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Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club
From the New York Times bestselling author J. Ryan Stradal, a story of a couple from two very different restaurant families in rustic Minnesota, and the legacy of love and tragedy, of hardship and hope, that unites and divides them
Mariel Prager needs a break. Her husband Ned is having an identity crisis, her spunky, beloved restaurant is bleeding money by the day, and her mother Florence is stubbornly refusing to leave the church where she’s been holed up for more than a week. The Lakeside Supper Club has been in her family for decades, and while Mariel’s grandmother embraced the business, seeing it as a saving grace, Florence never took to it. When Mariel inherited the restaurant, skipping Florence, it created a rift between mother and daughter that never quite healed.
Ned is also an heir—to a chain of home-style diners—and while he doesn't have a head for business, he knows his family's chain could provide a better future than his wife's fading restaurant. In the aftermath of a devastating tragedy, Ned and Mariel lose almost everything they hold dear, and the hard-won victories of each family hang in the balance. With their dreams dashed, can one fractured family find a way to rebuild despite their losses, and will the Lakeside Supper Club be their salvation?
In this colorful, vanishing world of relish trays and brandy Old Fashioneds, J. Ryan Stradal has once again given us a story full of his signature honest, lovable yet fallible Midwestern characters as they grapple with love, loss, and marriage; what we hold onto and what we leave behind; and what our legacy will be when we are gone.
Mariel Prager needs a break. Her husband Ned is having an identity crisis, her spunky, beloved restaurant is bleeding money by the day, and her mother Florence is stubbornly refusing to leave the church where she’s been holed up for more than a week. The Lakeside Supper Club has been in her family for decades, and while Mariel’s grandmother embraced the business, seeing it as a saving grace, Florence never took to it. When Mariel inherited the restaurant, skipping Florence, it created a rift between mother and daughter that never quite healed.
Ned is also an heir—to a chain of home-style diners—and while he doesn't have a head for business, he knows his family's chain could provide a better future than his wife's fading restaurant. In the aftermath of a devastating tragedy, Ned and Mariel lose almost everything they hold dear, and the hard-won victories of each family hang in the balance. With their dreams dashed, can one fractured family find a way to rebuild despite their losses, and will the Lakeside Supper Club be their salvation?
In this colorful, vanishing world of relish trays and brandy Old Fashioneds, J. Ryan Stradal has once again given us a story full of his signature honest, lovable yet fallible Midwestern characters as they grapple with love, loss, and marriage; what we hold onto and what we leave behind; and what our legacy will be when we are gone.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 18, 2023
About the author
J. Ryan Stradal
6 books2,082 followersJ. Ryan Stradal's NYT bestselling debut, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, won the 2016 American Booksellers Association Indie's Choice Award for Adult Debut Book of the Year, the 2016 SCIBA award for the year's best fiction title, and the 2016 Midwest Booksellers Choice Award for debut fiction. His second novel, The Lager Queen of Minnesota, was an instant national bestseller.
Born and raised in Minnesota, he now lives in Los Angeles. He likes books, craft beer, wine, root beer, sports, and peas.
Born and raised in Minnesota, he now lives in Los Angeles. He likes books, craft beer, wine, root beer, sports, and peas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,498 reviews
February 3, 2023
This is a perfect book.
April 27, 2023
Truly, I am baffled, because Roxane Gay called this a “perfect book” and I am sitting here wondering how I can give it more than 2 stars.
So first off - all the bouncing around from a character perspective AND a time perspective did not work for me. There were too many characters and too much to keep track of.
Secondly. What the actual heck kind of literary technique is it to share that a couple is childless, then go back in time to describe them as trying, then pregnant, then have a newborn, all the while you the reader are just waiting for their child to die?! There were about 50-100 pages of this! What a terrible reading experience.
And then relatedly - how is it that Florence, who was described repeatedly as an obsessively overprotective mother, as a grandmother somehow loses those tendencies, dropping the ball and therefore allowing her grandson to drown? THIS MAKES NO SENSE.
