The Saturday Evening Girls Club
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Cassandra Campbell
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By:
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Jane Healey
About this listen
In Boston’s North End, four immigrant women leave childhood behind - but never one another.
For four young immigrant women living in Boston’s North End in the early 1900s, escaping tradition doesn’t come easy. But at least they have one another and the Saturday Evening Girls Club, a social pottery-making group offering respite from their hectic home lives - and hope for a better future.
Ambitious Caprice dreams of opening her own hat shop, which clashes with the expectations of her Sicilian-born parents. Brilliant Ada secretly takes college classes despite the disapproval of her Russian Jewish father. Stunning Maria could marry anyone yet guards her heart to avoid the fate of her Italian Catholic mother, broken down by an alcoholic husband. And shy Thea is torn between asserting herself and embracing an antiquated Jewish tradition.
The friends face family clashes and romantic entanglements, career struggles and cultural prejudice. But through their unfailing bond, forged through their weekly gathering, they’ll draw strength - and the courage to transform their immigrant stories into the American lives of their dreams.
©2017 Jane Healey (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Southern girl Minty Davenport always dreamed of skyscrapers, yellow cabs, and a life like Eloise's in New York City. So upon graduation from college, she bids adieu to Charleston and makes a beeline for the Big Apple. Almost instantly, she finds herself at an event being photographed for Women's Wear Daily, and her career as a New York society "It Girl" is launched.
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Not Very Original
- By Ken on 06-03-12
By: Tinsley Mortimer
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The Look of Love
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Jio
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
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Born during a Christmas blizzard, Jane Williams receives a rare gift: the ability to literally see true love. Jane has emerged from an ailing childhood a lonely, hopeless romantic when, on her 29th birthday, she receives a card from the midwife who delivered her. Jane must identify the six types of love before the full moon following her 30th birthday - or face grave consequences. When Jane falls for a science writer who doesn't believe in love, she fears that her fate is sealed.
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Highly recommend!!
- By Riley Pennington on 09-19-19
By: Sarah Jio
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Cloche and Dagger
- Hat Shop Mystery Series # 1
- By: Jenn McKinlay
- Narrated by: Karyn O'Bryant
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
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Not only is Scarlett Parker's love life in the loo - as her British cousin Vivian Tremont would say - it's also gone viral with an embarrassing video. So when Viv suggests Scarlett leave Florida to lay low in London, she hops on the next plane across the pond. Viv is the proprietor of Mims's Whims, a ladies' hat shop on Portobello Road bequeathed to both cousins by their beloved grandmother, and she wants Scarlett to finally join her in the millinery business. But a few surprises await Scarlett in London.
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Charming story. Disappointing ending.
- By happydisabledmom on 05-27-20
By: Jenn McKinlay
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Half a Lifelong Romance
- A Novel
- By: Eileen Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Manzhen is a young worker in a Shanghai factory where she meets Shijun, the son of wealthy merchants. Despite family complications, they fall in love and begin to dream of a shared life together - until circumstances force them apart. When they are reunited after many years, can they start their relationship again? Or is it destined to be the romance of only half a lifetime?
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super
- By Marcus Aurelius on 10-05-17
By: Eileen Chang
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Lies and Other Acts of Love
- By: Kristy Woodson Harvey
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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After 60 years of marriage and five daughters, Lynn "Lovey" White knows that all of us, from time to time, need to use our little white lies. Her granddaughter Annabelle, on the other hand, is as truthful as they come. She always does the right thing - that is until she dumps her hedge fund manager fiance and marries a musician she has known for three days. After all, her grandparents fell in love at first sight....
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One big giant cheese ball
- By Book.Lover 1350 on 06-16-19
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The Gown
- A Novel of the Royal Wedding
- By: Jennifer Robson
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
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From the internationally best-selling author of Somewhere in France comes an enthralling historical novel about one of the most famous wedding dresses of the 20th century - Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown - and the fascinating women who made it.
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Such a disappointment...
