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cherjbb_55's review against another edition
4.0
I don't even know what to write about this book. I loved it. It is a book about a woman and her mother. It is a book about a bridge club. It is a book about relationships...the woman and her mother...the mother and her 'bridge' friends...the author and these older 'bridge' ladies. In our 'here today and gone tomorrow' society, are we building any long-lasting relationships? It's a lot to think about.
k5tog's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book. I enjoyed hearing learning a little about bridge. I liked reading about the early lives of the bridge ladies - all married in the 50s at fairly young ages. They were all intelligent and competent, but relegated to marriage and children, and how they coped with that life rather than perhaps the lives they might have lived in a later time period. I could relate to some of the things the author did growing up in the 70s. And, I liked the author's sometimes acerbic comments.
There were definitely mixed reactions in my book club, but often my gauge of how much I like a book is how often I pick it up just to read a few pages throughout the day. And I kept doing that with this one. Five minutes here or there. Not just waiting until the end of the day for my pre-sleep reading.
There were definitely mixed reactions in my book club, but often my gauge of how much I like a book is how often I pick it up just to read a few pages throughout the day. And I kept doing that with this one. Five minutes here or there. Not just waiting until the end of the day for my pre-sleep reading.
jinxy's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars. I really enjoyed this memoir; it was engaging and easy to relate to, even though our backgrounds are quite different. I really enjoyed learning about all the ladies and their lives.
are_see_em's review against another edition
3.0
The author was very judgmental and insufferable, which is a shame because the bridge ladies themselves were fascinating.
janp's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable, sometimes funny, sometimes sobering memoir of 5 Jewish women and their weekly bridge club of 50 years. Written by Betsy Lerner, a daughter of one member, who has had a conflicted relationship with her mother long into adulthood. Once she moved back to the same state and town as her mother, she forced herself to deal with the scars of her inner self. The members are now in their 80's and Betsy joins their bridge group, at first as an onlooker, and is stunned by the lack of intimacy among these women who not only played bridge together but socialized together as couples. For over a year she pursues this weekly game a well as individual interviews with the women about their youth, what they expected and what was expected of them in adulthood. Betsy also took up the game of bridge and took up a new therapist. Her main goal was to understand her mother and reconcile their differences. Through the game of bridge, Betsy learned a lot about herself and her failings. And it was a catalyst for finding common ground with her mother. Lerner writes honestly about herself and the women (sometimes brutally so, I think) but also with humor. It's a story about a woman who spent years in and out of therapy and was ready for maybe the biggest step and final hurdle in satisfying her inner child and her own self.
johannah's review against another edition
2.0
The story seems interesting, but the author tells it in a very disorganized fashion. I got tired of hopping around all over the place and put the book down.
I received this book through Goodreads First Reads.
I received this book through Goodreads First Reads.
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