Feb. 2026 Fiction Group Read --The Briar Club by Kate Quinn > Likes and Comments

Here's the thread where we'll discuss any and everything related to our group Fiction read for February, The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. This read/discussion will officially begin on Feb. 1.

Picking my library copy up today… looking forward to it!

This read starts today!

Finishing up two other books, then I’m jumping in!

Best-selling American historical fiction writer Kete Quinn was born in Long Beach, California in 1981, and a graduate of Boston Univ., with a master's degree in classical voice. Her first novel was published in 2010; altogether, she's written 13 novels by herself and four more with multiple collaborators. The Briar Club is her most recent book, and one of half a dozen set in the 1940s or 50s (her earlier solo novels were set in Roman times or the Italian Renaissance).

I’m on page 207. Who else is reading?

Kate Quinn's The Briar Club is enchanting and compelling. When I wasn't reading, I was thinking - What is Grace's story? Whose are the bodies? Who killed them? And why?

This is not Kate Quinn's usual fare - yes, it is historical fiction (or should that be faction?), but it is the characters who carry this story, including Briarwood House, a character in its own right. Spanning the years from 1950 when new tenant Grace March arrives at Briarwood House to 1954 when the murders occur, The Briar Club is an intriguing story of friendship set against a backdrop of political and social change encompassing the atomic bomb, McCarthyism, the Korean war, racial discrimination and the Cold War.

I loved getting to know these characters. Grace Marsh is the mysterious woman in the tiny attic room who draws all the other characters together. Nora, the daughter and sister of Irish policeman who, although she is estranged from her family, is still expected to support them. Bea is a woman frustrated by the curveball life has thrown her. Arlene is an unhappy husband-hunting woman who doesn't understand why no one likes her. Rekha is an older Hungarian woman, a professor and artist before she escaped to America who now earns a living shelving books at the library. Fliss is English and bringing up a baby with no family support, her doctor husband having been sent overseas to treat those injured in the war. Claire is focused only on getting out of the boarding house, her dream being a small house in the suburbs with a white picket fence. She will do whatever it takes to attain her dream. In addition to these characters there is the Nilson family - Mrs Nilson, a penny-pinching harridan who treats her children like slaves; Pete Nilson her teenage son; and Lina, Pete's slightly younger sister. There is also a gangster, a jazz musician or two, a G-Man, a politician's wife and a Russian spy.

Don't expect a fast-paced intense story. The Briar Club is very much a slow burn, character focused read. And one I loved. The storyline is intricate and richly layered with historical detail that I reveled in. I loved the characters' dramas, their relationships, and their stories which Grace seamlessly extracted from them. I really didn't want this book to end, as satisfying as that ending is. The Briar Club elicited all the emotions from me - it is sad, funny, touching, appalling and entertaining. A perfect mix.

Don't finish this read without reading Kate Quinn's explanation of how this book and its characters came about. It is worth five stars on its own.

There is also the bonus of recipes for Grace's Sun Tea, and the various other dishes served at the Thursday evening supper club and a musical recommendation to accompany the food. I had tears of laughter running down my face at Arlene's Candle Salad.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I think this group has a “Review Center” thread.

Diane ❥ツ wrote: "I think this group has a “Review Center” thread."

Yes, Diane, we do; that thread is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... .

Finished—I was hoping there would be more readers. Maybe closer to the end of the month.

I read it last year and enjoyed the book. Loved that it was set post WW2.

I've now archived this thread, but it remains open to comments!