What do you think?
Rate this book
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons
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 that 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 AHEB (Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons) - an unofficial club that becomes a lifeline.The five women each have a story to tell. There's Faith, the newcomer, a housewife and mother who harbours a terrible secret; big, beautiful Audrey, the resident sex queen who knows that with good posture and attitude you can get away with anything; Merit, the shy doctor's wife with the face of an angel and the private hell of an abusive husband; Kari, a wise woman with a wonderful laugh who knows that the greatest gifts appear after life's fiercest storms; and finally, Slip, activist and adventurer, a tiny spitfire 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, to the present day - they take the plunge into the chaos that inevitably comes to those with the temerity to stay alive and kicking.
Paperback
First published March 4, 2003
1234 people are currently reading
15570 people want to read
About the author
Lorna Landvik
26 books1,056 followersLorna Landvik is a mother of two and wife of one. She is the author of eight novels, including the best-selling ANGRY HOUSEWIVES EATING BON BONS, PATTY JANE'S HOUSE OF CURL and OH MY STARS. Also an
actor and playwright, Lorna has appeared in many stage productions. She is a new and passionate neophyte to the practice of yoga, which is a fine antidote to her long established practice of lounging.
actor and playwright, Lorna has appeared in many stage productions. She is a new and passionate neophyte to the practice of yoga, which is a fine antidote to her long established practice of lounging.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,631 reviews
October 29, 2014
If you are a conservative/Republican/Baptist preacher (because we all know how nasty Baptist preachers are, don't we? Wink. Wink.) and you enjoy reading books that cast every bad character as a conservative/Republican/Baptist preacher (did I mention how wicked and evil Baptist preachers are?) you will love this book. If you love stereotypes you will love this book. If you are a liberal Democrat and you love reading books that belittle and make fun of anyone who disagrees with you (conservatives/Republicans/Baptist preachers--those horrible preachers are evil and intolerant!) than you should enjoy this book. If you consider yourself tolerant, but in reality you malign anyone whose opinion differs from yours, again, this will be a book you'll love. (Especially if you hate those narrow-minded Baptist preachers!)
If that's not enough to convince you to read this book, wait, there's more! If you love line by line point of view changes, this book is for you. If you love confusing tense changes, you'll have them in this book. And, the thing that totally sold me on it, if you enjoy prose that switches from first person to third person, this is an absolute must read.
At this point in my review, it's probably impossible to be fair, (I'm still trying to recover from my childhood--I was raised by a Baptist preacher, after all, and there's not much hope for me, but I'm trying) but there were some great analogies in this. One that sticks out: a woman's breasts were overflowing her bikini like a bunt cake stuck in a muffin tin. That was new to me, but then again, I don't harbor violent tendencies toward Baptist preachers, either.
If that's not enough to convince you to read this book, wait, there's more! If you love line by line point of view changes, this book is for you. If you love confusing tense changes, you'll have them in this book. And, the thing that totally sold me on it, if you enjoy prose that switches from first person to third person, this is an absolute must read.
At this point in my review, it's probably impossible to be fair, (I'm still trying to recover from my childhood--I was raised by a Baptist preacher, after all, and there's not much hope for me, but I'm trying) but there were some great analogies in this. One that sticks out: a woman's breasts were overflowing her bikini like a bunt cake stuck in a muffin tin. That was new to me, but then again, I don't harbor violent tendencies toward Baptist preachers, either.
January 19, 2009
the title of this book had thrown me off as just fluff untill it was recommended to me by my daughter. And she was right I loved it. Perhaps it is because the 4 women in the club loved and struggled through the same time periods I did. I was so envious of the closeness of these friends and how their friendship endured for over 30 years. Their choice of books for the bookclub were varied and interesting. How much fun would it be to start an angry housewives spin off book club and read the same books Faith, Merit, Slip and Audrey read. Like some of the other reviewers I too am a sucker for books about friendships and how much those friendships can mean in terms of love and support through difficult times. I would recommend this especially to women over 50. They can certainly relate to women's roles in the 60's and 70's as I did. I always hate to see a book I really enjoy end, because I ask the question "What happens next?". There is still a lot of stories that could develop from this wonderful beginning-especially about the next generation of these "housewives".
September 18, 2014
Decent read about five ladies in a book club. Their lives, families, ups and downs over 30+ years.
