The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy

The Wilderness was not a book for the faint of heart or for those whose minds work in a linear fashion. Following the friendships of four women with distinct personalities through two and a half decades of their lives, the novel is craftily and creatively written. Flournoy is a master of that style and at times leaves the reader scratching his/her head. 

The first friend to whom we are introduced is Desiree, who is accompanying her grandfather to Switzerland because he has made plans to end his life in a dignified way. They spend a couple of days in Paris before the journey to Switzerland giving him a chance to live out some dreams before his death. Desiree has a sister, Danielle, who had been kept in the dark about those plans and as a physician was not pleased at all. 

The other friends are Nakia, who has climbed the ranks to become a chef with her own restaurant, January, who spends a good deal of her life trying to find some direcion and who becomes a graphic designer with a financial backgroud. Finally, there is Monique, a librarian who has turned blogger and who preaches against book banning. There are also myriad characters who come in and out of their lives.

The book's setting goes back and forth between New York and Los Angelos and the time periods span 2002 through 2027, an interesting look into the now not too distant future. The women support each other through life-changing highs and lows, and confront the changing world sometimes successfully and other times not. Flournoy does not hide her contempt for those who are not sympathetic to the conditions in American cities, medical care, or attitude toward the LGBTQ+ community or those whose skin color is black or brown.  

 Although those themes play out through the book, the theme of friendship is the paramount one Florunoy expounds upon. The women rally around through the birth of children, award ceremonies and marital relationships. The ending is totally unexpected as Flournoy moves her novel to 2027. It was worth re-reading to understand its compelling action. 

 It was interesting to hear Angela Flournoy on 23 March 2026 when she spoke to the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures audience. Her explanation of how her brain works and how she can write a book with so many shifts in time and place, was enlightening. It does baffle one whose mind travels along a more linear route. 

Angela Flournoy

 

Angela Flournoy autographing my book

 

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick

Set in 1963, The Book Club for Troublesome Women, is one of those books that almost requires you to have some knowledge of time, place, mores, and cultural recognition. The four main characters, who live in the affluent community of Concordia, Maryland, are brought together as they form a book group. 

Bitsy is a 23 year old married to an older man who considers himself to be a very superior veterinarian. Charlotte is from a wealthy family and married to Howard, whom her father has selected as his son-in-law when Charlotte gets pregnant out of wedlock. Viv is a nurse with six children, married to Tony, a Pentagon official. Near the beginning of the book she discovers that she is pregnant with her 7th child. Finally, Margaret (Maggie) Ryan is really the main character of the book. Her husband, Walt, appears at first to be the patriarchal husband of the 1960's, but eventually has an epiphany after his father's death. 

Maggie's first pick for the book club is The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan and the club becomes known as The Bettys. Their lives become interwoven and their support for their female friends is such a powerful part of the book. They see each other through life events like pregnancies, husband's affairs, addictive behavior, and problem children. All of this is set against the background of how women were viewed in the 1960's and their nascent struggle to assert themselves as equal partners in a marriage and in society. 

Bostwick has researched the time period and has included so many popular books, foods, music, and current events. For a married woman not to be able to get birth control pills without the signature of her husband, for a high school girl spurned because she wants to play the trombone, and for a woman who knows as much about horses as her husband to be dismissed are examples of the culture of the early 60s. It is hard to think about how it was, but also frightening to realize that woman could be relegated to that place in society again. 

The reaction at our book group was mixed. Some liked it, some were ok with it and a couple didn't like it at all. That is the beauty of book clubs. I was on the liked it side and would consider it a good read, if only for reminiscing about the time. 
 

Evensong by Stewart O'Nan

 In Evensong, the reader is introduced to the Humpty Dumpty Club, a group of Pittsburgh women who get together socially and also help members of the community by running errands, visiting when ill, and helping with chores. The focus of the novel is on a few of those women, including Emily Maxwell, who figured prominently in Wish You were Here and Emily Alone. 

Joan, one of the instrumental leaders of the group, falls down the stairs and is not discovered until the next morning. The members of the HD are thrust into the job of finding someone who can take her place as she recovers for the broken leg and arm, hospitalization and rehabilitation. In addition, someone needs to temporarily adopt Oscar, her cat and deal with Darcy, her out of town daughter. 

Other members of the group include Kitzi, who assumes the role of leader, Emily Maxwell, Susie, who for lack of companionship, starts dating and gets involved in a relationship, Arlene, Emily's sister-in-law, who is starting to show signs of dementia or Alzheimer's Disease and Jean, married to Gene, who is a hoarder with oodles of cats. Again, as in his other books, O'Nan is a master of character development. The reader knows these characters in and out and can sympathize with them on how they are approaching old age.  

The book creates a quiet arena for reading. It is serious, but witty, especially the scenes with the pets. It feels good to read it and get a glimpse of the goodness of people, their kind acts, and their strong motivation of living each day to the fullest, even when it is hard. The scenes around Pittsburgh are familiar, their concert attendance, and church activities. Especially of interest was the description of Calvary Methodist Church where the Allegheny City Society holds its meetings:

Calvary United Methodist on the North Side hosted their annual Messiah Sing-along, a Christmas treat Emily and Arlene never missed. Though the other Calvary’s choir wasn’t the juggernaut Viv’s bunch was—the paid soloists were graduate students, the organist a guest—the church boasted exquisite Tiffany windows gifted by an otherwise forgotten robber baron. The concert started at four, doors opening an hour early so music lovers could enjoy the late-afternoon sun flooding the sanctuary with color. (p. 219)

I am in awe of O'Nan's writing and will strive to read as many more of his books as I can fit into my reading time.