Ratings6
Average rating3.8
From her sensational sleeper hit Patty Jane's House of Curl to her heartwarming novel Welcome to the Great Mysterious, Lorna Landvik has won the hearts of readers everywhere by skillfully balancing hilarity with pathos, and bittersweet insights with heartwarming truths. Now she returns to her beloved, eccentric stomping ground of small-town Minnesota where the most eclectic, and engaging group of women you'll ever meet share love, loss, and laughter.Sometimes life is like a bad waiter--it serves you exactly what you don't want. The women of Freesia Court have come together at life's table, fully convinced that there is nothing good coffee, delectable desserts, and a strong shoulder can't fix. Laughter is the glue that holds them together--the foundation of a book group they call AWEB--Angry Wives Eating Bon Bons--an unofficial "club" that becomes much more. It becomes a lifeline.The five women each have a story of their own to tell. There's Faith, the newcomer, a lonely housewife and mother of twins, a woman who harbors a terrible secret that has condemned her to living a lie; big, beautiful Audrey, the resident sex queen who knows that good posture and an attitude can let you get away with anything; Merit, the shy, quiet doctor's wife with the face of an angel and the private hell of an abusive husband; Kari, a thoughtful, wise woman with a wonderful laugh as "deep as Santa Claus's with a cold" who knows the greatest gifts appear after life's fiercest storms; and finally, Slip, activist, adventurer, social changer, a tiny, spitfire of a woman who looks trouble straight in the eye and challenges it to arm wrestle.Holding on through forty eventful years--through the swinging Sixties, the turbulent Seventies, the anything-goes Eighties, the nothing's-impossible Nineties--the women will take the plunge into the chaos that inevitably comes to those with the temerity to be alive and kicking. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons depicts a special slice of American life, of stay-at-home days and new careers, children and grandchildren, bold beginnings and second chances, in which the power of forgiveness, understanding, and the perfectly timed giggle fit is the CPR that mends broken hearts and shattered dreams.Once again Lorna Landvik leaves you laughing and crying, as she reveals perhaps the greatest truth: that there is nothing like the saving grace of best friends.From the Hardcover edition.
Reviews with the most likes.
A lovely book about a group of
women who form a book club and
the friendships that develop
over thirty years. Recommended.
www.uvastore.com
What a wonderful read featuring a handful of women who are brought together by living on Freesia Ct. as well as being members of a book club that lasted 30 years. It reminded me so much of the show Desperate Housewives because of how involved they were in one another's lives. The women shared each other's pain and happiness, their husbands bonded a bit and we got to see all the children grow up together bonding like their mothers.
Although the book was a bit long I couldn't help wanting the story to continue because of the cliff hanger ending. I also found myself wanting to know more about the children who were adults by the end of the book.
I do find it funny that for the most part people have picked up this book because it was chosen for a book club read and that is exactly what starts off every chapter; a very brief intro of the featured book at a book club meeting. This might not be a book you are interested in but I do recommend that you give it a chance and please note it has a slow beginning but by the end of the read you do end up caring for all of the women. You'll want to slap them upside the head every now and then but you'll also want to cry and laugh with them when the time comes. All of this while appreciating their struggles, ah ha moments, growth and genuine love for one another.