Review of The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

The Briar Club employs nine points of view to tell the story of life in a female-only boarding house in 1950s, McCarthy-era Washington, D.C., bookended by the story of a mysterious murder in the building.

Firebrands ask questions, and a nation where you can’t ask questions is one that is going downhill.

In The Briar Club, Kate Quinn turns her considerable talent for bringing history to life by tackling the McCarthy era--in what feels like a very timely novel about free speech, the twisting of truth, and destructive governmental paranoia.

This historical fiction novel from Quinn is a departure from much of my favorite Quinn fiction--brave women during wartime, being brilliant, outsmarting the enemy, taking risks, and entering into danger.

The Briar Club is bookended by a mysterious murder. In between, and for the bulk of the story, the novel offers the stories of multiple characters in a 1950s females-only Washington, D.C. boardinghouse. They are brought together as not just boarders but friends by new tenant Grace March, who initiates weekly makeshift attic-apartment dinner parties and builds bonds between the disparate women. But none of the women is precisely as she seems on the surface.

Some of the characters exhibit feminist views (in the form of birth control and and sexually open minds), as well as inclusive thinking and anti-racism. A lesbian relationship is dangerous, heartfelt, and, ultimately, successfully pursued. Domestic violence is present and plays an essential part in the storyline. At times, it feels a little as though Quinn is ticking every social justice box possible, but I didn't mind it.

The ladies exhibit broadening horizons, and over the course of the story, each of the women stretches in some way to challenge herself, rethink assumptions, or consider the world differently.

Nora thought of the Bill of Rights, which she saw in its case every day. “The law is not perfect, but it is perfectible. Scorn that and we’re spitting on our foundations.”

I didn't love the recipes and their cutesy endings with story-specific conditions that are ideal for their consumption. Nor did I love the house's voice, or the house as a whimsical, yearning character (with somewhat unclear desires).

The many points of view added depth to the characters, but at a cost: I felt somewhat jarred by shifting to another perspective just when I was settling into the last one.

But I love a found-family story. And Quinn's inspiration for the Grace March storyline is a personal favorite; The Americans is one of my all-time favorite shows.

I read this book for my book club.

More from Kate Quinn

Kate Quinn is the author of the fantastic titles The Diamond Eye, The Huntress, The Rose Code, and The Alice Network, as well as The Phoenix Crown, which she wrote with Janie Chang.

You can find more Bossy historical fiction reviews at this link.