- By Cynthia in NoCO on 05-12-19
By: Jennifer Robson
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The Atomic City Girls
- A Novel
- By: Janet Beard
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
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In November 1944, 18-year-old June Walker boards an unmarked bus, destined for a city that doesn't officially exist. Oak Ridge, Tennessee has sprung up in a matter of months - a town of trailers and segregated houses, 24-hour cafeterias, and constant security checks. There, June joins hundreds of other young girls operating massive machines whose purpose is never explained. They know they are helping to win the war, but must ask no questions and reveal nothing to outsiders.
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disappointing
- By Justinmud on 07-07-18
By: Janet Beard
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Grand Central
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On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City's Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
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Grand Central: Memories
- By ZacharyKindle Customer on 05-03-17
By: Melanie Benjamin, and others
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An Orphan’s War
- By: Molly Green
- Narrated by: Julie Masey
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Liverpool, 1940. When her childhood sweetheart, Johnny, is killed in action, Maxine Grey loses more than her husband - she loses her best friend. Desperate to make a difference in this awful war, Maxine takes a nursing job at London’s St Thomas’ hospital. She takes comfort in the attentions of a handsome surgeon, but Edwin Blake isn’t all he seems. And as the Blitz descends on the capital, Maxine faces more heartache. When she returns to Liverpool, she harbours a secret.
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An Orphan's War by Molly Green
- By customers coins on 05-04-19
By: Molly Green
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Winter’s Awakening
- Seasons of Sugarcreek, Book One
- By: Shelley Shepard Gray
- Narrated by: Robynn Rodriguez
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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In the small Amish town of Sugarcreek, Ohio, Joshua knows what’s expected of him: to work at the family store and to finally marry Gretta, whom he’s courted for years. But when a new English family moves in next door—and their teenage daughter catches his eye—Joshua wonders if his future plans are set too firmly in stone.
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Boring and annoying
- By WeRLoved on 09-19-21
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The Girls at the Kingfisher Club
- By: Genevieve Valentine
- Narrated by: Susie Berneis
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Jo, the firstborn, The General to her 11 sisters, is the only thing the Hamilton girls have in place of a mother. She is the one who taught them how to dance, the one who gives the signal each night, as they slip out of their father's townhouse and into cabs that will take them to the speakeasy. Together they elude their controlling father. Meanwhile, they continue to dance, until one night when they are caught in a raid, separated, and Jo is thrust face-to-face with someone from her past: a bootlegger named Tom whom she hasn't seen in almost 10 years.
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Poor narration choice
- By K B on 01-13-15
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Hopeful
- Return to Sugarcreek, Book One
- By: Shelley Shepard Gray
- Narrated by: Robynn Rodriguez
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
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In the Amish town of Sugarcreek, love comes in many forms. But will it come at all for Miriam? Miriam Zehr has worked at the Sugarcreek Inn longer than she cares to admit. The restaurant is a favorite of town residents as well as the many tourists who come to taste the famous Amish fare. Though she always tries to have a smile for every customer, deep down Miriam knows something's missing: a family of her own. Miriam has never felt particularly beautiful, especially because she's always been a bit heavier than other girls her age.
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Hopeful
- By Susan Fryman on 03-02-14
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The story has too much child abuse discription
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What listeners say about The Saturday Evening Girls Club
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- LSuzieClark
- 04-24-19
Great Story & Performance
I enjoyed this very much. Some of it was predictable, but it was still a great story. The performance brought the story to life. Recommend this as a coming of age story.
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- Pamfaulkmd
- 01-31-19
Not my style
If you prefer John Grisham, David Baldacci, and James Lee Burke, this is not your book. This is a story of immigrant girls from a variety of backgrounds growing up together. It has everything a young girl of the past might want in a story. The struggles with family, belonging, being female, and finding love are all there, I am just not interested. However, I finished it and that says something. I listened and read the Kindle version alternately. I found I liked reading it better, but if you read you have to sit still and if you listen, you can walk, drive, or clean house. It wasn't badly written, but I can't imagine it becoming a classic. I would never have chosen it myself. It was a book club selection and I really wanted to attend the next book club meeting. I am female, 68, a former English teacher, twice-divorced, and definitely not a romantic. Keep that in mind when you decide whether or not to accept my verdict.