And then Mariel, who was a primary character for most of the book, just dies of lung cancer in about a page or two and we have to finish the book with 50 pages of a brand new character, her daughter? Gahhh this book frustrated me to no end. I finished it because I kept thinking I must be missing what was “perfect” about it but if I had to do it over I would’ve stopped when my gut first told me to.
On to the next!
So first off - all the bouncing around from a character perspective AND a time perspective did not work for me. There were too many characters and too much to keep track of.
Secondly. What the actual heck kind of literary technique is it to share that a couple is childless, then go back in time to describe them as trying, then pregnant, then have a newborn, all the while you the reader are just waiting for their child to die?! There were about 50-100 pages of this! What a terrible reading experience.
And then relatedly - how is it that Florence, who was described repeatedly as an obsessively overprotective mother, as a grandmother somehow loses those tendencies, dropping the ball and therefore allowing her grandson to drown? THIS MAKES NO SENSE.
And then Mariel, who was a primary character for most of the book, just dies of lung cancer in about a page or two and we have to finish the book with 50 pages of a brand new character, her daughter? Gahhh this book frustrated me to no end. I finished it because I kept thinking I must be missing what was “perfect” about it but if I had to do it over I would’ve stopped when my gut first told me to.
On to the next!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 19, 2023
***NOW AVAILABLE -DON'T MISS THIS ONE***
I live in Wisconsin and there were indeed many supper clubs at one time, though they are slowly fading away. The author’s descriptions of the northern woods atmosphere, the lakes, the supper club vibe, patrons and menus are spot on!
Obviously this book is about much more than supper clubs.This is a multi-generational novel that explores family, relationships, parental hardships and the way we change “what we want our life to become” as we grow older. The supper club works well as an example of how people’s lives have changed, including their choice of restaurants and the food that we choose to eat!
As the blurb states, Ned and Mariel Prager come from different backgrounds but both have family restaurants in Minnesota.
Mariel has inherited The Lakeside Supper Club and is determined to keep it going. Mariel inherited the restaurant from her grandmother, skipping her mother Florence, and this created much angst between the two.
Ned’s family is looking to expand their restaurant, Jorby’s, throughout the Midwest. This is a nod, perhaps, to the chain restaurants that put many family owned restaurants out of business with their “fast food” and cheaper prices.
There is so much heart in this book it is obvious that this is a very special novel for Mr. Stradal. In his notes he dedicates the book to his son with whom he shared his office while writing this book, so much love poured into this story!
Mr. Stradal is an incredible storyteller and his strength is always in his characters. I felt that I knew Mariel, Ned, Florence, Julia and the rest of the families and townspeople.
I hope that everyone enjoys this novel as much as I did!!
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.
I live in Wisconsin and there were indeed many supper clubs at one time, though they are slowly fading away. The author’s descriptions of the northern woods atmosphere, the lakes, the supper club vibe, patrons and menus are spot on!
Obviously this book is about much more than supper clubs.This is a multi-generational novel that explores family, relationships, parental hardships and the way we change “what we want our life to become” as we grow older. The supper club works well as an example of how people’s lives have changed, including their choice of restaurants and the food that we choose to eat!
As the blurb states, Ned and Mariel Prager come from different backgrounds but both have family restaurants in Minnesota.
Mariel has inherited The Lakeside Supper Club and is determined to keep it going. Mariel inherited the restaurant from her grandmother, skipping her mother Florence, and this created much angst between the two.
Ned’s family is looking to expand their restaurant, Jorby’s, throughout the Midwest. This is a nod, perhaps, to the chain restaurants that put many family owned restaurants out of business with their “fast food” and cheaper prices.
There is so much heart in this book it is obvious that this is a very special novel for Mr. Stradal. In his notes he dedicates the book to his son with whom he shared his office while writing this book, so much love poured into this story!
