Meg Waite Clayton’s novel,  The Wednesday Sisters, tells the story of a group of young mothers living in Palo Alto, California in the 1960s: Frankie (the midwestern-transplant, aspiring writer and narrator of the story), Ally (quiet and enigmatic), Brett (intelligent and empathetic), Kath (Southern belle with attitude) and Linda (athletic and assertive).

Newly arrived in Palo Alto, Frankie, unsure of her surroundings and feeling alone and isolated, visits her neighborhood park and meets these women who will impact her life in ways she can’t begin to imagine. Spurred on by Frankie’s confession that she wants to write, they gather together to critique one another’s work, learning more about each woman and her personal life in the process.

They each have very distinct personalities and don’t always see eye to eye.  Those differences don’t impede their friendships, though, and quickly the women are looking to each other for support, their bonds growing ever stronger, even as they are tested. Facing issues such as infidelity, miscarriages, cancer and racism, the women deal with these timeless issues while experiencing some of the pivotal moments in 20th century American history: the moon landing, the Vietnam war and the women’s liberation movement.

The Wednesday Sisters was one my library book club selections, and it generated quite a lot of discussion and laughter. Several of the women in my book club were of a similar age as Frankie in the 1960s, and recalled the similarities as well as the differences in their experience versus what the women went though in the book.  Since I wasn’t born, my enjoyment of the book was a vicarious one, but no less so for that. While a little too pat or sentimental in places, this is still a book I would recommend for fans of women’s fiction.