In 1950 Washington, DC, at an all-female boardinghouse called Briarwood, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, drawing her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship, but when a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the women must expose the true enemy in their midst. - (Baker & Taylor)

“Quinn evocatively balances the outward cheerfulness of the 1950s with historical observations exploring racism, misogyny, homophobia and political persecution in this sharply drawn, gripping novel.” - People Magazine

The New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye and The Rose Code returns with a haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse during the McCarthy era.

Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss, whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; policeman’s daughter Nora, who finds herself entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Beatrice, whose career has come to an end along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.

Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: who is the true enemy in their midst?

Capturing the paranoia of the McCarthy era and evoking the changing roles for women in postwar America, The Briar Club is an intimate and thrilling novel of secrets and loyalty put to the test.

A beautiful, foil cover, first edition.

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* Thanksgiving 1954. There's a dead body in Briarwood House in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood of Washington, DC. Then the story flashes back several years, when stingy landlady Mrs. Nilsson rents the fourth-floor room to widow Grace March. The other residents of Briarwood House don't have much to do with each other until Grace starts hosting illicit Thursday night dinners when Mrs. Nilsson is out at her weekly bridge game. As young mother Fliss, grumpy Hungarian Reka, career girl Nora, baseball-obsessed Bea, secretive Claire, and Commie-obsessed Arlene become friends (well, not so much harpish Arlene), a section of the novel is told from each woman's point of view, leading up to that fateful Thanksgiving. Quinn (The Phoenix Crown, 2024, with Janie Chang) excels at presenting a moment in each woman's full life as it abuts history (the Korean conflict, JFK proposing to Jackie) while she is dealing with romance, money woes, gender roles, and the sting of recent events. Soon it becomes clear that Grace has a secret, and when the reveal finally comes, it leads to a stunning climax. Compulsively readable, The Briar Club will find eager readers in those who love woman-led historical fiction with rich, appealing characters. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

Best seller Quinn (The Diamond Eye) sets her newest during the McCarthy era. The Briarwood House shelters the enigmatic widow Grace March, who moves into the attic and soon gathers a salon around her of fellow boarders. But all of the women have hurts, and none will escape the violence that enters the house—or the paranoia cloaking the country. Prepub Alert. Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Library Journal Reviews

Quinn's (The Diamond Eye) compelling story of women's friendships, set against the frightening days of McCarthyism, combines personal stories with real history. In 1954, a Thanksgiving gathering at a Washington, DC, women's boardinghouse is disrupted. The result is two dead bodies and 17 suspects. The boardinghouse residents and their guests worry about what the police will uncover, because Briarwood House has harbored secrets for at least four years. Mrs. Nilsson, the owner and landlady at Briarwood House, is disliked by all the residents. However, beginning in 1950, when a widow named Grace Marsh moves in, the atmosphere slowly changes. Every Thursday, when Mrs. Nilsson is out, Grace invites everyone to dinner in her tiny room. Residents include a Hungarian refugee, a cop's daughter who is dating the wrong man, and a secretary to a senator. The women all have a chance to talk about their past while still keeping secrets, but the lives they've made might come crashing down as friendships are tested by home invasion and murder. VERDICT This powerful, unforgettable historical mystery is for fans of Mary Anna Evans's Justine Byrne series and stories with strong women characters.—Lesa Holstine