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...And Ladies of the Club
A #1 New York Times bestseller--and an American classic--now in trade paperback...
A groundbreaking bestseller with two and a half million copies in print, "...And Ladies of the Club" centers on the members of a book club and their struggles to understand themselves, each other, and the tumultuous world they live in. A true classic, it is sure to enchant, enthrall, and intrigue readers for years to come.
A groundbreaking bestseller with two and a half million copies in print, "...And Ladies of the Club" centers on the members of a book club and their struggles to understand themselves, each other, and the tumultuous world they live in. A true classic, it is sure to enchant, enthrall, and intrigue readers for years to come.
1176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1982
531 people are currently reading
13668 people want to read
About the author
Helen Hooven Santmyer
7 books90 followersHelen Hooven Santmyer was born in 1895 and lived in Xenia, Ohio. In addition to her career as a writer, she worked as an English professor, a dean of women, and a librarian. She was 87 when her novel "And Ladies of the Club" was published as a Book of the Month, and passed away at the age of 90 in February of 1986. She was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1996
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 707 reviews
August 2, 2023
2/2022:
It's been more than a decade since I read this, and I finally found the audiobook, courtesy of the access my failing eyesight has given me to the governmental libraries for the blind. This was a fascinating revisit on a number of fronts. I read this one when it came out. I was in my late teens or early 20s, embarking on my first live-in relationship with the man who would become my first ex-husband. I encountered Marcus Aurelius herein for the first time, little realizing how heavily his words would influence my life.
This time, nearly all I could see was the resemblance to my own upbringing in Ohio. My family, and all the reasons I ran clear across the country to escape them are laid out here so clearly. The casual, dismissive, unaware racism for anyone not of one's own tightly-knit clan. The homophobia that runs so deep it dare not speak its name, and all lesbians must die a gruesome death alone, even if they are only 14 years old and potentially gay. The mincing distaste for sex of any stripe. The capitalism infused into the bones.
There are no shades of grey here, merely nostalgic black and white vignettes that illuminate varieties of prejudice in high contrast.
Like the Club in Anne's reflections at the end of her life, this book meant far more to me once than it does now. I can walk away without regret, without anger, but with finality. And with the acknowledgement that privilege is like water to a fish or air to a teenaged girl- invisible, un-seeable, often insurmountable.
It still resonates with me in a thousand ways, and I'm still bewildered by the relentlessness of time, but I can't like any of these people, really. Not anymore.
1/2007 It's been years since I read this book, and I've been reflexively putting on list of favorites for years. I thought it time to re-read. This time, the poor editing and the plethora of typos drove me nearly to distraction. I went out and got a newer edition half way through the read, hoping against hope that it would be better. It was a little better, but, man, what a mess. That's the flaw, and for my money, the only flaw in this magnificent slice-of-life novel. Sure, some of the attitudes may strike today's reader as reprehensible, however, they ring true. The book begins with the two main characters' high school commencement in 1868 and proceeds to follow their lives and the lives of their families and neighbors until 1930. The place is Ohio, the fictional town of Waynesboro based on Santmyer's home Xenia. Nothing happens, and everything happens. Whole lives are played out, and one is part of them in intimate but not claustrophobic detail. I don't know if I can articulate exactly why I love this book so, but it has something to do with the way it brings the relentlessness of time to the forefront of my consciousness, and the way it grounds me in humanity.
It's been more than a decade since I read this, and I finally found the audiobook, courtesy of the access my failing eyesight has given me to the governmental libraries for the blind. This was a fascinating revisit on a number of fronts. I read this one when it came out. I was in my late teens or early 20s, embarking on my first live-in relationship with the man who would become my first ex-husband. I encountered Marcus Aurelius herein for the first time, little realizing how heavily his words would influence my life.
This time, nearly all I could see was the resemblance to my own upbringing in Ohio. My family, and all the reasons I ran clear across the country to escape them are laid out here so clearly. The casual, dismissive, unaware racism for anyone not of one's own tightly-knit clan. The homophobia that runs so deep it dare not speak its name, and all lesbians must die a gruesome death alone, even if they are only 14 years old and potentially gay. The mincing distaste for sex of any stripe. The capitalism infused into the bones.
There are no shades of grey here, merely nostalgic black and white vignettes that illuminate varieties of prejudice in high contrast.
Like the Club in Anne's reflections at the end of her life, this book meant far more to me once than it does now. I can walk away without regret, without anger, but with finality. And with the acknowledgement that privilege is like water to a fish or air to a teenaged girl- invisible, un-seeable, often insurmountable.
It still resonates with me in a thousand ways, and I'm still bewildered by the relentlessness of time, but I can't like any of these people, really. Not anymore.
1/2007 It's been years since I read this book, and I've been reflexively putting on list of favorites for years. I thought it time to re-read. This time, the poor editing and the plethora of typos drove me nearly to distraction. I went out and got a newer edition half way through the read, hoping against hope that it would be better. It was a little better, but, man, what a mess. That's the flaw, and for my money, the only flaw in this magnificent slice-of-life novel. Sure, some of the attitudes may strike today's reader as reprehensible, however, they ring true. The book begins with the two main characters' high school commencement in 1868 and proceeds to follow their lives and the lives of their families and neighbors until 1930. The place is Ohio, the fictional town of Waynesboro based on Santmyer's home Xenia. Nothing happens, and everything happens. Whole lives are played out, and one is part of them in intimate but not claustrophobic detail. I don't know if I can articulate exactly why I love this book so, but it has something to do with the way it brings the relentlessness of time to the forefront of my consciousness, and the way it grounds me in humanity.