December 22, 2007
This book is about 5 neighbors who start a book club in the late 1960's... and the reader lives the next 30 years along with them. Thank you, Mary, one of MY oldest friends (in the sense that I've known you 18 years!) who loaned me this book-- I loved it! It made me realize how fast 30 years will fly by and to live in each moment with my family. This is not a book I would have picked up on my own, most likely, yet I can say that it is probably one of my favorite novels I've read in a long time. I related to this book in so many different ways-from being a young child in the 1970's remembering my mom's bridge clubs...all the ladies of the neighborhood eating snacks and smoking...being a mom of young kids myself now and relating to the things these housewives feel and experience, loving books and wanting to be part of something where you build true and lasting friendships, connecting with a character like Slip b/c I, too, am short and have frizzy red hair and a wonderful husband, unlike the other Angry Housewives...having 2 boys and wondering WHAT IF one of them turned out gay...would I be like Faith? This book was so nostalgic and I laughed out loud and cried A LOT. It makes me want to be part of a book club like that, too...any takers?
March 27, 2025
This was an incredible read that spans 4 decades about these women in a book club. But it’s so much more than that even. I’d recommend this to fans of Kristen Hannah and Elin Hilderbrand’s ‘Summer of 69’.
Fave quotes:
“sometimes life‘s like a bad waiter and serves you exactly what you don’t want. you can cry and scream and order him to take it back but in the end, you’re the one who has to deal with what’s finally set before you. all of us women in the room have had our share of surly waiters and bad entrées, but for over 30 years, we have helped one another up from the table passed ant-acids, after dinner mints. offered shoulders to cry on, stiff drinks and desserts whose butter content was exceeded only by it’s sugar load.”
“It’s just that you’re young and male and blinded by a culture that says the only females worthy of attention are 18 year-old nubile pin ups so naturally you think every woman over the age of 50 looks alike.”
Fave quotes:
“sometimes life‘s like a bad waiter and serves you exactly what you don’t want. you can cry and scream and order him to take it back but in the end, you’re the one who has to deal with what’s finally set before you. all of us women in the room have had our share of surly waiters and bad entrées, but for over 30 years, we have helped one another up from the table passed ant-acids, after dinner mints. offered shoulders to cry on, stiff drinks and desserts whose butter content was exceeded only by it’s sugar load.”
“It’s just that you’re young and male and blinded by a culture that says the only females worthy of attention are 18 year-old nubile pin ups so naturally you think every woman over the age of 50 looks alike.”
August 2, 2017
There were wonderful elements to this book. Some of the characters were quite moving and memorable - I think often of the wife who wrote nasty notes and pinned them up in the bun her husband forced her to wear. However, there were too many characters and the book spanned too much time. There was a really special book within this (maybe even two)... but it was drowned out in the bulk of it all and how the book moved too fast through time to really savor the characters. The author truly had a gift in creating these characters but the "themed" decades detracted to me from the plot development. I wish she had slowed down and just let us really get to know the characters, develop their voices in a smaller number of situations (not the extreme length of time). I think different editing would have taken this book really far. The writing itself was excellent.
Read
November 29, 2011I have never been so happy to discover a scheduling conflict.
This was a book club selection, and I realized today that I can't make it to this book club meeting. And while I did make it through the first 80 or so pages, I was dreading the discussion... I couldn't think of anything nice to say.
I won't give this a star rating (it seems unfair to rate something that I didn't finish) but I could tell right off the bat that this fell on the wrong side of my "show vs. tell" meter. The characters were caricatures, and the writing was cliche-ridden. Examples: The abusive husband who "smiled a mirthless smile" and a librarian "whose braided bun and eyeglass rims were the color of a steel filing cabinet" and a mixed-race baby whose skin was the color of... you can guess this one... yup. Coffee with cream.
Add to that a series of events that read less like life and more like scenes from something on Lifetime: Television for Women, and you've got yourself a recipe for something that I'm just not going to like.
This was a book club selection, and I realized today that I can't make it to this book club meeting. And while I did make it through the first 80 or so pages, I was dreading the discussion... I couldn't think of anything nice to say.
I won't give this a star rating (it seems unfair to rate something that I didn't finish) but I could tell right off the bat that this fell on the wrong side of my "show vs. tell" meter. The characters were caricatures, and the writing was cliche-ridden. Examples: The abusive husband who "smiled a mirthless smile" and a librarian "whose braided bun and eyeglass rims were the color of a steel filing cabinet" and a mixed-race baby whose skin was the color of... you can guess this one... yup. Coffee with cream.
Add to that a series of events that read less like life and more like scenes from something on Lifetime: Television for Women, and you've got yourself a recipe for something that I'm just not going to like.
September 11, 2007
This book strives to be a sweeping, great novel, but it falls short. Although short does not describe the story, since it drags on for over 400 pages. The basic premise is good: five housewives and mothers from the same neighborhood meet in the late 1960's and start a book club, and their friendship and the book club stretch into the late 1990's. They meet at a time when things were very different for women, but were changing at a rapid pace.
