Our book club won copies of The Promise Girls by Marie Bostwick from our planning website, Bookmovement. I enjoyed this story. Reading it felt like I was being wrapped in a warm, comfortable quilt and being fed my favorite comfort foods. The Promise Girls was a feel-good read that is heartfelt, uplifting, and filled with insightful observations and comic gems (“If people came into the world as teenagers, the world would be filled with nothing but only children….”). I would not recommend this book to readers who prefer serious literature, but I would recommend it to readers looking for classic women’s fiction/chick-lit that is better than average.

The novel focuses on the bonds of family and how they are not easily broken even in the face of tragedy and betrayal. The Promise Girls are three sisters who experience a difficult childhood but bond together to create fulfilling adult lives and ultimately learn the power of forgiveness and redemption. A central theme in the novel is choices and consequences. Minerva, the girls’ mother, states “of course, if I knew then what I know now, I would have done many things differently… but life isn’t like that. We make the choices we make, at the time we make them, and we have to live with them - and suffer the consequences.” I have felt like this on a number of occasions and I think discussing this idea with book club members would provide a deep and intimate conversation topic. One of the characters in the novel does get a “redo” in a sense. It is enlightening to see what she does with it and to contemplate what I would do with one.

Creative and artistic talent in various forms is also a central idea in this novel. Each sister has their own creative talent and their perspective on it. For example, middle sister Meg states “that inside every person there is an artist waiting to get out … comparison, competition, and perfectionism - the toxic trifecta that is certain to corrode and, in time, destroy one’s God-given, joy filled, natural desire to create.” As I have a number of artists in my book club, I thought this would be an interesting topic to explore and discuss. Another passage worthy of discussion is when younger sister Avery states “People want to believe in what’s magical. Even adults. But it’s easier with children… Kids have faith. That’s our natural mindset, the thing that makes poets pen verse and inventors invent. But somewhere along the way, most grown-ups default to doubt.”

Another topic worthy of exploration in this novel is being yourself. Many of the characters play a “role” in this story. Walt role-plays characters in historical reenactments, Avery takes on the persona of a mermaid, Joanie acts as everyone's mother, Minerva presents a public life story that differs from reality, and each of the Promise sisters plays an interesting but stereotypical birth order role. At one point, Avery indicates that it is easier to play a role than to be oneself. I think there are times when that is true and sometimes necessary. Those occasions and why/why not would make for a lively discussion as well.

So even while this book appears to be an easy, comfortable read, there are some deep themes here that are worthy of exploration and discussion. The careful, thoughtful reader of this book will be rewarded.