January 12, 2010
….And Ladies of the Club was my whole world in the summer of ’04. I drank in the lives of the characters, and then the characters’ children. I loved quiet, introspective Anne Gordon because I saw my reflection in her, and I equally loved spunky, spirited Sally because I did not. Thomasina Ballard’s romance with the piano teacher, and the spinsterly Eliza, the girl who first acts so well and then becomes a mother and scorns all women who act, “Shaney” and her unrequited love for Johnny Gordon; Johnny’s love for his ice queen of a wife…. So many stories and people. Most of all, this novel set me up for life. I saw life lived from age 18 to age 86, and how the characters’ perspectives changed with time. And I saw life mapped out. I read about heart-breaking tragedy and change, and realized that pain could also be beautiful. I consider this book a classic because this book is life, and the author put herself into it, I am sure; even though I don’t know her story, I know this is her story.
March 28, 2024
My favorite book of all time. It's about everyday life in an Ohio town post Civil War through the Depression. The book covers the lives of the ladies and their families in a literary club. It deals with their personal relationships that seem so real, it makes you feel like you're there. A very long book with over 1100 pages, but well worth the read. When you are finished you are wishing for more.
June 6, 2013
I can't pin it down precisely, but I have always loved this book. Its mostly the longevity of it. Not just a book that ends with a wedding or a major climactic event. It follows women through their lives, from childhood friends through their developing relationships with each other and their time as wives, mothers, grandmothers, widows. And the characters really seem to evolve and develop and grow more definitive and rich as the time passes. So many books seem to focus on one main crisis with one specific solution or reaction by a character - and so many of them focus on crises in youth or young adulthood. As if the passage of time and the evolutions of a person were too complex for a satisfying story. The overall beauty of life is in the day in and day out scenarios and our trials don't come in bold media headlines but rather in slender, discrete tendrils that knit the overall fabric of our life. Life is so enthralling - at all ages. And Santmyer captures that very poignantly.
January 7, 2018
I finished this doorstop of a book! Having read about this supposed "Gone with the Wind" style epic which took the author fifty years to complete, I had to order it from a used book dealer to get a copy.
It is very dated, and its attitudes reek of the politics and biases of its eras... it did take fifty years to write, the author was born in the late 1890s, and the story itself begins as the American Civil War has come to an end and concludes prior to WWII. Although the author, a woman, created strong female characters, the misogyny demonstrated in her writing at times had me wincing.
I can't classify this book as the same kind of classic as Gone with the Wind. Both are historical fiction, both share an uncomfortable relationship with stereotypes, both illuminate a challenging time in American history and both tell in depth tales about a vast cast of characters. However, "Ladies" comes up short (Ha ha, this 1400 page book is wee bit short!). There were simply too many people to keep track of, and too little time to become attached to them. The broad universal themes of love, home, family, life and loss were parcelled out in bits and pieces, which unfortunately robbed the novel of any real chance of passion and drama.
At the end of many days, I'd walked through years of these ladies and their families lives, and learned much about daily life, etiquette, fashion, pregnancy, male roles, racial attitudes, gender beliefs, modesty, gossip.... and quietly, it was over.
An experience of an old novel, which hasn't held too well, to the tests of time... but a worthy challenge.
3.5 stars... Gawd, it is LONG!
It is very dated, and its attitudes reek of the politics and biases of its eras... it did take fifty years to write, the author was born in the late 1890s, and the story itself begins as the American Civil War has come to an end and concludes prior to WWII. Although the author, a woman, created strong female characters, the misogyny demonstrated in her writing at times had me wincing.
I can't classify this book as the same kind of classic as Gone with the Wind. Both are historical fiction, both share an uncomfortable relationship with stereotypes, both illuminate a challenging time in American history and both tell in depth tales about a vast cast of characters. However, "Ladies" comes up short (Ha ha, this 1400 page book is wee bit short!). There were simply too many people to keep track of, and too little time to become attached to them. The broad universal themes of love, home, family, life and loss were parcelled out in bits and pieces, which unfortunately robbed the novel of any real chance of passion and drama.
At the end of many days, I'd walked through years of these ladies and their families lives, and learned much about daily life, etiquette, fashion, pregnancy, male roles, racial attitudes, gender beliefs, modesty, gossip.... and quietly, it was over.
An experience of an old novel, which hasn't held too well, to the tests of time... but a worthy challenge.
3.5 stars... Gawd, it is LONG!
May 15, 2008
I finished this book in July 1985. I was on bedrest for my 2nd pregnancy, my first ended in miscarriage. It took almost my entire pregnancy to read this book. I would lay there on the couch, w/this big, fat heavy book resting on my stomach & the baby would kick it, so I would try to find another position. I loved this book & was sad when it ended.
I saw Ms Santmyer interviewed on TV from the rest home where she was living. She had got a new perm in honor of the occasion. She died in February 1986. She said that 90% of the hoopla was because she was such an old lady. She was 88 at the time the book was published as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection & died at the age of 90.
October 7, 2007
Sometimes I wonder what it is about certain books - or parts of books that cause them to stay with us many years after we'ver read them. It's been at least 10 years since I read this book - yet I still remember details of it. There are a number of books I've read since that I'd be hard pressed to tell you much about at all.
December 29, 2025
2025 DEI Warning:
This book is set in a Ohio town from 1868 to the early 1930s and there is copious use of the "n word" in several variations, mostly by white characters with Southern backgrounds. There is no revisionism here-- the black characters are either servants or laborers and this is taken matter of factly by all.
If this puts you off reading this so be it. But I think it would make this book even the richer for book discussion.
Original Review:
I know exactly where I was when I began to read this book. I was in Kensington Gardens in London on a long awaited trip to England. Yet, sitting there, I was already so engrossed I didn't want to put this book down!
Yes, it's long, and the action is limited. It's character study, not a Tom Clancy book. Give it a chance and you will get involved with the characters.
I still find this as engrossing on re-reads as I did 20 years ago. Well worth the time.
This book is set in a Ohio town from 1868 to the early 1930s and there is copious use of the "n word" in several variations, mostly by white characters with Southern backgrounds. There is no revisionism here-- the black characters are either servants or laborers and this is taken matter of factly by all.
If this puts you off reading this so be it. But I think it would make this book even the richer for book discussion.