The five main characters are Faith, a southern girl who is so ashamed of her past that she invents an entirely different one; Merit, the pretty minister's daughter who is being abused by her husband; Slip, the politically active woman who, true to her nickname, is merely a slip of a woman; Kari, the older, childless widow; and Audrey, the big, beautiful sex-obsessed and, possibly, the most interesting of the Angry Housewives. The characters are not that well fleshed out, and it is difficult to get an emotional connection going. At times, it is tough to discern who is who and whose children belong to whom. Then, the addition of a gay male character to the group toward the end of the book seems completely superfluous.
The book shows promise at the beginning, but drags on too long, and tries to do too much. The research into the time period is very good, since this was a time when women still made excuses for bruises and abuse, where the adoption of a bi-racial child was something unusual, where a gay son rarely came out to his mother, and where a slightly-shady past was something to be hidden. I wish I could have cared more about the characters and the outcome of the book, but there was just too much going on to find this book truly interesting.
The five main characters are Faith, a southern girl who is so ashamed of her past that she invents an entirely different one; Merit, the pretty minister's daughter who is being abused by her husband; Slip, the politically active woman who, true to her nickname, is merely a slip of a woman; Kari, the older, childless widow; and Audrey, the big, beautiful sex-obsessed and, possibly, the most interesting of the Angry Housewives. The characters are not that well fleshed out, and it is difficult to get an emotional connection going. At times, it is tough to discern who is who and whose children belong to whom. Then, the addition of a gay male character to the group toward the end of the book seems completely superfluous.
The book shows promise at the beginning, but drags on too long, and tries to do too much. The research into the time period is very good, since this was a time when women still made excuses for bruises and abuse, where the adoption of a bi-racial child was something unusual, where a gay son rarely came out to his mother, and where a slightly-shady past was something to be hidden. I wish I could have cared more about the characters and the outcome of the book, but there was just too much going on to find this book truly interesting.
May 26, 2008
The fact that "Angry Housewives" was set in a Minneapolis neighborhood near Minnehaha Park gave me high hopes. That and the fact that it took place from 1968-1998 because this is a timeline that dovetails with my mother's adult life.
But ... it lacked a sense of setting. Minnehaha Park was visited by the composer Dvorak (I think!) and the poet Longfellow. It has a charming stone pavillion, covered with trees, has the best sledding hill in town, has a spooky, stoney, ferny descent to the creek, where you could watch the falls. The stuff that dreams are made of. And horror - as children, we passed around urban legends of the bodies crushed by the falls. A retiring journalist once regaled us about how he covered his first murder - a woman's body was found at the bottom of the sledding hill with a dozen stab wounds in her back.
Though the women took many walks "along the creek basin," the description of setting ends there. They could have just as well been walking in a mall, across the desert, before a "Scooby Doo" backdrop. And they lived in an older neighborhood, but I couldn't shake the image of a treeless, suburban cul-de-sac.
But, really, this is yet another novel about women growing up together. You've got your types, a la "Sex in the City," or "The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood," or "Golden Girls."
It's not terrible, or unreadable. But I finished it with the distinct feeling of de ja vu.
But ... it lacked a sense of setting. Minnehaha Park was visited by the composer Dvorak (I think!) and the poet Longfellow. It has a charming stone pavillion, covered with trees, has the best sledding hill in town, has a spooky, stoney, ferny descent to the creek, where you could watch the falls. The stuff that dreams are made of. And horror - as children, we passed around urban legends of the bodies crushed by the falls. A retiring journalist once regaled us about how he covered his first murder - a woman's body was found at the bottom of the sledding hill with a dozen stab wounds in her back.
Though the women took many walks "along the creek basin," the description of setting ends there. They could have just as well been walking in a mall, across the desert, before a "Scooby Doo" backdrop. And they lived in an older neighborhood, but I couldn't shake the image of a treeless, suburban cul-de-sac.
But, really, this is yet another novel about women growing up together. You've got your types, a la "Sex in the City," or "The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood," or "Golden Girls."
It's not terrible, or unreadable. But I finished it with the distinct feeling of de ja vu.
November 12, 2008
I read this on the recomendation of my dental hygenist. When I finished it I passed it on to my mom who LOVED it. I think that might be the target audience here - Women a generation or two older than me.
It's not that the book is bad - it's just kind of predictable. I found that was true with the other Lorna Landvik book I read as well. I was able to see things coming from a mile away. *sigh* Yet the writing was good enough that I never put the book down so I guess that's something.
Did I mention my mom loved it?
It's not that the book is bad - it's just kind of predictable. I found that was true with the other Lorna Landvik book I read as well. I was able to see things coming from a mile away. *sigh* Yet the writing was good enough that I never put the book down so I guess that's something.