Mr. Stradal is an incredible storyteller and his strength is always in his characters. I felt that I knew Mariel, Ned, Florence, Julia and the rest of the families and townspeople.
I hope that everyone enjoys this novel as much as I did!!
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.
April 25, 2023
This is my favorite title so far from Stradal. The legacy of the Lakeside Supper Club is traced from Betty to Florence to Mariel to Julia -- an 80+ year saga. You will laugh and you will cry. Beautifully built characters and the relationship up and downs of real life. Some crossover with Great Kitchens if I am not mistaken. Don't miss it!
May 3, 2023
Oof. I loved this author’s Kitchen Gods of the Midwest, and I thought Lager Queens was an entertaining enough read. This one, though? Not so much. (And I am absolutely stymied by Roxane Gay’s 5-star, “perfect” book review. Whaaat? Perfect?)
I’ll start with the good: The setting is really great; Stradal really nails the Midwest vibe and the “up north” scene.
The setting is not balanced out by the rest of it, however. The characters are . . . kinda flat. The time jumps are . . . kinda jarring. The tragic “events” are . . . extremely disturbing. While I’ve seen some reviewers refer to this book as a “series of unconnected vignettes,” I don’t know that I’d go along with that assessment. To me, it felt that Stradal headed down a storyline path or a character description with Big Ideas . . . but then he just ran out of steam and let them drop along the side of the road. It was disappointing – over and over again. (And what, exactly, was the point of the “stand-off” between Mariel and Florence?)
The story is not tight at all; there are lots of loose ends.
For me, this was far from . . . “perfect.”
I’ll start with the good: The setting is really great; Stradal really nails the Midwest vibe and the “up north” scene.
The setting is not balanced out by the rest of it, however. The characters are . . . kinda flat. The time jumps are . . . kinda jarring. The tragic “events” are . . . extremely disturbing. While I’ve seen some reviewers refer to this book as a “series of unconnected vignettes,” I don’t know that I’d go along with that assessment. To me, it felt that Stradal headed down a storyline path or a character description with Big Ideas . . . but then he just ran out of steam and let them drop along the side of the road. It was disappointing – over and over again. (And what, exactly, was the point of the “stand-off” between Mariel and Florence?)
The story is not tight at all; there are lots of loose ends.
For me, this was far from . . . “perfect.”
April 25, 2023
I went into this one blind. All it takes sometimes is a snappy title, folks! I had not read this author before (because Kitchens of the Great Midwest was a title that did NOT grab my attention, but I’ll be rectifying that shortly). To keep it brief and without any spoilsies, just know things all start off with a mom who needs a ride home from the church pancake breakfast from the daughter she has been estranged from for years who is prevented from said Ubering thanks to getting in a head-on with the local fauna.
We then timehop back to 1934 to Florence’s story – then to the 1980s and Ned’s and eventually back to the present with Mariel . . . . and her mother who has now been holed up in the church waiting for that ride for over two months.
If you are familiar with me at all you know that I am a sucker for a family story and when it comes to dramedies that also involve restaurant ownership? Well . . . .
If you enjoyed Marrying the Ketchups or The Chicken Sisters or We are the Brennans run, do not walk to get a copy of this one. And serve it with a relish tray . . . .
All the Stars.
We then timehop back to 1934 to Florence’s story – then to the 1980s and Ned’s and eventually back to the present with Mariel . . . . and her mother who has now been holed up in the church waiting for that ride for over two months.
If you are familiar with me at all you know that I am a sucker for a family story and when it comes to dramedies that also involve restaurant ownership? Well . . . .
If you enjoyed Marrying the Ketchups or The Chicken Sisters or We are the Brennans run, do not walk to get a copy of this one. And serve it with a relish tray . . . .
All the Stars.
May 28, 2023
Bear Lake, Minnesota and a Supper Club that had been in the same family for generations. Four generations of mothers and daughters, eighty years that weathers time, strife, and changing tides, culminating in a battle to hold on to a vanishing world.