Original Review:
I know exactly where I was when I began to read this book. I was in Kensington Gardens in London on a long awaited trip to England. Yet, sitting there, I was already so engrossed I didn't want to put this book down!
Yes, it's long, and the action is limited. It's character study, not a Tom Clancy book. Give it a chance and you will get involved with the characters.
I still find this as engrossing on re-reads as I did 20 years ago. Well worth the time.
February 23, 2008
I read this book soon after it came out and still have my beat up hardback copy of the book. I know several people that were unable to get into this book, but it seems like if you like it, you actually love it. The author tracks the lives of two young women (recent graduates of a female academy in a small Ohio town)from shortly after the Civil War through the first decades of the twentieth century. The story of the women (as well as the small town) is told through the activities of a women's reading club. This is a book I've reread many times.
January 20, 2025
This novel appealed to me on several levels. It is set in a small town in Ohio, called Waynesboro. I have often enjoyed novels about small towns that sport unique casts of characters. There were characters in And the Ladies of the Club (hereafter ALC) that I fell for and those that irritated and offended me. ALC is multigenerational, so that you get to follow several families through the years, watching as they struggle against obstacles of their own making and those that are the result of happenstance. The story begins a few years after the end of the Civil War and the impacts of that war, the subsequent Reconstruction Period and the politics and economy of the next 50 years reverberate throughout the novel. I am rather weak regarding American history in the second half of the nineteenth century; ALC provided me with real insight into this period; it felt like a novel and a history book wrapped together.
As much as I liked the characters, the story and the history of the period, I found ALC, at 1,176 pages, excessively long. The history that is incorporated into the novel is important to the story but could have been provided more concisely. There are points where the history feels as if it has been inserted rather than integrated. The structure is very repetitive and predictable; the same approach is taken with each chapter. There are too many characters; some of them you never get to know. One quirky characteristic of the novel didn’t bother me but is worth mentioning: the town and all the protagonists are stalwart Republicans; whenever a Democrat wins an office, the world is about to end. This aspect of the novel is very similar to the animosity we see between parties today, but we are convinced that what we experience is much worse than it was in the past.
A final comment must be made about the copyediting and proofreading: I don’t think it was done. There are often multiple uncorrected errors on the same page. Putnam was the publisher of my edition, so I am not sure why the poor quality.
As much as I liked the characters, the story and the history of the period, I found ALC, at 1,176 pages, excessively long. The history that is incorporated into the novel is important to the story but could have been provided more concisely. There are points where the history feels as if it has been inserted rather than integrated. The structure is very repetitive and predictable; the same approach is taken with each chapter. There are too many characters; some of them you never get to know. One quirky characteristic of the novel didn’t bother me but is worth mentioning: the town and all the protagonists are stalwart Republicans; whenever a Democrat wins an office, the world is about to end. This aspect of the novel is very similar to the animosity we see between parties today, but we are convinced that what we experience is much worse than it was in the past.
A final comment must be made about the copyediting and proofreading: I don’t think it was done. There are often multiple uncorrected errors on the same page. Putnam was the publisher of my edition, so I am not sure why the poor quality.
October 30, 2016
I first read this book in 1985 as an escapist summer read during a difficult time. I got rid of it, but couldn't remember why. I recalled it as a warm multi-generational saga with interesting characters and story lines. I remembered excusing the racist and one-sided political attitudes as a historically accurate reflection of the place and times.
Re-reading it 31 years later, I remember why I got rid of it.
Had the author stuck to the basic concept of the personal story lines over the generations, I could have accepted the attitudes. The family stories, friendships, and personal events are every bit as charming on rereading as they were the first time.
But this time, 31 years older, I noticed things I did not the first time around.
First of all, this book was in desperate need of proofreading. The number of typos was frankly distracting.
It also needed some heavy substantive editing. Ninety percent of the endless details about rope-making and politics should have been cut to make what remained far more compelling and enjoyable and the entire book about half as long. A bit of detail, yes, for context and historical accuracy. But there were pages and pages and endless bloody pages of details about rope-making and politicking that just bogged the story down. That said, I couldn't help but admire the amount of research the author must have done, even if it hindered rather than helped her storytelling.
I also wish the author had spared us her often heavy-handed, judgmental, one-sided political and moral editorializing. A realistic reflection of attitudes of the time and place is fine, but as the book progressed, she began lapsing into unsubtle preachiness, with minimal to no insight into why anyone might hold an opposing view. The author used her book as a soapbox for what were glaringly her personal views, and I found myself too often literally rolling my eyes.
The story head-hops a good deal, and for the most part, the author does this well. The reader is treated to many different points of view, making it easier to understand characters and motivations. The author's grasp of psychology for characters with values similar to her own is actually pretty good, which helps bring them to life for the reader; however, her lack of a similar level of insight into contrasting characters often flattened certain story sections into shallow, clichéed platitudes.
The head-hopping is also where the racist, homophobic, and other prejudiced attitudes of the author become apparent and make the book uncomfortable to read. It's not the attitudes of the characters that reflect this, but the sin of omission--the characters who never get a voice, whose heads are never hopped into.
The Irish get a very light touch. We certainly never hop into a lesbian character's head; we're just left to judge her for the pain she brings on others, while her pain seems to not matter at all. Anyone who challenges the conservative status quo gets a "straw man" treatment; they are in the story only as cardboard façades to enable those the author agrees with to put them in what she thinks ought to be their place. The black characters get all of their dialogue written in heavy Southern accents (while white Southern characters do not) and their characters exist only in the context of their relationships with their white employers. We never hop into any of their heads either, but are asked to be indulgently amused or indignantly judgmental when they object to heavily demanding tasks.
Yes, the fundamental characters of the women in the club and their personal stories are charming, if heavily rose-tinted (which, after all, is what escapist reading is all about). I could see the book appealing to straight, white, conservative Christians. But for me, the book doesn't stand up to the numerous flaws that made re-reading it such a challenge. I doubt any LGBT or non-white people would read "... And Ladies of the Club" with any sense of nostalgia. I'm straight and white, but often found myself cringing with shame and hoping I didn't die with this book on my bedside table.
