Thursday 2 August 2012

 

Book review: The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March

My edition: Paperback, published in June 2012 by Simon & Schuster, 325 pages.

Description: When Lolly Weller unexpectedly summons her two nieces to come and stay with her and her daughter Kat at the pituresque Three Captains' Inn, no one is really sure what her 'secret announcement' will be.

But what Isabel, reeling from her husband's affair, her sister June, a single mother haunted by her past, and Kat, whose seemingly perfect life has reached a crossroads, don't realise is just how much the next few weeks will change all of their lives.

But not before they have fulfilled Lolly's wish; for them to all spend their final few Friday evenings together, sharing the joy and pain of the Meryl Streep Movie Club, a place where the answers to all of life's questions are just a handful of popcorn away . . .
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Rating:



The Meryl Streep Movie Club centers around sisters Isabel and June and their cousin Kat and Aunt Lolly. Despite Lolly having brought up all three girls, now adult women, the family has never been very close. But following some devestating news the sisters decide to stay at the historic inn Lolly runs in Boothbay in Maine for a while and during this time they finally start to get to know each other.

Their bond partly grows stronger through their regular film evenings, during which they make their way through the vast backlog of Meryl Streep movies. The viewings are often followed by heated discussions about the plot and character decisions, which more than once echo the struggles the women go through in their own lives at that time.

The novel is steeped in Mia March's admiration for Meryl Streep and the loving descriptions of the actress' work, which is wonderful. And the characters' discussions about the movies central to the book sounded really inviting, making me want to seek out the many Streep movies I have not yet had a chance to see.

Unfortunately the ending of The Meryl Streep Movie Club was rather rushed and because of that the emotional climax the story was working towards just didn't happen, which was disappointing to say the least. Had it not been for its unsatisfying conclusion this would have been a 5 star novel, as it stands it's a strong 4 stars.


Huge thanks to the Simon & Schuster women's fiction team for my copy!

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