The Briar Club

I love historical fiction and this was set in a really interesting part of the past that I knew very little about.

First of all, I love everything Kate Quinn has written, like The Rose Code and The Diamond Eye. Here, she gives us a window on the growth of feminism within the paranoia of Washington DC during the McCarthy era. As always, she balances the tension of the plot with incredible character development, including a captivating heroine who is holding a secret. The setting, a women's boardinghouse, gives us an array of well-written characters, all of whom contribute to the plot and move the story along.

A step back in time told in multiple POVs, each chapter revealing a touch more of the plot.

This is the first Kate Quinn novel I have read and it won't be the last. Kate Quinn brings together a disparate group of woman of different ages and stages. All of the characters live in a tacky boarding house set in 1950 in Washington, DC. She brings great depth to all of her characters, I would become angry at the behaviour of the landlady, frightened for the vulnerable English mother whose husband was away in the Korean war, impressed by the strength of the main character,Grace, who brings them all together for a weekly dinner. So laughter and tears.… show more.