Four women come together at a tumultuous time in their lives, forging an unbreakable bond that will leave them all forever changed.
Celebrity cooking show host Marni McGuire has seen it all. She’s been married—twice—and widowed and divorced. Now in her midfifties, she’s single. Happily so. She just needs to convince her pregnant daughter, Bella, of this fact. And maybe convince herself, too. Especially after Marni’s efforts to humor her determined daughter result in a series of disastrous dates that somehow prompt Marni to wonder if maybe the right man for her is still out there after all.
Similarly single, Marni’s best friend and colleague is confident she’s content without a man, but both older women soon find themselves leading by example as the young intern on their show appears caught in a toxic relationship—and Bella reveals her own marriage maybe isn’t built to withstand the stresses of the baby on the way.
Suddenly, all four women find themselves at a crossroads, each navigating the challenges of dating, marriage, loneliness and love. Thankfully, they have each other to lean on. The realities of modern love are far from easy, but there’s no better group to have in your corner than friends who will lift you up, no matter what, and hold fast in the face of any storm.
There is something special about female friendships — when women come together to support each other they are unstoppable — and there really aren’t enough books out there that focus on those relationships and the way in which the women in our lives help shape us and pave a path forward through life’s greatest trials for us.
Robyn Carr’s The Friendship Club is one of those rare books, and she does an incredible job of weaving together the lives of four women who find themselves facing difficult choices that could change everything for them. I loved getting to know each of them and really kind of living vicariously through their [at times mis]adventures. This was my first Robyn Carr novel, but it definitely won’t be my last — I literally could not put it down.
Marni, Bella, Ellen, and Sophia are all strong, independent women, and I felt like I knew them intimately by the end. Having been through a divorce myself, I felt like the marital struggles Bella is dealing with really gutted me, and I truly felt for all four of them as they struggled to find happiness both as individuals and in their romantic relationships. There were several times I just wanted to be able to reach into the book to hug them and let them know it was going to be okay.
If you’re looking for a book that has a little bit of everything sprinkled into it (romance, suspense, humor, raw emotional soul-searching, etc.) The Friendship Club should definitely be the next book on your TBR. It’s the kind of book that leaves you aching for more time with the characters and has you telling all your friends to go out and pick up a copy so you can discuss it with them. The strong friendships will definitely inspire you to go out and strengthen your own female friendships (book club, anyone?).
