen, Eliot, Plath, Fitzgerald, and du Maurier. Then one evening, as the young mothers are gathered to watch the Miss America Pageant, Linda admits that she aspires to write a novel herself. Thus begins the Wednesday Sisters Writing Society, as the friends slowly—and often reluctantly—start filling journals, sliding pages into typewriters, and eventually sharing their work. Through their friendship and their writing, they explore the changing world around them—the war in Vietnam, the race to the moon, and a women’s movement that challenges everything they have ever thought about themselves—and carry each other through personal changes brought about by infidelity, longing, illness, failure, and success. With each other’s support and encouragement, these five women shrug off the burden of societal expectations and embrace who they are and what they hope to become, welcoming readers along with them to experience the power of dreaming big.
"Clayton … grabs the reader's attention early on, … introducing compelling and quirky characters that are easy to identify with. In a time when the media and culture in general is focused on everything that appears extreme or out of control, "The Wednesday Sisters" is a refreshing alternative." - Jessica Harrison, Salt Lake City Deseret News
"Set during the summer of 1968 in Palo Alto, California, Clayton's novel chronicles the lives of five women who conduct a weekly writing group at their neighborhood park… The women share their feelings about marriage and motherhood and together mourn the assassination of Robert Kennedy and watch as man walks on the moon and feminists protest the Miss America pageant. They support one another through illness, infertility, racism, and infidelity—and encourage each other through publishers' rejections. Readers will be swept up by this moving novel about female friendship and enthralled by the recounting of a pivotal year in American history as seen through these young women's eyes." - Booklist
"I read The Wednesday Sisters in one delicious gulp. With a smart, entrancing voice, Meg Waite Clayton sweeps us into the world of the tumultuous 1960’s and beyond, and gives us the gift of five young women coming into their own as friends, mothers, wives and writers. The Wednesday Sisters takes their writing group as its core, and up until the last page, I found myself fervently rooting for each of them as if they were my friends too.” — Lalita Tademy, author of Red River and Cane River
"...a heartwarming novel about the joys and complications of friendship, an inspiring story for anyone who has dared to dream big. Clayton's characters are the kind of women you can imagine joining on the park bench—for a good laugh, a good cry, or a spirited conversation about literature and life." - Michelle Richmond, author of The Year of Fog and No One You Know
"This generous and inventive book is a delight to read, an evocation of the power of friendship to sustain, encourage, and embolden us. Join the sisterhood!" - Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Clu
“This book reminded me of why I love to read." - Lolly Winston, author of Good Grief and Happiness Sold Separately
"I simply could not put down The Wednesday Sisters. I gave my heart to Meg Clayton's vivid characters, and I read their intertwined stories breathlessly." - Amanda Eyre Ward, author of Forgive Me and How to be Lost
"...a compelling and deeply moving testament to the power of women’s friendships. " - Ellen Baker, author of Keeping the House
"...heartbreaking, funny, and undeniably smart ... this is the kind of book you don't just want to pass on to all your friends. You have to." - Caroline Leavitt, author of Girls in Trouble and Coming Back to Me
"If you've ever had a best friend, buy a copy for her." - Masha Hamilton, author of The Camel Bookmobile
Book Excerpt:
THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS
CHAPTER 1
The Wednesday Sisters look like the kind of women who might meet at those fancy coffee shops on University—we do look that way—but we’re not one bit fancy, and we’re not sisters, either. We don’t even meet on Wednesdays, although we did at the beginning. We met at the swings at Pardee Park on Wednesday mornings when our children were young. It’s been thirty-five years, though—more than thirty-five!—since we switched from Wednesdays at ten to Sundays at dawn. Sunrise, whatever time the light first crests the horizon that time of year. It suits us, to leave our meeting time up to the tilt of the earth, the track of the world around the sun.
That’s us, there in the photograph. Yes, that’s me—in one of my chubbier phases, though I suppose one of these days I’ll have to face up to the fact that it’s the thinner me that’s the “phase,” not the chubbier one. And going left to right, that’s Linda (her hair loose and combed, but then she brought the camera, she was the only one who knew we’d be taking a photograph). Next to her is Ally, pale as ever, and then Kath. And the one in the white gloves in front—the one in the coffin—that’s Brett.
*
Brett’s gloves—that’s what brought us together all those years ago...
Topics/Categories:
1960s, book club selection, book cubs, book group selection, book groups, Friendship, Sisterhood, the 1960's, writing groups
Genre:
Family - Relationships, Fiction, Humor, Women's Studies - Interest
Best Sellers:
National Bestseller San Francisco Chronicle Best Seller
Type of Work:
Publishers:
Purchase From:
Your Local Indiebound Bookstore
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Borders
Powell's
Random House
Original Publish Date:
June 17, 2008
Reading Guides:
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345502827&view=rg http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345502827&view=auqa
Publishing Notes:
Coming in Paperback May 5, 2009!
Formats:
Hardcover Audio Large Print
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