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The Briar Club

A Novel

by Kate Quinn

Narrator Saskia Maarleveld

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Length 15 hours 3 minutes

Language English

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Bookseller recommendation

“As a lover of many of Kate Quinn's books, this one might be my favorite! Briar Club begins on a lighter note than her other books, which feels strange to say as it begins with a murder. Quinn's range of character development is incredible, even the characters I didn't think I'd be interested in initially, ended up being some of my favorites by the end. I was constantly smiling at a character's snark or enthralled in a character's love story, and always looking forward to stepping back into the Briar House every chance I could. Kate Quinn always does a phenomenal job of telling stories about women in history who don't fit the mold of societal expectations, and the women in this story span a wide array of personalities and life experiences, but they share an unbreakable bond that makes this story such a wonderful read”
— Kara • Chapters Books and Coffee

Bookseller recommendation

“Kate Quinn is one of my favorite authors and she has outdone herself with this one. The Briar Club has it all, strong female characters, dynamic relationships, mystery, a twist, and so much more. This story centers around six women living in an all-female DC boarding house during the 1950's. Each woman has their own struggles and secrets, but they create a found family through their Thursday night potlucks in the mysterious Grace March's attic room. These relationships are put to the test one Thanksgiving when a double homicide forces the women to decide what matters most and what lengths they are willing to go to protect it. I loved listening to this book. Kate Quinn paints pictures with words in a way that evokes a movie in the listener's mind. Her characters are nuanced and diverse in a way that keeps us wanting to know more and the house itself looms throughout as a benevolent and lovable character overseeing it all. I didn't want it to end. ”
— Jennifer • Through the Fold

Summary
About the author

#26 in Bestselling Historical Fiction Audiobooks

The New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye and The Rose Code returns with a haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse during the McCarthy era.

Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss, whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; policeman’s daughter Nora, who finds herself entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Beatrice, whose career has come to an end along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.

Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: who is the true enemy in their midst?

Capturing the paranoia of the McCarthy era and evoking the changing roles for women in postwar America, The Briar Club is an intimate and thrilling novel of secrets and loyalty put to the test.

Includes a bonus conversation with Kate Quinn, Saskia Maarleveld, and Tessa Woodward, editor of The Briar Club.

Fiction Mystery & Thriller Historical Fiction

Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of Southern California, she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classical voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, and The Briar Club. All have been translated into multiple languages. She and her husband now live in California with three black rescue dogs.