As a book club, we love to read about book clubs.

The main character, Jean Vison, still in mourning over the death of her husband, began getting together with a few friends, sharing a dinner and talking about books on the second Tuesday of every month. These six friends became a monthly book club.

Each character has her own peculiar and endearing traits. And each has her own struggle. But together they provide comfort and stability to each other. Just like our book club.

The main story revolves around Jean and her “perfect” daughter, Laura, and her granddaughter, Bailey. Jean gets a phone call one night informing her that her daughter is in the hospital. When she gets there, she finds out that Laura is struggling with alcohol addiction and needs to go to rehab. Jean didn’t even know that her daughter was separated from her husband. Jean’s teenage granddaughter, Bailey, is angry and rebellious.

Jean’s fragile state is tested to the limit with this family crisis. Both Jean and Bailey find themselves at odds with each other when Bailey moves in with Jean, which is further complicated when Laura checks herself out of rehab and comes to live with Jean also.

The other characters are not as defined as Jean, but provide a lively mix giving the novel a sense of playfulness and authenticity. There is Loretta who reads trashy novels by the truckload, Dorothy, whose sons are out-of-control, May, who likes to share her crazy dating stories, Mitzi, who politicizes everything, and Janet, who is way too shy.

Bailey’s portrayal of what it’s like to grow up with an alcoholic parent strikes true, as does Jean’s mourning. The level of healing they reach at the end of the book didn’t seem as realistic. We all thought it would take longer, especially for Bailey.

Book clubs will enjoy this quick read and will see themselves in the characters. We had discussions regarding the value of getting together every month and sharing our lives over books with each other. It gives us comfort to know that we have a safe place to go and be ourselves.

Rating: 7.5