I forced myself to finish the entire 1.4K+ pages of the paperback only because I know I will never read it again, nor will I ever again forget why.
Re-reading it 31 years later, I remember why I got rid of it.
Had the author stuck to the basic concept of the personal story lines over the generations, I could have accepted the attitudes. The family stories, friendships, and personal events are every bit as charming on rereading as they were the first time.
But this time, 31 years older, I noticed things I did not the first time around.
First of all, this book was in desperate need of proofreading. The number of typos was frankly distracting.
It also needed some heavy substantive editing. Ninety percent of the endless details about rope-making and politics should have been cut to make what remained far more compelling and enjoyable and the entire book about half as long. A bit of detail, yes, for context and historical accuracy. But there were pages and pages and endless bloody pages of details about rope-making and politicking that just bogged the story down. That said, I couldn't help but admire the amount of research the author must have done, even if it hindered rather than helped her storytelling.
I also wish the author had spared us her often heavy-handed, judgmental, one-sided political and moral editorializing. A realistic reflection of attitudes of the time and place is fine, but as the book progressed, she began lapsing into unsubtle preachiness, with minimal to no insight into why anyone might hold an opposing view. The author used her book as a soapbox for what were glaringly her personal views, and I found myself too often literally rolling my eyes.
The story head-hops a good deal, and for the most part, the author does this well. The reader is treated to many different points of view, making it easier to understand characters and motivations. The author's grasp of psychology for characters with values similar to her own is actually pretty good, which helps bring them to life for the reader; however, her lack of a similar level of insight into contrasting characters often flattened certain story sections into shallow, clichéed platitudes.
The head-hopping is also where the racist, homophobic, and other prejudiced attitudes of the author become apparent and make the book uncomfortable to read. It's not the attitudes of the characters that reflect this, but the sin of omission--the characters who never get a voice, whose heads are never hopped into.
The Irish get a very light touch. We certainly never hop into a lesbian character's head; we're just left to judge her for the pain she brings on others, while her pain seems to not matter at all. Anyone who challenges the conservative status quo gets a "straw man" treatment; they are in the story only as cardboard façades to enable those the author agrees with to put them in what she thinks ought to be their place. The black characters get all of their dialogue written in heavy Southern accents (while white Southern characters do not) and their characters exist only in the context of their relationships with their white employers. We never hop into any of their heads either, but are asked to be indulgently amused or indignantly judgmental when they object to heavily demanding tasks.
Yes, the fundamental characters of the women in the club and their personal stories are charming, if heavily rose-tinted (which, after all, is what escapist reading is all about). I could see the book appealing to straight, white, conservative Christians. But for me, the book doesn't stand up to the numerous flaws that made re-reading it such a challenge. I doubt any LGBT or non-white people would read "... And Ladies of the Club" with any sense of nostalgia. I'm straight and white, but often found myself cringing with shame and hoping I didn't die with this book on my bedside table.
I forced myself to finish the entire 1.4K+ pages of the paperback only because I know I will never read it again, nor will I ever again forget why.
August 11, 2010
I can't believe I haven't reviewed this book before.
Yes, it's almost 1,200 pages long. And yes, every one of those pages matters.
This magnificent book is a series of portraits of the changes in a small town in Ohio from the end of the Civil War into the 20th century. As the country moves into a golden age following the Civil War, the ladies of a small Ohio town (known for its women's college) decide to form an intellectual club for the women. Two of their charter members are Sally and Anne, best friends who have just graduated from the college and are about to be married to handsome, prosperous young men. The book follows them and the other ladies through marriage, childbirth, illness, losses and happinesses, grandchildren and beyond. You come to know and love all the members of the club, and it's fascinating seeing the changes that come over them and their families as the years pass.
Despite its length, the book is mesmerizing, and could not put it down. I adored Sally and Anne, and I found myself laughing and crying along with them. Simply put, this is a work of art, a beautiful book.
Yes, it's almost 1,200 pages long. And yes, every one of those pages matters.
This magnificent book is a series of portraits of the changes in a small town in Ohio from the end of the Civil War into the 20th century. As the country moves into a golden age following the Civil War, the ladies of a small Ohio town (known for its women's college) decide to form an intellectual club for the women. Two of their charter members are Sally and Anne, best friends who have just graduated from the college and are about to be married to handsome, prosperous young men. The book follows them and the other ladies through marriage, childbirth, illness, losses and happinesses, grandchildren and beyond. You come to know and love all the members of the club, and it's fascinating seeing the changes that come over them and their families as the years pass.
Despite its length, the book is mesmerizing, and could not put it down. I adored Sally and Anne, and I found myself laughing and crying along with them. Simply put, this is a work of art, a beautiful book.
March 16, 2024
Clearly this is an undertaking, for both the author and the reader, but one well worth it. Contrary to the one cynical NYTimes review from 1984 when it was published which accused her of being superficial in her treatment of characters and her plot full of melodrama, I found it to be very realistic in depicting the mores and day to day small town doings, deaths, love and marriages for better or worse, celebrations, politics and the aftermath of the Civil War. Fortunately for Mrs. Santmeyer, the public loved it. Every thing is covered, PTSD, infidelities, racism, family feuds, run aways, plagues all told through the eyes of members of a women's club. At 1200 or so pages it sucks you into her small town world as if you were being told all these stories over a cup o tea by the fireside. It's comfortable, down to earth and often told with a very dry sense of humor. Far from being uncritical of the actions of her characters, Santmyer lets you see their mistakes and errors in feeling or judgement and consequences with the eyes of the town. Somehow this reminds me of all the old women in my family, how they spoke and what was important to them.
Now to the difficulties...why there are so many simple spelling errors throughout the book I have no idea! There is no explanation I can think of that makes any sense. Every page practically some simple little word spelled wrong. Did she have an editor at all or did they simply balk at its size and hand it to the printer warts and all!