Did I mention my mom loved it?
May 27, 2015
Prekrasna knjiga, jedna od onih koje je teško ispustiti iz ruke... Knjiga možda nema klasičan uvod, zaplet, rasplet..već jednostavo pratimo živote pet žena, prijateljica i susjeda..A pratimo ih kroz sastanke njihovog kluba knjige "Opake kućanice uživaju u slatkišima". One prolaze životne situacije kroz koje svi prolazimo tijekom godina; od prvih trudnoća, male djece, teških brakova, razvoda, odnosa sa roditeljima...tako da se jako lako poistovjetiti sa svakom od njih. Ne vjerujem pretjerano u horoskope, ali meni, kao Vodenjaku, prijateljstvo je jako, jako važan dio života. Možda me zato ova knjiga još jače dodirnula, jer prijateljstva koja pratimo u knjizi traju više od 30.god. One se zajedno smiju i plaču, i tu su jedna za drugu kroz sve te, svima poznate, uspone i padove u životu.. A autorica nas tako vješto vodi kroz knjigu, na način da je svako poglavlje posvećeno jednoj knjizi tj. jednom njihovom sastanku, a ispričano je kroz lik one kućanice koja je domaćin te večeri.. Također je u knjizi navedeno puno knjiga i autora pa možete i dobiti i pokoju ideju za sljedeće čitanje. Bez bzira koji žanr volite, jer ova knjiga se i tako ne može ukalupiti u neki određeni žanr, Opake kućanice bi preporučila baš svakom ljubitelju dobre knjige! Prava literarna poslastica!
April 25, 2008
This book went on and on and on and on:P I had a difficult time reading it. I was unable to relate to any of the characters. Kari was the only likeable personality, because she was simple, kind, and nurturing. The other characters had serious personality defects!
Merit disgusted me with her habit of stuffing used tissue, q-tips, and paper in her hairdo:( That was her way of getting back at her abusive husband, who had no idea she was doing this. I nearly puked when she saved these items and then showed them to her second husband! Yuck! Was anyone else bothered by this?
The character who disturbed me the most was Faith. I found her to be cold, jealous, and very controlling. She refused to be honest with herself or her friends and family. She was all about keeping up appearances. If she could feel superior to any of her friends, then she felt better about herself!
Pg. 218 "She had been a little jazzed at the beginning of the feud, because it was exciting to have two good friends mad at each other." What kind of friend enjoys the unhappiness of another?
Overall the book was tolerable I suppose:)
Merit disgusted me with her habit of stuffing used tissue, q-tips, and paper in her hairdo:( That was her way of getting back at her abusive husband, who had no idea she was doing this. I nearly puked when she saved these items and then showed them to her second husband! Yuck! Was anyone else bothered by this?
The character who disturbed me the most was Faith. I found her to be cold, jealous, and very controlling. She refused to be honest with herself or her friends and family. She was all about keeping up appearances. If she could feel superior to any of her friends, then she felt better about herself!
Pg. 218 "She had been a little jazzed at the beginning of the feud, because it was exciting to have two good friends mad at each other." What kind of friend enjoys the unhappiness of another?
Overall the book was tolerable I suppose:)
January 5, 2020
Was this book predictable? Yes. Was this book a bit dated? Yes. But. I loved it. I think anyone in a book club that talks way more than books will feel a kinship with this book. Until a good friend did one of those Facebook 10 book challenge thingies I didn’t even know it existed! I recommend to anyone who loves their girlfriends, books, food, and sisterhood.
March 20, 2009
This is a great Book Club starter book! It really got us going and shows how people from different backgrounds can really enjoy reading the same books!
January 28, 2021
Book review from BookCrossing: I finished this book this morning at my brother's house in Zurich. Brought it on this trip because it's on a friend's wish list :)
I made some notes on the plane for my journal entry, and will add them here later. The one thing that keeps coming back to me is that this book reminds me quite a bit of The Future Homemakers of America, except that I liked this one much better. Both books follow a group of women who are friends over multiple decades. I'm always interested in these types of relationships, and jealous, too, that I don't have that.
Anyway, will add additional notes later, but I really liked this book! I laughed, I cried. It was great :)
Updated to add my notes:
Before I ever even got into the book, I found something I liked in the prologue:
A few years back, when I finallyy got smart enough to go to a therapist, she asked how I had held things together all these years. It didn't take long to come up with an answer. 'That's easy. I belong to a bookclub.'
As if you didn't already know that this group were a bunch of booklovers, here's a clearer description of their love for books. Upon opening a new libary book: She opened the cover and ran her hand over the page, enjoying the paper's smooth, cool texture under her hand.
