The Wednesday Sistersby Meg Waite Clayton
A group of five women meeting at the park form a writing group to encourage each other in their dreams. Through their writing and their friendship they learn about themselves and each other as the world around them changes during the turbulent 60s and 70s.
I am going to be a dissenting voice in a crowd of admirers. I didn't care for it. I can see the skeleton of a pleasant summer read but it is padded with too many rough edges for my enjoyment. From unsympathetic characters, to too swift changes in point of view, to chunky transitions between past and present, this novel is not smooth reading. It presents like a second draft: still in need of work.
But it's not wholly without merit. Clearly many women love the idea of women writers encouraging each other. How many bloggers are there that have secret and not so secret ambitions of becoming published writers? There is definitely an audience for this type of book. It could be seen as the spark that sets writing group in motion. And there were a few elements that kept this reader curious, though the results were always disappointingly predictable.
Overall, I would not have bothered to finish The Wednesday Sisters if I wasn't obliged to review it. It wasn't a bad read it just didn't capture my imagination or sympathies.
6 comments:
Huh. Actually, I think I'M the lone voice...all the reviews from bloggers says it's so-so, and I'm totally obsessed with it and have to refrain from emailing the author to say OMG! I LOVE YOUR BOOK!!!
:-)
The author sent me a message at LT. She was very gracious and said she had gotten overwhelmingly positive reviews. It helped with my feelings of guilt for writing a negative one.
Hey Petunia, Yours is the first (somewhat) negative review I've seen. I haven't read it yet, but I'm looking forward to it. It's sitting on my nightstand waiting it's turn.
The author Meg Waite Clayton wrote a guest post for me about her book club. You can check it out here if you like:
lisamm.wordpress.com/2008/06/13/guest-post-the-wednesday-sisters-book-group-by-meg-waite-clayton/
I had to read this book for my book club. Meeting is this Saturday and I wonder if I'll be the only one who really didn't enjoy this read. I don't meet too many books I don't enjoy, but I found it to go in too many directions without finishing anything. I will not pass this one on. Every review on it is glowing - I must be missing something.
I'm not enjoying this book at all and cannot understand all of the glowing reviews it's getting (this site being an exception). Trite, shallow, boring book.
I am so relieved that there are some women who share my point of view. Women should get together and read and write, but this book is not the best we can come up with. I had to read it for a book group and I am thoroughly disappointed. Hopefully there will be others tomorrow night at our meeting that want to explore a more cerebral and exciting text. The idea was good but the execution was excruciating.
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