Ladies with Options

Larksdale Ladies #1

by Cynthia Hartwick

Thanks to the efforts of eighteen-year-old Skye, the diverse members of the Mostly Methodist Club develop an interest in investments and find themselves fabulously wealthy after a company called Microsoft strikes it rich, transforming their lives and their Minnesota hometown. Reprint.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Book Club, Romance, Contemporary

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Cynthia Hartwick grew up in San Diego, California, but lives in Los Angeles. She has a Ph.D. in English and also attended film school. When not writing, she works as a business consultant.

In a 2001 interview with The Romance Reader, the self-admittedly shy author states that she has held jobs at "everything from working in a restaurant, to sorting mail for the post office, to (very briefly) picking fruit." She has also taught college English and helps small business owners and entrepreneurs buy and sell businesses.

She is married to an intellectual property attorney.

Reviews

[Beth Brunnquell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute story by the end but definitely not worth your time. It bounces storylines all the time and can be hard to follow the people.

[Catherine Walley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the most perfect beach read. Lighthearted and genuine and so easy to keep turning the pages while relaxing with a drink in hand. I felt like these ladies could be my friends

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really gave this book 4 1/2 stars. I just loved it and had so much fun reading it. The story line was good and held my interest. However, the very best part of this book was the author herself and her fabulous sense of humor. The author developed the character whose voice told the story so well that I wanted to be her best friend. I laughed continually as the story was told. There were some really serious and even sad parts of the book, but the main feeling was light, hopeful, and of rising above. Mostly, it was just plain fun to read.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was originally on book group's list to read for June 2011, the year of the Minnesota author. We replaced it with Kevin Kling's The Dog Says How, thinking The Dog would be a better read. Turns out this would have been the perfect beach read, if any of us had gone to the beach this month. It's light and sorta funny and plain entertaining. Reminds me a bit of Lorna Landvik or Adrianna Trigiani, like milk chocolate for the brain. No nuts and definitely not bitter dark chocolate. I'd read another of hers, but wouldn't expect to see it assigned for educational purposes.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel. It reminded me of a group of women back east who had formed an investment club and then wrote a book about it.
These ladies are middle class, Midwest Methodist matrons who in 1987 decide to pool their money and buy stocks. The men they've come in contact with basically treat them as dumb helpless girls who need a man to tell them how to do something. They begin slowly and gain expertise and success beyond their wildest dreams.
Fun, entertaining read.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wouldn't you like to be able to play the stock market by writing a book today about what you could have done 15 years ago? Lets see, hmmm, buy some stock called Apple...and google...and
Delightful read about women making choices for themselves, and their finances, which all turn out to be great investments. Fun to read and imagine, set in Minnesota.

[Peggy Scripter · Rating 2 out of 5]

My sister-in-law Jenette recommended this book to me, and since she had finished and loved two books* that I had recommended to her, I thought I should finish this book. It was OK, but why is the main character who tells the story so lifeless? This happens a lot in mediocre books. (*A Long Way From Chicago and A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck. Now those books are WORTH READING!)

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fun. An investment group of women who knew nothing about finance but used common sense. Lives were changed.
It made me laugh, and I like that in a book.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good. The short chapters made it easy to pick up and put down. Of course, that limited the ability to really get into the book. It was just a nice book to read.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the now-debunked story of the "wild" success of the Beardstown Ladies investment club, this was a light-hearted, simple read with some slapstick comedy in places. Sometimes the narrative strayed into the repetitive and overly simplistic, but it doesn't really detract from the story. The narrator got a little bit annoying at times because she was constantly talking about how badly she screws everything up to the point where you wonder why people put her in charge of running things. There's little detail regarding how these ladies end up doing so well in their ventures other than pure luck and good timing, but the characters are fun enough.

I will say that the author seemed inconsistent in her description of the women. She begins by describing them like they're all little old ladies. Then it turns out that most of them are middle-aged. Then it turns out that some of them are in their 30s. By the time that you realize that the women are not all just retirement age women (except for one pink-haired co-ed), it's almost impossible to shake the images you've developed in your head about each of the women. And it takes so long for any of the women to be discussed individually, you play catch-up to try to figure out who is who.

The ending seemed a bit odd in places, but overall a thoroughly enjoyable read. Enough to make me want to give the sequel, Ladies with Prospects, a try.

[Christine Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a humorous read, entertaining, enlightening and interesting. I learned a bit, was transported back to the Midwest, and met quite a few interesting ladies playing the stock market back in the 80s.

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a new spin on chick lit: the ladies get together, become maven investors, and make millions! Super inspiring, while still being a pretty silly book. This needs to be a new sub-genre of chick lit.