Chapter One. How many times in her life had those two words invited her to go to a different place, a better place than the one she lived in?
This book isn't just about a book club, though. It's about friendship. The descriptions of each of the women are so clear, I felt like I knew them -- or had maybe been in bookclub with them -- by the end of the book. The description of Kari, in particular, made me want to be like her: There's something Kari that makes me feel calm - after listening to her I feel like I've drunk a warm glass of milk.
And last, the value of sharing things (in this case a book, but it applies elsewhere) and how a life is enriched by doing so. Audrey describing bookclub: What I had come to love about bookclub (besides the fabulous desserts and free liquor) was how in hearing so many opinions about the same book, your own opinion expanded, as if you'd read the book several times instead of just once.
I'm so I read this book! I'll treasure its memory and I've already recommended it to several people :)
I made some notes on the plane for my journal entry, and will add them here later. The one thing that keeps coming back to me is that this book reminds me quite a bit of The Future Homemakers of America, except that I liked this one much better. Both books follow a group of women who are friends over multiple decades. I'm always interested in these types of relationships, and jealous, too, that I don't have that.
Anyway, will add additional notes later, but I really liked this book! I laughed, I cried. It was great :)
Updated to add my notes:
Before I ever even got into the book, I found something I liked in the prologue:
A few years back, when I finallyy got smart enough to go to a therapist, she asked how I had held things together all these years. It didn't take long to come up with an answer. 'That's easy. I belong to a bookclub.'
As if you didn't already know that this group were a bunch of booklovers, here's a clearer description of their love for books. Upon opening a new libary book: She opened the cover and ran her hand over the page, enjoying the paper's smooth, cool texture under her hand.
Chapter One. How many times in her life had those two words invited her to go to a different place, a better place than the one she lived in?
This book isn't just about a book club, though. It's about friendship. The descriptions of each of the women are so clear, I felt like I knew them -- or had maybe been in bookclub with them -- by the end of the book. The description of Kari, in particular, made me want to be like her: There's something Kari that makes me feel calm - after listening to her I feel like I've drunk a warm glass of milk.
And last, the value of sharing things (in this case a book, but it applies elsewhere) and how a life is enriched by doing so. Audrey describing bookclub: What I had come to love about bookclub (besides the fabulous desserts and free liquor) was how in hearing so many opinions about the same book, your own opinion expanded, as if you'd read the book several times instead of just once.
I'm so I read this book! I'll treasure its memory and I've already recommended it to several people :)
December 28, 2020
This book covers four decades (sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties) in the lives of five women living in Minnesota. Over the years there are births, deaths, divorces, career changes--in other words, daily life. Through it all these five women have formed a firm bond and officially meet once a month for a book club they formed early in their relationship. Their husbands jokingly called the club Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons, but the meetings were more about relationships and support for each other.
I have had this book for years and just ignored it. It has a sticker on the cover that says "Buy two, get one free" and I think this must have been the one free because I can't think why I would have picked this up as one to buy. After having all (and I do mean ALL) my books packed up for months as we contemplated how to do new flooring during a pandemic, I re-arranged all of my books after the new floors were laid and made myself keep out the ones I had for years and never read. This was the first one I picked up, and I am so glad I did. This book was not only entertaining but well written. The characters are well-developed and I couldn't wait to see what each month's book selection was (that is how the chapters are titled) and what new activity the women had going on in their lives. Over forty years their circumstances changed but never their support for each other. I laughed at parts, got angry with some of them at times, and overall had a wonderful time with the Angry Housewives.
I have had this book for years and just ignored it. It has a sticker on the cover that says "Buy two, get one free" and I think this must have been the one free because I can't think why I would have picked this up as one to buy. After having all (and I do mean ALL) my books packed up for months as we contemplated how to do new flooring during a pandemic, I re-arranged all of my books after the new floors were laid and made myself keep out the ones I had for years and never read. This was the first one I picked up, and I am so glad I did. This book was not only entertaining but well written. The characters are well-developed and I couldn't wait to see what each month's book selection was (that is how the chapters are titled) and what new activity the women had going on in their lives. Over forty years their circumstances changed but never their support for each other. I laughed at parts, got angry with some of them at times, and overall had a wonderful time with the Angry Housewives.
February 24, 2009
Who knew that the Great American Novel would turn out to be by and for women ---and about BOOKS? But it all makes sense when you think about it.
This books spans the '60s to the '90s, and beneath the 'Aga Saga' exterior beats a heart of history, anger, wonder, national issues making local lives miserable or better, and the general upheaval of family, friends and phobias.
