ARC Review: The Wednesday Group ♥ by Sylvia True

The Wednesday Group
Sylvia True

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin;  (March 24, 2015)
• ISBN-13: 978-1250051882
• Genre: Literary Fiction
• Purchase: Amazon | B & N
• Source: Review Copy was sent via St. Martin's Griffin. Thank you Jessica.
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• Synopsis: Gail. Hannah. Bridget. Lizzy. Flavia. Each of them has a shameful secret, and each is about to find out that she is not alone. Gail, a prominent Boston judge, keeps receiving letters from her husband's latest girlfriend, while her husband, a theology professor, claims he's nine-months sober from sex with grad students. Hannah, a homemaker, catches her husband having sex with a male prostitute in a public restroom. Bridget, a psychiatric nurse at a state hospital, is sure she has a loving, doting spouse, until she learns that he is addicted to chat rooms and match-making websites. Lizzy, a teacher, is married to a porn addict. Flavia was working at the library when someone brought her an article that stated her husband had been arrested for groping a teenage girl on the subway. Finally, Kathryn, the young psychologist running the group, has as much at stake as all of the others. 

• The Wednesday Group is Sylvia True's first novel and she has done a brilliant job on it. This novel reminded me a lifetime movie - it consists of five, no six characters. Gail, Hannah, Bridget, Lizzy, and Flavia are the clients and Kathryn is the young psychologist. The clients are women who are all beautiful, and they're married to handsome men. Unfortunately, physical beauty cannot hide the ugliness of their lives. All of their husbands are diagnosed as sex addicts, now these women must learn to cope with that. I liked this book, it's a strong novel with a taboo subject.

•  Gail is a prominent Boston judge, and she's quite strict and formal. Hannah is a housewife, and she loves her husband and children. Bridget is a psychiatric nurse, Lizzy is a high school teacher, and Flavia works at the public library. My favorite character would have to be Bridget, she's brave and open minded. She's not afraid to be blunt and stand up for herself. I also liked Flavia, she's timid and soft-spoken. She's actually a foreigner. My least favorites would have to be Gail and Hannah. They're both quite judgmental, although Gail does show character growth by the end of the novel - Hannah not so much. It was hard keeping up with the five clients and their lives though, I believe three characters would be my limit to comprehend. Kathryn is the young psychologist who was running the group is a well-developed character as well - this is her first time at group therapy and she does a fine job at it. She was a minor story in the book as well with her mentor which I'm quite happy chappy about. I did like the female friendships in The Wednesday Group and how much they supported each other once they got to know each other.

• The inner psychologist in me loves the idea of the group therapy - I liked reading about all of these women's stories. My least likeable person was Hannah, but I could understand why she behaved in such a way. Her husband was caught with a male prostitute.. The other women and their lives can be changed around, but how can you change your husbands sexual preferences? I believe her story was the most saddest and difficult one out of the bunch. I would probably forgive Lizzy's husband but definitely not the others. Each of these women have a different style of dealing with their pain, it is a hard subject to tackle and the author does a really good job of explaining it. Sex addiction is barely heard of in novels, so it was interesting to read about a change. 

• Overall, it is a powerful novel about denial and betrayal. I liked that this novel focuses on the psychologist perspective of these women's lives, they're aren't that many explicit scenes. There is barely any romance in this novel, because it's a novel about self-discovery and coping with pain. This is a fascinating novel, although, the ending felt a bit incomplete and rushed. I would have liked a more revised ending. I would rate A Wednesday Group 3.5 butterflies.

Recommended for fans of Addicted To You, Clean, and A Million Little Pieces.

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    “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness.” —George R.R. Martin 
    
    
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