The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Wednesday Sisters is a story where the flavour of sisterhood dominant, but it is also about the battle that each individual fights in his/her own life and the one everyone else is oblivious to. Sometimes our own friends aren’t privy to this information. It is about 5 women, who met in a park in suburban Palo Alto on an afternoon. There is no single thread that connects them, so to speak, and their relationship blossoms out of conversations around the humdrum details of their lives.
Linda battles with cancer and also with the ghosts of her own childhood where she lost her mother to the same illness. She is secretly terrified of going through the same and putting her children through the hardship but puts up a brave front when amongst people. Kath, a Kentucky debutante in her youth, is outwardly fierce and doesn’t mince her words, sometimes even to the point of being rude. But when it comes to her marriage, she is entangled in several complications unable to be her otherwise brave self. Brett is quite the opposite in temperament, mild-mannered and sophisticated, and is always seen wearing a pair of white gloves and no one knows why. Ally is shy and soft-spoken, battling with fertility issues, not to mention the cruelty and the stigma that comes with it. Frankie, from whose point of view the story is narrated, is timid, wants to complete her college education which she had to abandon for personal reasons. In the first year of their friendship, they watch the Miss America Pageant together. What begins as a get-together to be spent watching fluff and forth of the pageantry, turns into something else, something more meaningful. As the years pass by, as their lives chart their courses, they witness the Vietnam War, the Women’s Rights movement, The Moon Landing, the Black Power Salute at the 1968 Olympics and along with the world, their friendship matures and grows stronger too.
While I loved the general theme and emotion of the book, I would have liked it more if the characters weren’t so stereotypical. I probably feel that way because all the characters have a happy fairytale ending. Having said that, I did enjoy reading this one, in spite of the story development not being exactly to my liking. I would still recommend it if you like books with the theme of friendship. It is not deep or soul-stirring, needs a bit more depth to be that. But it begins with a good intention, and develops well, even if it doesn’t achieve 100% of its potential. Worth picking up when you have long journeys or delayed flights I would say!