Vietnam, Eric Segal, Arthur Hailey, Erica Jong and all the "who?"s of my parents' generation, plus books I remember secreting to bed in the '80s to find out what all the fuss was about: they're part of what was happening here (even if it wasn't very clear...) :]
Great read, and not what one might expect - I thought this was going to be a bubble-gum-for-the-brain easy bit of fluff.
A caveat: be warned, male readers: you may think it is as fluffy as dandelion seed in spring sunshine, but those are little pieces of the bomb that will explode your world, taking off on silk parachutes to connect with other minds. In fact, and I'm not male-bashing here, you might not get it. This might be a two-layer book with two messages. Or not; I'm basing that on a male friend's reaction, which was basically "Did we read the same book, 'cause I thought this was boring." {sigh}
What's that quote from the professor in "History Boys" -you suddenly come across something someone else has written that describes what you know and it's like a hand reaching out in the dark? How pleasant.
This books spans the '60s to the '90s, and beneath the 'Aga Saga' exterior beats a heart of history, anger, wonder, national issues making local lives miserable or better, and the general upheaval of family, friends and phobias.
Vietnam, Eric Segal, Arthur Hailey, Erica Jong and all the "who?"s of my parents' generation, plus books I remember secreting to bed in the '80s to find out what all the fuss was about: they're part of what was happening here (even if it wasn't very clear...) :]
Great read, and not what one might expect - I thought this was going to be a bubble-gum-for-the-brain easy bit of fluff.
A caveat: be warned, male readers: you may think it is as fluffy as dandelion seed in spring sunshine, but those are little pieces of the bomb that will explode your world, taking off on silk parachutes to connect with other minds. In fact, and I'm not male-bashing here, you might not get it. This might be a two-layer book with two messages. Or not; I'm basing that on a male friend's reaction, which was basically "Did we read the same book, 'cause I thought this was boring." {sigh}
What's that quote from the professor in "History Boys" -you suddenly come across something someone else has written that describes what you know and it's like a hand reaching out in the dark? How pleasant.
February 12, 2023
Read for book club! I would have never picked up this book on my own and I really enjoyed it. Friendships that blossom from people that love in the same neighborhood. These women are a group of friends from the 60s on that go through divorce, abuse, relationship issues, friendships, watching their children grow up, etc. great story.
March 31, 2024
We picked this for our bookclub after coming across some of the quotes about books/reading. It went over well with our group, a group of women of various ages and backgrounds, just like the premise of the Angry Housewives. We have not been together long but I can hope that we likewise build lasting relationships on top of the friendships that have come so easily.
Each chapter began with a book title and the member that was hosting the club meeting. This was a great way to differentiate things and move through the 30 year timeline but would have worked better had the author stuck to telling the story of the hostess and not adding in one or several of the other members. I also found the one member's need to write letters to her dead mother a bit odd. I was not familiar with all of the book titles referenced but it's not a bad thing that I now want to look up the ones I know nothing about. On the other hand, I was excited to see one of my all time favorites (Handling Sin by Michael Malone) used as a chapter heading and again referenced in the discussion with the author at the end of the novel.
The author uses this format and this group of women to work through cultural topics and events of the 1970's through the 1990's. It has a very similar feel and progression as her other novel, "Patty Jane's House of Curl" so if you like one, you are likely to enjoy the other (or neither). I also went back and read the prologue a second time after finishing each of them. Everything had more meaning after getting to know the characters and story-line.
This would logically appeal more to the "seasoned" readers, but the younger gals of our group also gave it high marks.
Each chapter began with a book title and the member that was hosting the club meeting. This was a great way to differentiate things and move through the 30 year timeline but would have worked better had the author stuck to telling the story of the hostess and not adding in one or several of the other members. I also found the one member's need to write letters to her dead mother a bit odd. I was not familiar with all of the book titles referenced but it's not a bad thing that I now want to look up the ones I know nothing about. On the other hand, I was excited to see one of my all time favorites (Handling Sin by Michael Malone) used as a chapter heading and again referenced in the discussion with the author at the end of the novel.
The author uses this format and this group of women to work through cultural topics and events of the 1970's through the 1990's. It has a very similar feel and progression as her other novel, "Patty Jane's House of Curl" so if you like one, you are likely to enjoy the other (or neither). I also went back and read the prologue a second time after finishing each of them. Everything had more meaning after getting to know the characters and story-line.
This would logically appeal more to the "seasoned" readers, but the younger gals of our group also gave it high marks.
