If you’ve read my previous reviews, you know I’m a huge fan of Kate Quinn. Although The Briar Club is different from her previous historical novels, I found her latest book to be captivating.
Her other novels are set during a war. This novel is set in Washington, DC during the Cold War, when Senator Joseph McCarthy became a tireless fighter against communist spies who may have been living in the United States. It was a time of political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign to spread fear of communism in the late 1940s and into the 1950s. Many were afraid of being falsely accused. All of the characters in the novel are well researched and based on real people. Quinn does an excellent job of bringing the McCarthy era to life.
The Briar Club begins with the Briarwood House, which tells the story. On Thanksgiving Day, the police come knocking on the door. Inside the house, there is a lot of blood and two bodies, one upstairs and one downstairs, as well as 17 suspects who have drunk too much rum punch.
First, the house must go back four years to fill in the gaps. Briarwood is a run-down women-only boarding house in 1950 Washington, DC. No one would suspect that Briarwood House hides secrets behind its white picket fence. But Briarwood has plenty of them. At first, all the women keep to themselves, until widow Grace March moves into the attic apartment. She invites the ladies over for dinner while the grumpy landlady plays bridge. Residents include the landlady’s two children, an elderly Hungarian refugee, a woman who works for the National Archives and is in love with a gangster, a confident young English mother whose husband, a doctor, is stationed overseas, a former baseball star from the World War II Women’s Baseball League, and a real-life secretary to the anti-McCarthy senator from Maine, a secretary to the House Un-American Activities Committee.
As they bond over meals and copious amounts of gin, the residents tell each other their stories. But they all hold something back. This is a compelling story about female friendship in a scary time. Although this book has so many characters that you might think they’d be confusing, Quinn does a great job of making sure they have very different traits and personalities, as well as their secrets.
Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of Southern California, she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classical singing. She wrote four novels in the Empress of Rome saga and two books on the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, and The Briar Club. (www.katequinnauthor.com)
Cathy Lay Mayor grew up in Cullman and graduated from Cullman High School in 1976. She says when she writes book reviews, she tries to remember what Mrs. Gilbert taught her in 11th grade English class. She lived in Dothan for more than 30 years, is married and has three grown children and six grandchildren. She retired to Panama City but still calls Alabama home.