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- escoocoo
- 04-09-22
Absolutely Lovely!! 🥰
A delightfully sweet story about a small group of Italian/Jewish friends coming of age in the New World of America in the early 20th century. The narrator is fantastic (😍), and the whole thing just completely draws you in. Family, romance, independence and the pull of the old world ways vs. the new world. So well done, and highly recommended.
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- Trisha
- 01-26-18
awesome
enjoyed the story of the 4 girls and their challenges and their success in life. The narrator was fabulous.
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- Marie G.
- 08-15-24
A DELIGHTFUL COMING OF AGE STORY OF FOUR CLOSE FRIENDS…
I enjoyed this book so much! I can’t say I loved it quite as much as I did “The Beantown Girls,” also by Jane Healey (that book surprised me), but I enjoyed this story enough to listen to it twice.
The story is set in the early 1900’s at a time when women had so few rights and opportunities. There are four girls featured in the story; two are immigrant Italian and two are Jewish. From their early teens, they have belonged to a group known as the Saturday Evening Girls Club. It’s a a group in which the girls meet and is directed by two strong, savvy businesswomen who love all 40 members of the group and guide them as they grow from young girls into womanhood.
The four girls featured in the story develop a bond so tight that they are more like sisters than friends. They are there for each other for EVERYTHING — death, bad relationships, sudden job loss, prejudice in the community against immigrants and even a form of prejudice at home where girls are viewed as “less” than boys.
One girl has a burning desire to attend college and to become a doctor. Her mother helps her to sign up for college courses in secret and the mother and friends keep her secret so the girl can work towards her dream without the father finding out because in his view is, “education is wasted on women.”
Another of the girls is a very talented hat maker. She longs to open a hat shop of her own. Her father thinks it’s a ridiculous thing for a girl to want her own business (“women should be at home having babies”)! He regularly invites Sicilian boys home for dessert after Sunday dinner (“forgetting” to mention to the daughter someone is coming) in an effort to match her up with a “nice Sicilian boy.”
Another of the girls is matched by a matchmaker to get married to a young man, who at the time of her engagement, she had only met once. In her parents’ day, this was common practice, but it wasn’t the dream of “modern American” girls. Initially, the girl is terrified, but her friends get her through it.
The last girl’s father was an alcoholic who had gambling debts and owed some very bad people money. The son of one of the men the father owed took an interest in the girl. She was trapped in a relationship she didn’t want with a man she could barely tolerate. But, over time, she came to see this hateful, bigoted, controlling (but very rich) man as her and her family’s ticket out of poverty.
Her friends knew this man would be a disaster for her. They did everything they could think of to change her mind right up until her wedding day. Tensions and angry feelings ran high and fractured the friendships in many ways.
Through all of this, the girls thought about how they had gone from girlhood to womanhood together and how the marriage of the first girl would change the dynamics of the group forever. They were all delighted for the first girl getting married, and yet sad, all realizing how their childhood was over and for the ways their group dynamics were changing so quickly.
There are elements of their story that I believe all women will relate to — the struggle as we change from girls to women to answer the questions in life about what we want our future lives to be — do we want a career, a husband, children, all of one, none of the other, some combination of the two, and the roadblocks we hit as we go on our journey. If we are very lucky, we have dear friends like the ones in this story we can count on while finding our way.
The narrator, Cassandra Campbell is one of my favorites. She did another fantastic job here. She does a terrific job with both Italian and Jewish accents for the parents who came from the old country. I find her voice to be very pleasing.
This book is an easy, pleasant read. If you read this book and like it, I highly recommend that you also try “The Beantown Girls,” by this same author.
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- annieoakley
- 11-21-17
Beautifully told story!
The narration for this story is incredibly well done. It is a very good story about women learning about who they are and figuring out how to go after what they want.
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- Nita
- 07-09-17
Absolutely Wonderful!
I love this beautiful story! Four friends struggling to do things different! Beautiful! Excellent performance!
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- pam
- 09-01-19
Lovely story with a peek into the past
I love the story of friendship between four girls.I enjoyed the peek into what life was like in early 1900s America for women
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- Daniel Rife
- 03-10-21
delightful
just a delightful story to remind you of your own sweet friendships. and beautifully performed.
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- C. Lipinski
- 04-01-21
A sweet story
This book was slow the first half. However as the story came together it was worth waiting for. Keep reading
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