THE BRIAR CLUB
The Gulf Harbour Book Club met on January 5 to discuss The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. There were 26 of us in attendance in person and via Zoom.
Kate Quinn is an unbelievable historical researcher. It appeared to us that her mind is in constant motion. Her personality is so big that she penetrates your soul when she speaks. Joan did the bio review. New York Times bestselling historical fiction author, known for books like The Alice Network and The Rose Code, who initially studies classical voice at Boston University before shifting to writing about history, often focusing on strong female characters in challenging eras, from ancient Rome to WWII. She currently resides in Maryland with her husband and rescue dogs. She is amazing.
Born and raised in Southern California, Quinn grew up with a love for history, influenced by her librarian mother. She attended Boston University, earning both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She shifted her original career writings to the 20th century history writing The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, and The Diamond Eye, focusing on WWII and espionage. Themes: Quinn is known for featuring underestimated women and unlikely friendships in life-or-death situations, drawing inspiration from lesser-known historical figures. We highly recommend you read all of the aforementioned books.
The individual characters in The Briar House are extremely well developed each with her own story and personality. The following book review by Cathy Lay Mayor.
“If you have read my past reviews, you know I am a big fan of Kate Quinn. While The Briar Club is different from her previous historical fiction, I found her latest book captivating.
Her other novels are set during a war. This novel is set in Washington, D.C. during the Cold War when Sen. Joseph McCarthy became a tireless crusader against Communist spies who might be living in the United States. It was a time of political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communism during the late 1940s and through the 1950s. Many were afraid of being falsely accused. All the characters in the novel are well researched and based on real people. Quinn does an excellent job of bringing the McCarthy era to life.
The Briar Club opens with the Briarwood House telling the story. On Thanksgiving Day, the police are knocking on the door. The house has a lot of blood and two dead bodies, one upstairs and one down, with 17 suspects who have had too much rum punch.
First the house must back up four years to fill in the blanks. Briarwood is a run-down, all-female boarding house set in Washington, D.C. in 1950. No one would suspect that Briarwood House has secrets hidden behind its white picket fence. But Briarwood has plenty. At first, all the women keep to themselves until widow Grace March moves into the attic. She draws the ladies in for potluck dinners on Thursday nights while the grouchy landlady goes to play bridge. The residents include the landlady’s two children, an older Hungarian refugee, a woman working for the National Archives in love with a gangster, a poised young English mother whose doctor husband is stationed overseas, a former baseball star from the women’s baseball league of World War II and a real-life secretary to the Maine senator who goes up against McCarthy, a secretary for House Un-American Activities Committee.
As they grow closer over meals and plenty of gin, the residents share their stories with each other. But they are all holding something back. This is a compelling story of women’s friendships during a frightening time. While this book has so many characters that one might think they could be confusing, Quinn does an excellent job of making sure they have very distinct characteristics and personalities, along with their secrets.”
Kate’s next book is The Astral Library. I have preordered it. We will be asking Kate back to discuss her new book.
The Gulf Harbour Book Club meets on the first Monday of each month in the Fitness Center. If you want to join the book club email [email protected]. Zoom is available for members if the author allows it. We had nine authors lined up for the 2025/26 season. We already had Kristen Harmel, Jane Yang and Abi Dare and Zelly Ruskin and Kate Quinn. We have the following authors on Zoom. February is Bernhardt Schlinke for The Granddaughter; March is Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, not on Zoom; and April is Chris Torockio for The Soul Hunters. Although we had Stephanie Dray scheduled for May, her newest book is not being released until the day after our May Book Club meets.
