Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons

Lorna Landvik

Faith, the daughter of an abusive mother, has just moved to Minneapolis with her husband and twins from Texas. Merit, her neighbor, is quiet, unprepossessing, pregnant and married to a doctor. Audrey is wealthy, loves sex, her husband, and sons. Kari's husband died years before and she now lives alone, keeping busy with sewing. Slip is an activist married to a supportive man with a daughter and a son. These women all live on Freesia Court. When the women initiate Faith to Minnesota with a snowball fight in 1968, they decide to form a book club. Because of the book club they go from friendly acquaintences to best friends. Every month for the next 30 years they take turns choosing a book and hosting the club.

Faith has never admitted to her husband or these women what type of life she had growing up. Slip is busy being involved with protests and raising aware children. Audrey enjoys the pleasures of life. Merit has marriage problems she won't admit to her friends until she can't hide it anymore. Kari gets an unexpected chance to fulfill a life long dream - she adopts a baby to raise.

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons follows five 60's housewives for the next 30 years as the different joys and problems follow them. This is a well crafted chick book. Men probably wouldn't get this book, but any woman with a long time relationship will. The book club is a nice frame around the activities of their lives.

The characters are realistic and appealing. The book is written in both first and third person, and focuses on a different woman each chapter - yet all are involved from beginning to end. There were many times I was chuckling and other times I was crying. I participated in this book, didn't just read it. I recommend it.

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