[Virma · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story of a women’s group in Minnesota that gets lucky and become very wealthy very quickly then save their crumbling town. Although the story was entertaining it was a hard sell. Maybe it was just too much good luck that was hard to swallow. I’m not sure I will continue with the series.

[Suellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a humorous novel centering on the exploits of a group of older women who decide to try their hand at investing - which remarkable results. Not on my top ten best books ever but a fun read.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a somewhat enjoyable book but frequently a little too cutesy for my taste.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick whit & humorous.

[Karyn Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite reads. Lighthearted and funny while dealing with serious subjects, this book never disappoints me.

[Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the 1980s some Minnesota women turned their Saturday morning coffee break into an investment club. The results are enriching, hilarious and heart-tugging.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a little while to get into this book, but once I did I really enjoyed it.

[Alydia Kardel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun read about a group of women who decide they can conquer the stock market and end up saving their town.

[Stacy Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read. Cute.

[Deb Gangst · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book SO much--quirky MN women finding their power and sticking it to the men. The writing was laugh-out-loud hilarious, although slightly silly at times.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

[edit]
I loved this book SO much--quirky MN women finding their power and sticking it to the men. The writing was laugh-out-loud hilarious, although slightly silly.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun writer , who gets right to the story. A story of middle age ladies starting an investment group. Very entertaining.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this one off the library’s shelf of giveaways and it was the perfect book to read on a day spent sick in bed. Cute story about a group of middle aged women who invest money.

[Ann Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read with (spoiler alert) happy ending!

[Cindy Su · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish. Kinda boring.

[Tracy Smyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun easy read about a group of older ladies who decide that they will need money for their retirement. So they start investing in companies and end up doing quite well

[Kristy Buzbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't put my finger on what made this book so irresistible. So un-put-downable. But it was lengthy and I read it in like...a day. It's a surprisingly fast read. Why? I couldn't tell you. It just sucked me in, I guess. It starts in 1983, with the Mostly Methodist Club (Deborah Cohen makes it "mostly"), a group of women in a small town in Minnesota. Mostly just housewives, their club meets each Saturday for things like recipe swaps, bake sales, and church fundraisers. One day, Mary brings in a surly, pink-haired teenage girl named Skye, as part of a community outreach program. Skye, obviously, things these meetings are horrifically dull, until Gladys shows up, terrified, as she has just realized that when she retires her meager savings and Social Security will never be able to support her. The club decides to try its hand at investments, to see if they can make enough money to support them after retirement, with the reasoning that "If men can do it, we can do it!" They start out small, searching the mall for stores they like and investing in those. Then Skye finally wants to participate, and she brings up a little computer company she thinks might be going places....a company called Microsoft.

At first, the ladies think she's crazy, especially when she claims they are developing a "personal computer" that everyone will buy. Because first of all, computers are giant machines filled with vacuum tubes that need an entire room, and secondly, what would a regular person even use a computer for? But just on a hunch, they go with it. With some luck and numerous (surprisingly) wise investments, these ladies are eventually millionaires, and no one in town knows it but them.

What's really interesting about this book is that they don't become millionaires and then THE END. They're millionaires before the book is half over. The rest is about their wealth, their struggles, and the fact that they have problems they never would have dreamed of back when they were just ordinary housewives. It's a really interesting take on the technological revolution of the 80's and 90's, and seeing how regular people (especially those in the work force) had to deal with a sudden and occasionally devastating change in industry. Also, it's hilarious, but doesn't try too hard to be funny - the characters are all a little wacky, but not in the "ha ha this book is about a small town, see how wacky everyone is??" sort of way. They're real-life wacky, not peripheral-character-in-a-book wacky.

[Karen Germain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cynthia Hartwick's "Ladies With Options" was loaned to me by a very good friend and described as a light, fun read. It was cute, but definitely lacked substance. If the mild profanity was removed, it would be exactly the sort of book that my Grandmother would have loved. Like a cozy mystery, minus the mystery bit.

This is a fictional story about a group of women from Minnesota who in the 1980's strike it rich through savvy investments. There is nothing wrong structurally with the story. It's fine, but it could have been better. The story is told from the point of view of Sophia, a daughter of one of the ladies in the club. Sophia retells the stories of the various ladies and how the club became so successful. Having Sophia tell all of the stories really weakened the book. I felt like I wanted to hear the stories directly from each character, having the chapters bounce between different narrators. By using Sophia to tell all of the stories, I felt a disconnect between the characters. I didn't feel any emotional attachment to the characters. I had a difficult time telling them apart. Too many characters and no distinctive voice. Also, Sophia was a dull character to have as the narrator.

The simplistic plot was filled with easily resolved problems. If I had been invested in the characters, I would have felt more forgiving towards other aspects of the book. This story was just too simple and lacked any depth.