July 6, 2012
I devoured this book! I suppose that it might be delectable is implied with its title; however, what is not necessarily implied is this book's depth and richness from a title that seemed frivolous and silly to me. Told from the different perspectives of four women I wish I knew, (along with some later chapters told by their gay male friend), this novel spans the 60s through the 90s, covers how to be a friend, wife, and mother, and paints a beautiful picture of how to embrace the wisdom that comes with age. I related to each woman's story and struggles and felt like I learned from them as they handled secrets being revealed, children growing up, and the challenges of life. The story takes place on a suburban street in Minnesota and these women are united through snowball fights, children that are the same age, and a book club that meets throughout their thirty years of friendship. I appreciated how the author incorporated pieces of history and societal issues throughout the personal stories within these women's lives: a brother in Nam, an alcoholic mother, a gay son, cancer and AIDS, teenage pregnancy, and spousal abuse (and that's not all of them!). Also, the author begins each chapter with a book the women are reading, why it was chosen, and then that chapter is told through one character's point of view. This created round, deep characters that felt very real to me. I wanted to be reading with them! I would recommend this book to any woman I respect or love--it is a feminist text, but the women are certainly not "angry housewives." They are lovely souls.
March 30, 2017
These are my people! There are generally 3 feelings at the end of a book....1) Meh 2) Thank God it's over so I can get on to something else 3) Please don't go! "Angry Housewives" is the third category. I felt connected and a part of their neighborhood book club. I thought I was in their group and one of their friends enjoying cocktails and snow ball fights. This book made me appreciate my own neighborhood book club (and this book was this month's suggestion) and the therapy that comes with a group of girlfriends all sharing their stories of trials, tribulations, and guacamole (thank you to Kristin!) Freesia Court may be a world away from Manayunk (especially from the 60's-90's, which this book covers) but really, female friendship is all the same and we bond with our tribe as we complain about sleepless nights, dirty dishes, toddler tantrums, dream vacations, and "Cards Against Humanity". I loved this book, I love my book club friends, and I love the inspired reading that will continue to trickle from this book. Audrey, Slip, Merit, Faith, and Grant kept a list of books they read and I will need to go down the rabbit hole with them, reading many of their picks.
May 24, 2010
This book could have been about 200 pages shorter, giving it less time to decline from my original 3 star rating to one star. I decided to give it an 'average" 2 stars. This book was definitely better than I had expected based on the cover, but that is far from saying it was good. The book centered around 5 women/neighbors and followed the women’s' lives over the course of 30 years. Those women packed an unbelievable amount of drama into those 30 years. The author assigned every drama ever conceived to one of the five women.
Abuse - check
Cheating - check
Jealousy - check
Psychic Powers - check
Religious Conversion - check
Divorce - check
Marriage - check
Feuds - check
Homosexuality - check
AIDS - check
Adoption - check
Death - check
Home Birth - check
Twins - check
Vietnam - check
A Secret Past - check
Cancer - check
Estranged Relationships - check
Annoying Political Activist - check
The only thing this book didn't include was entertainment and a timely ending.
Abuse - check
Cheating - check
Jealousy - check
Psychic Powers - check
Religious Conversion - check
Divorce - check
Marriage - check
Feuds - check
Homosexuality - check
AIDS - check
Adoption - check
Death - check
Home Birth - check
Twins - check
Vietnam - check
A Secret Past - check
Cancer - check
Estranged Relationships - check
Annoying Political Activist - check
The only thing this book didn't include was entertainment and a timely ending.
May 22, 2022
I took my time reading this book and admit that I wrote down all the main characters names with a description so I wouldn’t mix them up. This book was fabulously written. I enjoyed reading about all the members of the book club and how their lives intertwined with each other’s. Such a feel good book that made me laugh out loud and cry.
September 23, 2025
I loved watching the friendships geow through the bookclub.
December 31, 2021
What a great story about female friendship! This story follows a group of friends over the span of 30 years, the everyday things and the big events of their lives. It is real and heartfelt. Great story!
April 21, 2018
Loved this book - I would give it 10 stars if I could. Loved all the characters (except a couple of the husbands). Wonderful story of how strong and powerful friendship can be.
August 4, 2025
This book is so much deeper than the title may portray.
It follows five very different women over 4 decades, and shows how great friendships are so important as we go through life’s stages.
I absolutely loved this book and didn’t want it to end.
It follows five very different women over 4 decades, and shows how great friendships are so important as we go through life’s stages.
I absolutely loved this book and didn’t want it to end.
September 5, 2024
Don’t let the fluffy title fool you into thinking this isn’t a good story. Women, friendships and bonding around books are a theme that hooked me. Great characters who grow through decades.
June 29, 2010
I read this book so dang fast, and it was just so good. I laughed, I cried...I identified with the women of the AHEB bookclub.
spoilers are below!!