I have enjoyed all of this authors books to date. It is so unusual for a male author to write books about women, and to get it right. Stradal does just that. He shows that life is messy, can change in an instant, that relationships are never easy and can often be darn hard and he does ir with a risible warmth for his characters.
This is a family novel, a feel good though melancholy one and is one I immensely enjoyed.
I have enjoyed all of this authors books to date. It is so unusual for a male author to write books about women, and to get it right. Stradal does just that. He shows that life is messy, can change in an instant, that relationships are never easy and can often be darn hard and he does ir with a risible warmth for his characters.
This is a family novel, a feel good though melancholy one and is one I immensely enjoyed.
March 20, 2024
This story takes us back and forth in time so that readers can get a better sense of our main characters, Marial, Ned and Florence, and the importance of the Lakeside Supper Club to them. But more than anything we feel the feelings and experience it all…Love. Family. Loss. Community. Devotion.
And there is also the humor. The quirkiness that exists between the complicated relationship of Florence (mother) to Marial and what it will take for the two to come together after years of conflict.
Also, there are the moments of profound sadness as characters address tragedy in different ways.
But mostly readers will be rooting for the characters, in every possible way, through heart-break and tears.
This is truly a heart-felt, thoughtful, joyful, warm hug kind of a story into a lovely community and family life.
As readers we feel this story deeply. We care about each of the characters. We want the best for them. And by the last page, we are sad to leave the town.
When can I return, please?
And there is also the humor. The quirkiness that exists between the complicated relationship of Florence (mother) to Marial and what it will take for the two to come together after years of conflict.
Also, there are the moments of profound sadness as characters address tragedy in different ways.
But mostly readers will be rooting for the characters, in every possible way, through heart-break and tears.
This is truly a heart-felt, thoughtful, joyful, warm hug kind of a story into a lovely community and family life.
As readers we feel this story deeply. We care about each of the characters. We want the best for them. And by the last page, we are sad to leave the town.
When can I return, please?
April 8, 2023
I've been a fan of J. Ryan Stradal's work since his debut, and so had very high expectations for his latest. I suspect this novel would have earned an extra star, if not for those expectations. But I have to admit that SNATLSC didn't connect with me as his previous novels did.
As a rule, I am a big fan of novels with a non-linear structure, but here I found it problematic. It wasn't so much that I had to work harder to follow the story--though I did. No, the bigger problem was character-based. For instance, we first meet Florence, a major character, as a child, and later we meet her in late middle-age, without actually "seeing" the years in between. And I just couldn't reconcile that that teenager had become that adult. It was like they were two different people. This is a fairly unusual response from me, but it wasn't just the single character. Somehow the equation that was this novel just didn't add up for me.
That said, it's a fine read that many are enjoying more than I, so your mileage may vary. I, for one, shall be looking forward to Mr. Stradal's next novel with renewed hopes and expectations.
As a rule, I am a big fan of novels with a non-linear structure, but here I found it problematic. It wasn't so much that I had to work harder to follow the story--though I did. No, the bigger problem was character-based. For instance, we first meet Florence, a major character, as a child, and later we meet her in late middle-age, without actually "seeing" the years in between. And I just couldn't reconcile that that teenager had become that adult. It was like they were two different people. This is a fairly unusual response from me, but it wasn't just the single character. Somehow the equation that was this novel just didn't add up for me.
That said, it's a fine read that many are enjoying more than I, so your mileage may vary. I, for one, shall be looking forward to Mr. Stradal's next novel with renewed hopes and expectations.
Shelved as 'dnf'
April 21, 2023DNF'd on the first chapter & I'm really, really bummed about it as I've enjoyed this author before. But animal death is a hard pass from me & when you start a book that way, I'm just out. I'm not a hunter & I cared too much about Bambi's Mom, so even if it's a deer, I just can't... was really looking forward to it too, butI wasn't going to enjoy it either since it involved an MC. No rating, etc.