A word about slurs/racism/political and religious prejudices of all kinds which populate her world. Uncomfortable and shocking though this aspect is to the reader, she pulls no punches in letting her characters speak as they would. Unfortunately for us, these prejudices still exist, would to God they did not. But this is what makes her magnum opus so true to the people and eras it depicts. Their short comings are ours as well.
Now to the difficulties...why there are so many simple spelling errors throughout the book I have no idea! There is no explanation I can think of that makes any sense. Every page practically some simple little word spelled wrong. Did she have an editor at all or did they simply balk at its size and hand it to the printer warts and all!
A word about slurs/racism/political and religious prejudices of all kinds which populate her world. Uncomfortable and shocking though this aspect is to the reader, she pulls no punches in letting her characters speak as they would. Unfortunately for us, these prejudices still exist, would to God they did not. But this is what makes her magnum opus so true to the people and eras it depicts. Their short comings are ours as well.
July 19, 2008
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. What I loved best was the passing of time in the characters' lives. We follow them from the time they are young women, on through adulthood and to their deaths. Mom recommended this book to me. I read this book ONLY on my lunch breaks as part of a bet because it was so long, one of my co-workers didn't believe I could finish it in a certain time period and only in 1 hour/work day. I won, he had to buy me a Coke or something like that.
July 23, 2009
This is a monstrously huge book. The standard paperback runs to over 1700 pages. I read the trade paperback which is a much larger page but with tiny print which got this one down to 1173 pages. There are several things I have to say about this book;
#1 Mrs Santmyer desperately needed a good editor. Not only was the book full of typos, it was just too long. Someone needed to step in and do some ruthless cutting.
#2 There was really not a story arc. While there was a primary and secondary set of characters, the book covered the lives of many people with their normal tragedies and triumphs, but not really one core story and certainly no climax or resolution.
#3 I have been struggling to come to grips with what this book was about. The author said it was about politics. Certainly there was a lot about politics in it. A very one-sided view of Presidential politics from the 1860's to the 1930's, but even that was not delved into very thoroughly. I would not even put it in the category of historical fiction because it touched so lightly on very important historical periods. World War I for instance only gets about one chapter, and the Great Depression is also skimmed over. The title and the beginning chapters would lead the reader to think it is a book about a book club or literary society (as it was called in those days.) However, it was not really about that either. The Waynesborough Womens Club was just the common thread that tied all the characters together. The next thought is that it is one of those long sagas about two families over several generations, which it is but still that is not enough in itself. In going over in my mind from the beginning to the end what stood out, I came to realize that this is a book about death. I have no desire to go through and count but there are at least 20 to 30 deaths. The rest seems to be just filler between the deaths.
It was at least 300 pages before I began to care very much about the characters and even after that I could have put it down and walked away without regret. I finished this too long book because it was chosen as the summer read by the book group I joined about a year ago. They like a long book for summer.
#1 Mrs Santmyer desperately needed a good editor. Not only was the book full of typos, it was just too long. Someone needed to step in and do some ruthless cutting.
#2 There was really not a story arc. While there was a primary and secondary set of characters, the book covered the lives of many people with their normal tragedies and triumphs, but not really one core story and certainly no climax or resolution.
#3 I have been struggling to come to grips with what this book was about. The author said it was about politics. Certainly there was a lot about politics in it. A very one-sided view of Presidential politics from the 1860's to the 1930's, but even that was not delved into very thoroughly. I would not even put it in the category of historical fiction because it touched so lightly on very important historical periods. World War I for instance only gets about one chapter, and the Great Depression is also skimmed over. The title and the beginning chapters would lead the reader to think it is a book about a book club or literary society (as it was called in those days.) However, it was not really about that either. The Waynesborough Womens Club was just the common thread that tied all the characters together. The next thought is that it is one of those long sagas about two families over several generations, which it is but still that is not enough in itself. In going over in my mind from the beginning to the end what stood out, I came to realize that this is a book about death. I have no desire to go through and count but there are at least 20 to 30 deaths. The rest seems to be just filler between the deaths.
It was at least 300 pages before I began to care very much about the characters and even after that I could have put it down and walked away without regret. I finished this too long book because it was chosen as the summer read by the book group I joined about a year ago. They like a long book for summer.
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September 25, 2007Growing up only a few counties from the southwestern Ohio setting of this story added to my interest. I would love this book no matter where I was from. It's usually packaged to look like a romantic novel and there is an element of that, but this is a meticulously researched historical novel. The people and relationships are so realistic that it's a satisfying read for anyone. You'll laugh, you'll cry. Run, don't walk, to get a copy of this book.
Suggestion: Twice now, I've read Gone With the Wind, and immediately after finishing it, picked up Ladies. Wind covers 1861-1873, Ladies 1868-1932. Great double feature.
Suggestion: Twice now, I've read Gone With the Wind, and immediately after finishing it, picked up Ladies. Wind covers 1861-1873, Ladies 1868-1932. Great double feature.
December 24, 2011
This epic spans the years immediately after the end of the Civil War to just before the meltdown of the Depression. Three generations of women and their families make up the cast. I am relieved to have not lived in this little town. There are many characters, but only one decent human being in the bunch, Anne Cochran Gordon. The others are self-serving, bitter, racist, anything (but WASP) haters. At least one woman intentionally spread hateful gossip that led to a decent marriage falling apart. The conservative slant is so steep, one could worry about these folks sliding off the pages. As noted before, I read the book when it was published in the early 80s. The second read was disastrously unsatisfying. Plus I think I got tendonitis from holding this heavy 1200 pages for three weeks.
April 13, 2008
Okay - this is a gem!!! Read it for the first time at 18 yrs. of age, re-read every couple of years since.
Each time I like it for different reasons as the novel takes you through a few generations of families in the 1800's.
The women are really really well developed - not just the main character - ALL of them.
Enjoy!
