The
New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye and The Rose Code
returns with a haunting and powerful story of female friendships and
secrets in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse during the McCarthy era.
Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a
down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation's
capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the
lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she
draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship:
poised English beauty Fliss, whose facade of perfect wife and mother
covers gaping inner wounds; policeman's daughter Nora, who finds herself
entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Beatrice,
whose career has come to an end along with the women's baseball league
of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into
McCarthy's Red Scare.
Grace's weekly attic-room dinner parties and
window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she
hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence
tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for
all: who is the true enemy in their midst?
Capturing the paranoia of
the McCarthy era and evoking the changing roles for women in postwar
America, The Briar Club is an intimate and thrilling novel of secrets
and loyalty put to the test.
"Kate Quinn has excelled in previous
novels at transforming real-life historical biography into page-turning
fiction. The Diamond Eye-combat novel, wartime love story, assassination
thriller-in prose that shifts from lyrical to melodramatic as events
demand, sets up and pulls off a double-barreled surprise-ending worthy
of its larger-than-life inspiration." - Wall Street Journal
"Remarkable…Kate Quinn is a master at crafting an intoxicating,
well-balanced blend of immersive period details and deft character work.
…The Diamond Eye is a remarkable combination of immersive wartime
storytelling, rich detailing and wonderful pacing. What really makes The
Diamond Eye land, though, goes beyond Quinn's mastery of her chosen
genre. This is, first and foremost, an exceptional character piece, a
study of a woman who is a killer, a mother, a lover and, above all else,
a survivor." - BookPage (starred review)
"Quinn (The Rose Code)
specializes in centering strong women; each of her books exceeds
expectations set by the previous title… Readers looking for a new and
unique viewpoint of World War II with a mystery to solve and a light
touch of romance will dive deep into this story." - Library Journal
(starred review) on The Diamond Eye
"Kate Quinn amazes me. With each
new book she reaches new heights in her craft as a writer of
page-turning plots and prose. The Diamond Eye is a remarkable story
filled with heart, intrigue, breathtaking drama and, perhaps best of
all, meticulously researched details that prove that history provides
the absolute best raw material for storytelling. Like her sniper subject
Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Kate Quinn has brilliantly hit her mark-this is a
stunning novel about a singular historical heroine." - Allison Pataki,
New York Times bestselling author of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie
Post
"Kate Quinn is an excellent storyteller, and she perfectly
captures Mila's spirit and personality both on and off the battlefield…
Don't miss this timely story about the immense power, strength and
resilience of a Ukranian woman!" - BookReporter.com on The Diamond Eye
MY REVIEW- 10+ STARS Let the drama begin !
There were quite a few characters and I loved them all. The drama started right out the gate which I also loved. First we meet Grace what a great surprise she was. I loved her right off the bat. Even though at first, she just kept to herself because she didn't want to get involved in anything.
Hammerin' Joe is a kid that we meet at the same time and it didn't take long to love and root for him too ! In four years we get to see him grown from a hopeful, timid boy, to a mature man of the house.
Joe's mom is a verbal assassin of dreams, hopes and finances. I hated her from the start. As soon as she opened her mouth and spoke a couple of sentence she showed herself to be ignorant and nasty ! Her name was Mrs. Doilies Nielsson and she proved herself to be lazy and greedy to boot !
Reka, the old Russian woman was a cranky with spunk, who knew her way around New York City. I loved her when she showed up in the story. That was a handy skill for later on.
Luna Nielsson is Joe's younger sister who is 12 years old in the beginning of the story and needs all the help she can get. It was so much fun to watch as The Club starts ganging together on her behalf, against her mean, controlling mother. The full charge being led by Grace, the woman with so many different names and faces ! Grace knew how to manipulate Doilies without her even realizing it was happening. It was all so funny and even hilarious at times. Nora, Fliss, Pete & Lina were additional people in the house that added a lot to the story.
I really liked how the author mentioned at the end of the book that Grace needed to gather people around the table, to feed and fix people. Kate Quinn, the author said that she felt like The Briar Club was her post-pandemic was HER way out of a desperate way for connection, friendship and need like Grace's.
I loved the cover and that's what first caught my eye. The story BEGAN with great drama and it sure ended the same way !!! Wow, just wow !
There are also recipes in the back of the book, even some Russian ones that I never heard of before.
P.S. The humor about the house talking was both funny and sometimes emotional !
I would definitely read this book again !!!
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