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A Traveling "Tradwife" & US Women's History
Donna Everhart, Michelle Collins Anderson, Juhea Kim, Caro Claire Burke, and more ...
Book Club News: April Issue
Hello Book Clubbers,
This month, our book club members talk about two novels featuring lesser-known parts of US women’s history: Donna Everhart’s Women of a Promiscuous Nature, based on the American Plan’s mass incarceration of women in the first half of the 20th century, and Michelle Collins Anderson’s The Moonshine Women, which looks at women in the moonshine business during Prohibition.
Our featured paperback, Juhea Kim’s City of Night Birds, follows a dancer through the contemporary, competitive world of ballet.
We also have an interview with author Caro Claire Burke, whose debut Yesteryear, about a “tradwife” influencer, takes on modern societal issues with a (possible time-traveling) twist.
Plus, be sure to check out all our latest and upcoming discussions and Ask the Author guests!
Thanks for reading,
The BookBrowse Team
Book Club Survey
It’s time for our annual book club survey! We use this survey to inform our readers of the most popular book club books for discussion as well as to improve the book club section of BookBrowse. Click below to get started.
As our way of saying thank you for your participation, we’ll give you access to our Book Club Discussion Prep template, great for facilitators and anyone who would like to better gather their thoughts prior to a book club discussion.
Book Club Discussions
Discussions are open to all! If you’d like to participate, you can do so by creating an account here. Please note that discussions can contain spoilers.
Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart
From the Jacket Girl, Interrupted meets The Handmaid's Tale in 1940s North Carolina, as a young woman is accused of "promiscuity" and unjustly incarcerated at The State Industrial Farm Colony for Women… Based on the long-buried history of the American Plan, this powerful and shockingly timely story of resistance and resilience exposes the real government program designed to regulate women's bodies and sexuality throughout the first half of the 20th century. |  |
From the Discussion
“I found myself so angry at times I had to talk to my husband about it. I was incredibly drawn to the characters and as someone who grew up in eastern NC, I never heard any history about this place. I went down the research rabbit hole as well!” —Alison_W
“I was so grateful to read this story. I couldn’t put it down, much as I had to stop several times to catch my breath.” —Beth_M
See what people are saying in response to this question: The novel is about the mass incarceration of women suspected of promiscuous, immoral, or lewd behavior. Were you aware of this history? Are there other similar instances of mass incarcerations in the US that you know of?
The Moonshine Women by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the Jacket In the Prohibition era Missouri Ozarks, three sisters take over their father's moonshine business in an evocative story of reinvention, sisterhood, and the alchemy of love for readers of Jeannette Walls, Fannie Flagg, Sue Monk Kidd, and Donna Everhart. From the Discussion “I wasn’t prepared to get completely invested and love it so much, but that indeed is what happened. The writing was beautiful with vivid imagery, and the storytelling evoked so many emotions.” —Emily_Bahhar |  |
“I’ve spent many days roaming the bathhouses and hotels in Hot Springs and felt right at home with Shine and Rebecca down there. It is a fascinating place to visit…I have recommended this book to my club which is composed of men and women ‘of a certain age’ who will feel as connected as I did. There’s something for everyone in this one!” —Susan_S
See what people are saying in response to this question: There are many motherless daughters in The Moonshine Women. How do the women mother each other? How do sisterhood and female friendship become even more important when our mother figures are unavailable or gone?
Featured Paperback
Stay on top of paperback releases for your book club with our Recent Paperbacks section, and discover additional content for featured titles, including reviews, “beyond the book” articles, and discussion questions. Below is just one new paperback we recommend.
City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim
City of Night Birds opens in the present day with a flight to St. Petersburg—a homecoming for world-famous ballerina Natalia (also called Natasha) Leonova. Ever since an accident stalled her career two years previously, the once preternaturally talented and ambitious Natalia now spends her time numbing her pain with pills and alcohol, imagining that her days of dancing are behind her. When she lands in her old hometown, however, she receives an invitation to return to the stage as Giselle, her signature role—an offer so tempting that she accepts despite the fact that it comes from Dmitri, a peer she has cause to be wary of. |  |
As Natalia slowly reenters the cutthroat world of Russian ballet, the narrative stretches back to her childhood and complicated upbringing. … continued
Review by Rachel Hullett
An Interview with Caro Claire Burke
In addition to regular Ask the Author interviews in our community forum, BookBrowse offers supplemental content for readers and book clubs on our Author Interviews page.
Below is an interview with Caro Claire Burke about her recently released debut novel Yesteryear, featured in our 3/25 e-zine, which follows a “tradwife” influencer who wakes up one day having seemingly traveled back in time.
How did you become interested in the "tradwife" segment of social media? In the winter of 2024, I was a very burnt-out writer who had been writing fiction for years and needed to take a break. On a whim, I downloaded TikTok. I ended up becoming involved in conversations about feminism and media literacy as they pertained to the tradwife discourse, which incidentally entered the zeitgeist the same month I downloaded my account. |  |
In short order, I grew a following and become a major player in a large cultural conversation which spanned weeks and one morning in that period, I woke up with the full synopsis for a novel in my head. I even had the title. … continued
Discussions & Ask the Author Interviews
Discussions are open to all, so please join us! If you would like to receive a message when a particular discussion opens, you can sign up for a one-time notification. You can also find inspiration for your book club among our more than 200 past discussions. Currently, we’re discussing The Greek House by Dinah Jefferies, among other books. Starting April 16, we feature Aphrodite in Pieces by Lauren J. A. Bear. |  |
BookBrowse regularly hosts Ask the Author sessions in our community forum. We invite you to follow along and post your own questions in any future interviews that interest you. In the meantime, see our recent conversation with Nicola Solvinic, author of First Impressions selection The Sister’s Curse and BookBrowse Book Club pick The Hunter’s Daughter. |  |
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