Each time I like it for different reasons as the novel takes you through a few generations of families in the 1800's.
The women are really really well developed - not just the main character - ALL of them.
Enjoy!
November 15, 2015
Reminds one of Jane Austen in its comedy of manners style. Perfect picture of post-Civil War generations in the life of a small Ohio town and the changes of lifestyle and class divisions that ensue. I was sucked slowly into the lives of the two main families and the "ladies of the club". Worthwhile read.
April 10, 2022
Took me over a year to read but worth it. An excellent saga that shows the ups and downs of fairly normal people’s lives in Ohio from the 1880s to 1930. I only wish I had kept a family tree as I was reading because sometimes it was hard keeping track of all the characters over the generations.
September 13, 2020
This 5 star rating seems silly...the stars are for books, but this wasn't a book at all. I opened the front cover and fell into a portal to Waynesboro, OH in 1868. After I was sucked into this portal, I spent 60 years in Anne Gordan's parlor as a member of the Waynesboro Women's Club, and I had the privilege to share her life...her joys and sorrows along with the day to day task of just living. Through Anne, I learned how to see the magic in every day life and live life to the fullest, even while learning to cope with grace and still maintain a happy outlook when the universe really throws it all at you.
When I emerged from this portal ~2 weeks later, I was shocked to find I wasn't an 80-year-old woman who had just lived her entire life. It was a bittersweet moment - my life with Anne and Sally had ended and I grieved their loss at the end of this book like I would have life-long friends. But then I realized I had the rest of my own life to live, which has been made better for having this two amazing ladies and their family and friends a part of it. Thank you, ladies, for allowing me to be a member of your prestigious club. I am a better person for it.
If you can't tell, I LOVED this book. Like, this is an all-time favoritest book ever, and I will 100% be re-reading this. It is quite the hefty read, at ~1200 very large pages with very tiny print, but I didn't skip a word and wanted 1200 more pages when I had finished.
This absolutely beautiful historical fiction paints a wonderful picture of the daily life of two women and their families, and we get to share weddings and babies and politics and wars and grief and loss and overall friendship, love, and life with them. This portal is a glimpse into the daily existence of these women, and somehow it is never once boring.
I laughed and cried and experienced immense joy and overwhelming grief in my journey through this book. In essence, I lived several lives over the course of the two weeks it took me to read this, and it is not an exaggeration to say this book provided me with so many life experiences, I was not the same person at the end.
When I emerged from this portal ~2 weeks later, I was shocked to find I wasn't an 80-year-old woman who had just lived her entire life. It was a bittersweet moment - my life with Anne and Sally had ended and I grieved their loss at the end of this book like I would have life-long friends. But then I realized I had the rest of my own life to live, which has been made better for having this two amazing ladies and their family and friends a part of it. Thank you, ladies, for allowing me to be a member of your prestigious club. I am a better person for it.
If you can't tell, I LOVED this book. Like, this is an all-time favoritest book ever, and I will 100% be re-reading this. It is quite the hefty read, at ~1200 very large pages with very tiny print, but I didn't skip a word and wanted 1200 more pages when I had finished.
This absolutely beautiful historical fiction paints a wonderful picture of the daily life of two women and their families, and we get to share weddings and babies and politics and wars and grief and loss and overall friendship, love, and life with them. This portal is a glimpse into the daily existence of these women, and somehow it is never once boring.
I laughed and cried and experienced immense joy and overwhelming grief in my journey through this book. In essence, I lived several lives over the course of the two weeks it took me to read this, and it is not an exaggeration to say this book provided me with so many life experiences, I was not the same person at the end.
July 1, 2013
Follows two ladies--and one in particular--who start a book club and lending library in their fictional Ohio town not long after the end of the Civil War. Follows them, their families, friends, loves, and losses--and their politics--into the next century. Being real historical fiction, its characters don't see the world just like we do. Their heads are filled up with worries and concerns like ours are, but their assumptions about life, love, and the way things are, are just a little different. The book reads like she has experienced life lived the way she wrote about it. She was 88 years old when this book was published in '82. She had worked on it for fifty years. It wasn't the only thing she wrote, but it made her famous late in life. She wasn't an amateur; she had been a professor of English and later a dean of women and chair of an English department. I think I read that she was the granddaughter of a woman of the age she was writing about, and that the grandmother was a source of information--unless I'm confusing the action in the book with the writer's life. At any rate, this is a big, panoramic book and I loved it. Just watch out for a little initial slowness as the then very young ladies talk about starting their library.
I think I read it in the late '80s.
I think I read it in the late '80s.
January 1, 2015
It took me 5 and a half months of inconsistent reading, but finally, I finished And Ladies of the Club! And it was worth it.
All along, while I struggled to get through the pages, and frequently fell asleep after just a few, I *liked* the story. I liked the characters, and I liked the insight that the book gave me to the timelessness of women's relationships with each other. I recognized some of my friends and frienemies in these characters.
The women in the book were united at first only by their education, and their interest in joining together to form a club to learn about books and authors. Over the course of their lifetimes, members of the club come and go. Not everyone is a best friend. Some members of the club are just that - no greater relationship is ever formed. Some members are hard to get along with. Through it all, they stay together, more or less, and accomplish great things for their little town.
While I can't say that I will rush right back in an re-read this book, I could definitely see myself picking it back up and starting over 10 years down the road.
All along, while I struggled to get through the pages, and frequently fell asleep after just a few, I *liked* the story. I liked the characters, and I liked the insight that the book gave me to the timelessness of women's relationships with each other. I recognized some of my friends and frienemies in these characters.
The women in the book were united at first only by their education, and their interest in joining together to form a club to learn about books and authors. Over the course of their lifetimes, members of the club come and go. Not everyone is a best friend. Some members of the club are just that - no greater relationship is ever formed. Some members are hard to get along with. Through it all, they stay together, more or less, and accomplish great things for their little town.
