Fiction as a catalyst for change: The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
BY MARILYN PEMBERTON
One day Marie Bostwick and her 89-year-old mother were discussing books, including Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, which was widely credited with initiating the 1960s second-wave feminism in the USA. The mother surprised her daughter by admitting, ‘that book changed my life.’
Bostwick believes ‘there’s something almost mystical about the moment of inspiration that sets you off to write a book. Your brain lights up in ways it doesn’t at any other time. There’s a feeling of genuine excitement, often accompanied by an actual physical sensation of tingling when a great story idea falls into your lap. When it happens, you’ve got to seize the moment, respect the inspiration and follow through, because great ideas don’t reveal themselves every day of the week.’
When Bostwick heard why her mother was so influenced by Friedan’s controversial book she just ‘knew that my next novel would be about women like her, housewives who read Friedan’s book and were forever changed.’ And so she wrote The Book Club for Troublesome Women (Harper, April 2025).
Bostwick obviously read The Feminine Mystique a number of times but she also did a lot of research into the society of the 1960s and the lives women led then. She explains that ‘I read an outstanding nonfiction book, A Strange Stirring, by Stephanie Coontz, which delved deeply into the reception to and impact of Freidan’s book. I read books and articles about some of the real historical figures who make appearances in the story: Katherine Graham, Jackie Kennedy (Camera Girl by Carl S. Anthony — such a great book!). And I read a lot of articles about what was going on in the broader world in the early 60s; a period of real societal change. I also read (in some cases re-read) the other titles that the book club read — Dearly Beloved, A Gift From the Sea, The Group, A Room of One’s Own, Herland. I ordered and read physical copies of women’s magazines from that period — which were such a huge influence on women.’
Out of this research were born the four female protagonists: Margaret, Charlotte, Viv and Bitsy; four very different women but united by their gender, by all living in the suburb of Concordia and by being members of a book club. And their first book was The Feminine Mystique.
author photo by Deanna Leach
Bostwick believes that ‘almost any book in any genre can be a catalyst for change. There are no end of self-help books which seem to help alter people’s habits, attitudes, and directions. Poetry can inspire people to change, so can books that shine a light on societal ills or injustice. And I’m confident that more than one person has set on a career as a chef after falling in love with a particular cookbook. But I happen to believe that fiction can be even more powerful and life changing than non-fiction. When we find a character we identify with on a deep level, who is making good or bad choices, it gets us thinking about our own choices and the direction our life is taking, versus the direction we’d like it to take. And I really think that fiction often does that better than non-fiction, because fiction (at least good fiction) doesn’t lecture, it simply presents you with the scenario and lets you make up your own mind as to what your response should or can be.’
Just as Friedan’s book influenced a whole generation of women, Bostwick hopes that the readers of her own book ‘will consider or embrace certain truths or themes from the book — a knowledge that the rights and opportunities modern women may take for granted weren’t a given only a few short decades ago, the affirmation that there are multiple good and right ways to be woman, an understanding that rigid, stultifying roles based on gender can trap women and men, that community matters, that women should champion each other — what I really want readers to take away from the book is whatever it is they most need at this moment of their lives. For most, that may just be a few hopefully enjoyable hours spent getting lost in the story. As a novelist, I’ve always considered entertaining and engaging readers to be my first and most important job. But there will be others who have real needs which I can’t possibly predict, which reading this book may help fill. Again, I really am a very practical person, but I do believe that books are possessed of a strange and wonderful magic.’
Bostwick delights in the labelling of the four women as being troublesome as she considers that such women ‘take charge of their own lives,’ and ‘are not afraid to tap into their own power and strength and even stir up trouble if the situation calls for it. To me, being a troublesome woman is a positive character trait. There’s a certain joyous quality there. A troublesome woman is one I would want to spend time with, perhaps even befriend.’
About the contributor: Marilyn Pemberton has a passion for fairy tales that subvert and challenge social mores. Victorian fairy-tale writer Mary De Morgan was the subject first of a biography, then a fictionalised life in The Jewel Garden. Marilyn has published four novels from her historical series, Grandmother’s Footsteps, which include her own fairy tales as a means of critiquing the society in which her female protagonists live. The final book of the series, A Maker of Tales, is due late 2025. Marilyn has also published two stand-alone historical novels, Sold for a Song and Under the Eye.
