In September, The Harrison Township Public Library book club selected Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner. It’s a multi-generational story centered around two sisters growing up in 1950s Detroit. The book covers a variety of topics, including racism, sexism, drug abuse, LGBTQ discrimination, the Vietnam War and more. We appreciated the social critique, but the consensus was that the book was too sprawling and tried to cover too much. We would have preferred if the scope was smaller and concentrated on a single plot line in depth. We also noticed a few editing errors in the timeline and in the references to Detroit.
Our Verdict: For a more authentic book about Detroit, we recommend the fiction title Beautiful Music by Michael Zadoorian, which is about a music-loving teen growing up in 1970s Detroit. For a thriller set in the U.P., our book club members recommend The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne.