While I can't say that I will rush right back in an re-read this book, I could definitely see myself picking it back up and starting over 10 years down the road.
December 15, 2021
At first, I didn't think I would rate the book this high. It took me almost 6 months to finish. Just a story about a small town in Ohio from 1968 to 1932. The book began with the founding of a lady's book club and ended with the death of the last of the original members. Imagine a book club lasting that long. Then it got more interesting as it spanned many of the Presidential elections and their consequences. It covered the flooding of the town, members that fought in the war with Spain and WWI. Also, the deaths and births of members of the families of the town. It is a story of epic proportions of life in a small town in the US, a town like many of us have lived in. Glad I read it.
January 13, 2024
Great historical read about the 1860's to the 1930's. It takes a while to get through, but I fell in love with the characters and felt lost when it was over. Isn't that what makes a great read?
August 11, 2010
I finished reading the book this afternoon. What a totally satisfying read, both for the story and for the writing. I love English well spoken and these characters are set in a time when it was. By the time I got to page 1000 I was beginning to wish I wasn't so close to the end. Ironic when you think there were over 400 pages left and lots of the books I read don't have that many to begin with. But by then I was deeply involved in the story and cared about the main character, Anne.
The story covers 1868 to1932 and manages the time span quite well. There was only one jump of two years that threw me off a little. I had to go back and re-read it to see what exactly had happened, but that's more a fault of my wandering mind than the story.
There are many families in the story and toward the end I wasn't able to keep up with who married who and all their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I see that as a positive in this story. Anne's life was the core of the book and as she aged her world became more and more narrow while all that living went on around her. I think the author was ingenious in allowing the reader to share some of the isolation and confusion the main character was experiencing as her own life wound down.
Throughout the book there is seamless transitioning from one character, household and workplace to another. With so many characters it can't be easy to develop each one in a way that you feel you know enough about them. Santmyer has the enviable skill of leading you through their lives without even realizing you've moved on from one to another. By the time you wonder what's happening with someone, you're back into their lives and catching up.
American politics was a continuing background story in the book. I confess there were times when I skipped through a paragraph or two simply because I'm not an American and have no great interest in their political history. Having said that though, I have to say also that the political story is at times an integral part of the bigger story and in no way interfered with my enjoyment of it.
As I said in an earlier post, the Ladies Club is a literary club. I found their meetings fascinating just because they are so totally different than the meetings of the Book Club I belong to. Their club demanded far more from their members than mine does. To be assigned a topic and required to stand up and present an essay on it would send most of us running. We choose books and though one person is assigned to lead the discussion, it is usually just a matter of telling a bit about the author and preparing questions to get the others talking. With over 60 years "in" the Ladies' Club however, I'm now intrigued with the idea of doing more. Maybe we should stretch ourselves a little and try something new.
I acquired a little knowledge about the Temperance Crusade from this book. I wasn't very familiar with how it affected ordinary people or how churches were involved. It was interesting to see how it fit into the lives of the characters and how important it was to some and how trivial to others.
Religion was at least a part of most people's lives in the time period the book covers, but as always, there was a wide variety of beliefs. Some characters were Christians, others called themselves Christians because they believed in God, and others wanted nothing to do with any of it. Many characters prayed and attended church, and yet were class conscious, with firm ideas about who was acceptable and who wasn't. Parents were appalled when their children chose spouses considered below them. Social occasions were for the acceptable classes only. As in many stories, Christianity is treated lightly and inaccurately. There would be no room for class consciousness or judgementalism in true Christianity, for Christians are instructed to consider others better than themselves, and invite to their dinners those who can't repay. I hear much about the decline of the church in this 21st century, but I see more acceptance of all people in today's believers than I read about in history.
When I came to the end of the book, I was satisfied. I had expected to feel badly about leaving all those people behind, but the story ended perfectly, not in the middle of a life, but at the close of it, leaving no wondering how things would work out if the story continued.
I will recommend this book to all the avid readers I know. I have one request to borrow it already. For anyone who's looking for a great read, absorbing and entertaining, this is it. I'm looking forward to reading the author's other novels.
The story covers 1868 to1932 and manages the time span quite well. There was only one jump of two years that threw me off a little. I had to go back and re-read it to see what exactly had happened, but that's more a fault of my wandering mind than the story.
There are many families in the story and toward the end I wasn't able to keep up with who married who and all their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I see that as a positive in this story. Anne's life was the core of the book and as she aged her world became more and more narrow while all that living went on around her. I think the author was ingenious in allowing the reader to share some of the isolation and confusion the main character was experiencing as her own life wound down.
Throughout the book there is seamless transitioning from one character, household and workplace to another. With so many characters it can't be easy to develop each one in a way that you feel you know enough about them. Santmyer has the enviable skill of leading you through their lives without even realizing you've moved on from one to another. By the time you wonder what's happening with someone, you're back into their lives and catching up.
American politics was a continuing background story in the book. I confess there were times when I skipped through a paragraph or two simply because I'm not an American and have no great interest in their political history. Having said that though, I have to say also that the political story is at times an integral part of the bigger story and in no way interfered with my enjoyment of it.
As I said in an earlier post, the Ladies Club is a literary club. I found their meetings fascinating just because they are so totally different than the meetings of the Book Club I belong to. Their club demanded far more from their members than mine does. To be assigned a topic and required to stand up and present an essay on it would send most of us running. We choose books and though one person is assigned to lead the discussion, it is usually just a matter of telling a bit about the author and preparing questions to get the others talking. With over 60 years "in" the Ladies' Club however, I'm now intrigued with the idea of doing more. Maybe we should stretch ourselves a little and try something new.
I acquired a little knowledge about the Temperance Crusade from this book. I wasn't very familiar with how it affected ordinary people or how churches were involved. It was interesting to see how it fit into the lives of the characters and how important it was to some and how trivial to others.
