Rosa’s Reviews > The Book Club for Troublesome Women > Status Update

My personal preference is for in between. I don't think I've ever met anybody who was all one thing or the other, have you? Most people are a walking bundle of contradictions. Page 105

“Books sprung from an author's imagination can be just as meaningful as those based on facts, figures, and events, or even more meaningful. Novels force you to think-to make your own conclusions about characters and themes, and decide if they're valid or relevant or true or good, or the opposite, or maybe somewhere in between. Page 105

"Not to me. When men find new mountains to climb, they get a pat on the back and a round of applause. People call them Go-getters. Why should it be different for women? Page 101

Being a wife and mother was always my dream, and I've found it very fulfilling." Francesca tilted her head to one side.
"And yet here you are."
"Here I am," Viv said, more to herself than to the doctor. "I guess I just reached a point where I wanted something more—a new challenge, maybe a new way to contribute?" She lifted her eyes. "Does that sound selfish?" Page 101

Because of state laws, some married women and single women could not legally obtain it. It wasn't until the landmark Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965 that birth control was legalized for married couples, and 1972 for unmarried people.

Viv

"Seven interviews..." The doctor sounded almost impressed.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing!" Viv said, then thumped her chest. "I am a terrific nurse! The best! Gunshot wounds, gangrene, cholera, compound fractures, viruses, infections, tropical diseases—I've seen it all and can handle it all. Nothing fazes me."
"Good to know," the doctor said. "Because in this neighbor-hood, we deal with it all. Page 94

"Okay, so do the math. Minimum wage is a buck and a quarter.
If it takes you forty hours to write a column, you'd be better off waiting tables. You'll spend half your paycheck on train tickets and taxis in New York, plus another seven bucks a month to rent a typewriter. At that rate, you're practically paying them, not the other way around."

"I'm sure I'll get faster once I get into the swing of things," page 65

Truth Serum

Margaret hosting the book group

Charlotte

Bitsy

Viv, who is a nurse. Now has 6 children

Charlotte: “The whole purpose of a book club is to discuss the book. So let’s try this again, shall we? Why didn’t you (Viv) like it?” Page 51

Viv had a plainspoken quality that Margaret appreciated. "An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure," she often said. And who could argue with that? Next-door neighbors were kind of a lottery; you got who you got. When it came to Viv, Margaret felt like she'd won the jackpot.
Viv was sitting in one of two crimson wingback chairs that flanked Barb's fireplace, pinching a smoldering cigarette… page 37