VERY mixed feelings about this book. The author has some beautifully worded sentences and an overall engaging story (in the sense that it would have made a good screenplay) however, what the author states in the included interview as to her intention for writing the book (1--to show the affects of war and 2--to show the difficulties of immigrants to build a life in a country devoid of familial support or the familiarity of cultural fortification)was at best, used as a backdrop for a story about the friendship of two women. Even the title is misleading as the importance of the club is not even effectively woven throughout the story, but disappears and then pops up at odd intervals. The same could be said of the character from whose perspective the story is initially told; he seems to be only a vehicle for introducing us to the two women upon whom the majority of the novel is focused.

I finished the book thinking that the author's intentions were very poorly implemented and that I felt shorted by the fact the novel left me with no entertaining questions or themes other than wondering why it deserved to be published.