Religion was at least a part of most people's lives in the time period the book covers, but as always, there was a wide variety of beliefs. Some characters were Christians, others called themselves Christians because they believed in God, and others wanted nothing to do with any of it. Many characters prayed and attended church, and yet were class conscious, with firm ideas about who was acceptable and who wasn't. Parents were appalled when their children chose spouses considered below them. Social occasions were for the acceptable classes only. As in many stories, Christianity is treated lightly and inaccurately. There would be no room for class consciousness or judgementalism in true Christianity, for Christians are instructed to consider others better than themselves, and invite to their dinners those who can't repay. I hear much about the decline of the church in this 21st century, but I see more acceptance of all people in today's believers than I read about in history.
When I came to the end of the book, I was satisfied. I had expected to feel badly about leaving all those people behind, but the story ended perfectly, not in the middle of a life, but at the close of it, leaving no wondering how things would work out if the story continued.
I will recommend this book to all the avid readers I know. I have one request to borrow it already. For anyone who's looking for a great read, absorbing and entertaining, this is it. I'm looking forward to reading the author's other novels.
March 8, 2011
This sweeping saga not only entertains, but educates. I was sadly lacking in my knowledge of the post-civil war era, but after reading this book, I can no longer claim that.
The focus of the book on two main characters, their descendants, their friends, and their town provides a picture that is both intimate and broad. Basing the story in Ohio when most of the elected leaders hailed from that state gave national significance to the lives of the characters.
I was rather disappointed by the second half of the book. It just seemed very depressing and sad for quite a while there. I was also tempted to quit reading it, but fortunately, I did not. The last hundred pages or so really redeemed the second half. The amount of death and destruction in the second half was really just a realistic amount that I am not used to seeing in fiction, especially chick-lit!
I believe I caught a glimpse of the author, both in the main character, Anne, and in the young novelist, Tess Stevens. As the author wrote this book over a period of 50 years, Anne's meditations on growing old probably reflected Santmeyer's own feelings about her aging process. Tess notes that she wants to begin writing a sweeping saga in 1930...which is probably about when Helen began writing "...And Ladies of the Club." It would be gratifying to know more about the history of the author and find correlations between her real life experiences and that of her characters. Unfortunately, I have found little information about her thus far.
Ultimately, it was enjoyable to spend a month in Santmeyer's world.
The focus of the book on two main characters, their descendants, their friends, and their town provides a picture that is both intimate and broad. Basing the story in Ohio when most of the elected leaders hailed from that state gave national significance to the lives of the characters.
I was rather disappointed by the second half of the book. It just seemed very depressing and sad for quite a while there. I was also tempted to quit reading it, but fortunately, I did not. The last hundred pages or so really redeemed the second half. The amount of death and destruction in the second half was really just a realistic amount that I am not used to seeing in fiction, especially chick-lit!
I believe I caught a glimpse of the author, both in the main character, Anne, and in the young novelist, Tess Stevens. As the author wrote this book over a period of 50 years, Anne's meditations on growing old probably reflected Santmeyer's own feelings about her aging process. Tess notes that she wants to begin writing a sweeping saga in 1930...which is probably about when Helen began writing "...And Ladies of the Club." It would be gratifying to know more about the history of the author and find correlations between her real life experiences and that of her characters. Unfortunately, I have found little information about her thus far.
Ultimately, it was enjoyable to spend a month in Santmeyer's world.
June 7, 2011
Santmyer's grasp of the human condition is glorified by the lovely way she writes. Putting together a saga like this is difficult, considering how many different characters she stops to visit on the way. The personal triumphs and tragedies of the characters, particularly Anne Gordon who is the closest thing to a protagonist in this story, are interwoven with a political commentary that spans from the end of the Civil War into the twentieth century. Santmyer introduces those elements so gently that the reader is educated without their knowledge. Simply a gorgeous, once in a lifetime book. There is an occasional wandering aside in the narrative, which is understandable considering that the manuscript was presented to the original publisher in a pile of handwritten manuscripts composed over the course of decades. Like Margaret Mitchell, Santmyer didn't write her masterpiece consecutively. But that's the only 'fault' I can find and I'm not even sure it is one. You read every word because you just don't want to miss anything. Would have had a five star rating if I could be certain that the modern reader, now accustomed to the ease of electronic reading technology, could appreciate this masterpiece as much now. Call it a four and three quarters.
December 16, 2015
I really enjoyed this book despite it being long, with big pages and small print. I appreciated the passage through time with the changes in politics, fashion, and technology. I also enjoyed the variety of characters and their relationships. My favorite character was Anne. She experienced so much tragedy in her life, but managed to live life with a good attitude. I also liked the Rausches, Sally and Ludwig, who seemed to work well together as a couple. I especially liked the political side of Ludwig, and the way he cared about those who worked for him. The considerable interaction between couples, family members, friends, and associates was realistic. They didn't always get along, and the various temperaments kept the story interesting. Most of all I enjoyed the women's club, and the ability of those women to keep it going all those years.
April 13, 2008
My mother had this fat book (more than 1,000 pages) on her shelf for years, so I grabbed it when I was at a second-hand book sale with a $2 bag I needed to fill in 15 minutes.
So far, it's been well worth the 50 cents or so I spent on the book. It's about a group of ladies who create a Women's Club right after the Civil War, and Helen Hoover Santmyer does a great job recreating the era and imagining the relationships among these women. I'm glad that I have another 700 pages that I get to spend with these women -- I'll let you know my rating when I finish the book.
O.K. -- I'm finally done. I was sad to leave the ladies behind, but the typos and editing errors were driving me crazy! Former copy editors should read this book with caution.
So far, it's been well worth the 50 cents or so I spent on the book. It's about a group of ladies who create a Women's Club right after the Civil War, and Helen Hoover Santmyer does a great job recreating the era and imagining the relationships among these women. I'm glad that I have another 700 pages that I get to spend with these women -- I'll let you know my rating when I finish the book.
O.K. -- I'm finally done. I was sad to leave the ladies behind, but the typos and editing errors were driving me crazy! Former copy editors should read this book with caution.
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