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In the late 1960s, Frankie, Linda, Kath, Brett, and Ally begin meeting every Wednesday at the park in Palo Alto, California. When they first meet, the women are defined primarily by their husbands' careers. These young homemakers were far removed from the "Summer of Love" happenings surrounding them. Frankie is the timid transplant from Chicago; brutally blunt Linda is a remarkable athlete; Kath is a Kentucky debutante; quiet Ally has a deep, dark secret; and quirky, brilliant Brett never removes her little white gloves. The one thing they have in common is a love of books. Eventually, the friends form a writers' circle, partly as a way to give voice to their hopes and dreams. Along the way, they experience history in the making -- Vietnam, the race for the moon, and a Women's Movement that challenges everything they have ever thought about themselves.

2. Twice in the novel, Linda attempts to ask about Brett's gloves, but she is cut off by one of the other Sisters. Why are they reluctant to cross that line? What do you think the gloves symbolize? Do you think young women meeting Brett today would be as gentle about her gloves? Are there generational differences in the ways women relate?

3. Ally enters the group in part based on an unspoken assumption that Carrie is her daughter, when the child is in fact her niece. Why do you think Frankie keeps this secret rather than sharing it with the others? Do you think Ally's life would be different today, given the existence of fertility treatments and support groups?

4. Why does Kath go so far in trying to win Lee back? Did this surprise you? Do you think she would have acted differently if the success of her marriage weren't so important to her parents? If divorce had been as prevalent then as it is now? If she had been able to provide for herself financially? Would you, like Kath's friends, be reluctant to counsel her to leave her husband? Or can you imagine giving her different advice?

5. Linda's breast cancer and Ally's fertility issues cause each to doubt her own femininity, and leave their friends at a loss as to how to help them. Have you or a friend ever been through a similar crisis? What has helped you hold on to your sense of self through tough times? How have your friendships affected this experience?

6. Why do you think Frankie finds it so difficult to tell Danny she's writing a book, when she has no trouble at all confiding this fact to her husband's boss? Why are we sometimes reluctant to admit we have dreams?

7. The old abandoned mansion—"a Miss Havisham house," as Frankie's husband, Danny, calls it, after the moldering mansion in Dickens's Great Expectations—is a haunting presence through most of the novel. What does this house seem to symbolize? Does it mean something different to each of the Sisters? What does its destruction mean?

8. Published books are mentioned throughout the novel—from The Great Gatsby to The Bell Jar to To Kill a Mockingbird. What role do these titles play in The Wednesday Sisters? Why do you think each of the Sisters chooses the "model book" she does? What model book might you choose yourself?

9. The writing group the Sisters form in The Wednesday Sisters helps its members grow in self-awareness and self-confidence. Have you been a part of a group—perhaps even a reading or writing group—that has had a similar effect on you? What do you think of the author's message that writing doesn't have to culminate in a book deal; that it can feed the soul of anyone who works hard at it; that with hard work, it is possible to get better; and that writing can help one make sense of one's life?

10. In one memorable scene, the Wednesday Sisters gather in a funeral parlor and imagine what they can accomplish in their lives that will not perish with their deaths. Did this make you think about writing in a new light? What about motherhood?

11. The women's movement provides an evolving backdrop to the lives of the women in The Wednesday Sisters. How did you relate the experiences of the Wednesday Sisters to events in your own life or in the lives of women you know who lived at that time?

12. The Wednesday Sisters make a tradition of watching the Miss America Pageant every year. How do their reactions to the pageant change over time, and why? How does the pageant itself change?

13. If the Miss America Pageant is one recurring motif in the novel, the space program is another. What similarities and differences do you see in the way the author uses these two iconic slices of Americana?

14. Brett's novel, The Mrs. Americas, posits a future in which a spaceship crewed by women and carrying a cargo of frozen sperm takes off on a mission to propagate the human race beyond the confines of our solar system. Why do you think Clayton chose to have Brett write this particular novel?

15. In addition to exploring the empowerment of women and the prevalence of sexism, The Wednesday Sisters addresses other social issues. In what ways are race and class raised in the novel? What did you think of the Sisters' reactions to the fact that Ally's husband, Jim, was from India?

16. Why do you think the author chose to set the climax of her novel on the set of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson? How does this scene compare to the Miss America Pageants described in the novel?

17. Throughout the novel, the Wednesday Sisters' friendships are complex, constantly evolving, and occasionally downright messy. Yet even as their bonds are tested, the group endures and grows stronger. What do you think keeps their friendships growing stronger rather than breaking apart?

18. In an interview, author Meg Waite Clayton once said, "If an author makes me weep, I am theirs—though why so many of us like books that make us cry puzzles me to no end." Do you share this sentiment? Why do you think readers respond to novels that make them cry?

This book is on these lists:

fiction by lindymarie

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• January 2012 Indie Next List
• December 2011 Indie Next List
• November 2011 Indie Next List