Audrey - I chose her first, as she is the one I identified the most with. A bit more full figured than the rest, she loves to eat, and has a bit of psychic abilities. I absolutely loved that she was the one to "rescue" Faith. I am not as confident as she is, but I will push myself to be that way :-)
Faith - the girl with the secrets. I didn't connect with her as much, because I think she was keeping so much hidden throughout the story. We as the readers knew, but she kept herself a little apart from the women because she didn't want to get found out. When she does finally reveal the truth, her husband still loves her, and so do her girls. :-)
(Faith is also the one who has to deal with a gay son, they handled it very nicely I thought)
Slip - the strong little fireball. LOVED her. I did cry many times for Slip, but really she had the best life, and so of course she is the one to get cancer. She just couldn't understand the secrets that were being kept, until it was her that was keeping the secrets (not until the end) -- loved the evolution of her.
Merit - Like Faith she is keeping secrets. A terrible terrible secret. Her man is a beater/abuser. It is the happiest moment in the book when she finally gets out from under him. She is a strong strong woman, and the story line rewards her for fighting.
Kari - the oldest of the group, and the only one who doesn't have kids (she is a widow, and had a miscarriage, and a failed adoption) -- I identified with her as well, and cheered when she adopted her niece's child to raise as her own. I really loved her story line, and the things she had to deal with as an older mother of a mixed race child. just wonderful.
Overall, I can't say enough good things about this book. I just adored it.
Forgot to add my favorite quote....from page 139
"Sister Ignatius taught me in Sunday school that 'in the beginning there was light,' but to me it was always an incomplete sentence, which God should have known to amend: in the beginning God created light...to read by."
spoilers are below!!
Audrey - I chose her first, as she is the one I identified the most with. A bit more full figured than the rest, she loves to eat, and has a bit of psychic abilities. I absolutely loved that she was the one to "rescue" Faith. I am not as confident as she is, but I will push myself to be that way :-)
Faith - the girl with the secrets. I didn't connect with her as much, because I think she was keeping so much hidden throughout the story. We as the readers knew, but she kept herself a little apart from the women because she didn't want to get found out. When she does finally reveal the truth, her husband still loves her, and so do her girls. :-)
(Faith is also the one who has to deal with a gay son, they handled it very nicely I thought)
Slip - the strong little fireball. LOVED her. I did cry many times for Slip, but really she had the best life, and so of course she is the one to get cancer. She just couldn't understand the secrets that were being kept, until it was her that was keeping the secrets (not until the end) -- loved the evolution of her.
Merit - Like Faith she is keeping secrets. A terrible terrible secret. Her man is a beater/abuser. It is the happiest moment in the book when she finally gets out from under him. She is a strong strong woman, and the story line rewards her for fighting.
Kari - the oldest of the group, and the only one who doesn't have kids (she is a widow, and had a miscarriage, and a failed adoption) -- I identified with her as well, and cheered when she adopted her niece's child to raise as her own. I really loved her story line, and the things she had to deal with as an older mother of a mixed race child. just wonderful.
Overall, I can't say enough good things about this book. I just adored it.
Forgot to add my favorite quote....from page 139
"Sister Ignatius taught me in Sunday school that 'in the beginning there was light,' but to me it was always an incomplete sentence, which God should have known to amend: in the beginning God created light...to read by."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2016
I don't think this is a book I would have chosen to read on my own, simply based on the title. In general I try not to judge books by their covers (or titles) but I assumed this one would be complete fluff, for lack of a better word. I'm so glad that this was a selection for our book club, though, because for that purpose alone it made me appreciate the group of women I gather with monthly to discuss our latest read.
Rather than fluff, what I got was the decades-long story of the lives of five women who juggle marriage, motherhood, careers, and coming to terms with the fact that not everything in life goes according to plan. The glue that holds them together are the books that they read and discuss; books that may not change their lives but bring perspective to women who might otherwise be sheltered from many of life's hardships.
I found this book to be well-written, entertaining, and fascinating. I was drawn into the lives of its characters and wanting to know what would happen next propelled me through each chapter toward the end.
I would highly recommend this book to any group of women who belong to - or who want to begin - a book club. Or to any woman who has a wonderfully diverse group of friends to whom she turn in the hardest of life's challenges.
Rather than fluff, what I got was the decades-long story of the lives of five women who juggle marriage, motherhood, careers, and coming to terms with the fact that not everything in life goes according to plan. The glue that holds them together are the books that they read and discuss; books that may not change their lives but bring perspective to women who might otherwise be sheltered from many of life's hardships.
I found this book to be well-written, entertaining, and fascinating. I was drawn into the lives of its characters and wanting to know what would happen next propelled me through each chapter toward the end.
I would highly recommend this book to any group of women who belong to - or who want to begin - a book club. Or to any woman who has a wonderfully diverse group of friends to whom she turn in the hardest of life's challenges.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,631 reviews