Book Review: The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club - Julia Bryan Thomas

 

“The Radcliffe Ladies’ Reading Club” is by Julia Bryan Thomas. I would call this book a “coming of age” one for four college women in the 1950s. They are all women but not what one might call “street smart.” They’re aware of how the world works, but seem resistant to forge a new (or different than expected) path. Back in the 1950s it wasn’t as accepted as today by society to be independent - to not play by the “it’s a man’s world” rules/games (just look at the TV show Mad Men). Out of all the characters I have to say that my favorite was the bookseller, Alice. She was older (and wiser) than the college women, but also saw areas of grey. She had left the life expected of her, forged on her own, and while not doing wonderfully financially was at least content with her life and her life choices. I had a difficult time, at the beginning, keeping the college women apart (except for Caroline), but as the chapters progressed it became easier to do so as storylines developed. I found the idea of classical book reading compared to present day (1950s) an interesting one. While some of the book discussions were a bit over my head as I haven’t read all the books mentioned, it is interesting to read a book knowing the history of when it was written compared to the lens of today. I don’t think this book was the book that I expected it to be, and thus it’s difficult for me to express my view of it. In some ways I applaud Ms. Thomas for writing about a time where women of certain class were as good as their husbands/families, yet Alice was proof that that role wasn’t always the one to accept, but it seemed like the college girls never seemed to acknowledge that until the epilogue. I cannot say that I enjoyed the book, but I’m glad to have read it. 3.5 stars.