Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons…

Last month, the book club at work was reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I had never been involved with the book club before, which is all women, so when they decided to read a book about the Appalachian Trail, I figured I could get into it. It was a great book, and the discussion was interesting as well.

I had a good time and was eagerly anticipating the next book the club would read. My excitement was short lived when I heard we would be reading Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. I judged the book by its title, figuring it would be about a bunch of man-hating wives getting together to rail about their husbands.

I am glad to say I was very wrong. I told the group I would try a couple of chapters, and if I didn’t like it, I was out for this month. I read a couple of chapters and I was immediately hooked.

Written by Lorna Landvik, the book is about the lives of these women, which makes it extremely interesting. The story follows the lives of the Freesia Court book club, know as Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons, over a thirty year period. We see children born and grow up, husbands leave, and characters come to grip with life events they thought were insurmountable. It is not a book about women bashing and putting down men. Even though there was one husband that upon his introduction in the story you knew he was a mean, nasty, foul creature that would sully the good name of any and all men out there. However, even that scenario plays itself out well in the end.

I identified with Faith, who I would say is the main character of the book. In an effort to come to grips with her troubled past, she begins writing letters to her dead mother, who was a raging alcoholic. Over 30 years the process is very cathartic. I am also the child of an alcoholic, and at one point in my life in an attempt to deal with issues I had with my father, I turned to writing. I kept a journal, often addressing Dad and writing to him, and found it extremely helpful in dealing with my baggage.

This was an excellent story that kept me interested in the characters and their experiences. I highly recommend reading it.