June 23, 2023
I have liked Stradal's previous books, but this one did nothing for me. As with all of his books, this is a long straggling story of a family in Minnesota. This one happens to revolve around a "supper club" which seems to be just another word for restaurant - homey meals, a bar full of locals and even a reception room for events and dancing. We have these restaurants where I live (not Minnesota), so I am not sure why Stradal acts like this is a midwestern phenomena. Anyway, as would be common with any owner-operated restaurant, the whole family is caught up with the non-stop work that a restaurant entails - some love the place, and others cannot wait to get away. But I had a hard time becoming engaged in their stories. Certain characters were mystifying to me - I could not account for their actions, and that frustrated me. Other stories were so neatly tied up with little bows, while other hinted at stories that went unexplored.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
- Giving the reader a childless Mariel in the beginning just leaves the reader waiting for that shoe to drop, and the 3rd birthday party wind-up was just excruciating because the reader knows exactly what is going to happen.
- The whole character of Carla completely confused me - any reader would see that Ned was not ending up as the king of Jorby's, and she was so devoted in Gus's death's immediate aftermath that her complete abandonment of Ned, to the point where his daughter does not even have enough money to pay her college tuition without loans is completely confusing.
- So was Al Norgaard Mariel's father or not?
- I didn't need the Floyd - Eastman reunion.
- The character of Brenda was a problem too - it seems like she maliciously slept around with married men so was she meant to be depicted as a self-sabotaging drunken loser, because that is how she came across to me.
- And let's not get started with Florence - I know she had a tough childhood, but she was such a miserable person, I have no idea why she had so many devoted friends.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
- Giving the reader a childless Mariel in the beginning just leaves the reader waiting for that shoe to drop, and the 3rd birthday party wind-up was just excruciating because the reader knows exactly what is going to happen.
- The whole character of Carla completely confused me - any reader would see that Ned was not ending up as the king of Jorby's, and she was so devoted in Gus's death's immediate aftermath that her complete abandonment of Ned, to the point where his daughter does not even have enough money to pay her college tuition without loans is completely confusing.
- So was Al Norgaard Mariel's father or not?
- I didn't need the Floyd - Eastman reunion.
- The character of Brenda was a problem too - it seems like she maliciously slept around with married men so was she meant to be depicted as a self-sabotaging drunken loser, because that is how she came across to me.
- And let's not get started with Florence - I know she had a tough childhood, but she was such a miserable person, I have no idea why she had so many devoted friends.
August 17, 2023
What a lousy book. I regret that I spent two days reading it. What a disappointment! I’d read a couple of good reviews, including one on public radio, and was expecting good things, but no.
This book is banal. It is poorly written. The characters are shallow and unbelievable. There is no purpose to this book. There are so many topics, characters, happenings in this book, and yet none of them hang together, none of the characters are worth caring about. Things/issues the author introduced in this story include: the Depression, homelessness, poor parenting, infertility, miscarriage, death of a child, death of a young spouse, death of parents and grandparents, mother-daughter conflicts, nepotism, helicopter parenting, incompetency in business, ruthless millionaire barons, closeted homosexuality, family conflicts setting records in the Guinness book….and none of these things were developed in any meaningful way. Birthday parties were dwelled upon. Fried foods were discussed. But important threads about characters were left dangling or never explained. (What ever happened to Gus? What did Gus do that was so terrible to require Betty to run away?)
And did I mention the non-linear presentation of this book, which jumps forward and back from 1930’s to 1990’s and points in between, with little to no transition? Or the multitudes of insignificant characters, friends, neighbors introduced by first and last names as if they’re important, but pop up only once or twice in the whole book?
Ugh. Save your time for something worth reading.
This book is banal. It is poorly written. The characters are shallow and unbelievable. There is no purpose to this book. There are so many topics, characters, happenings in this book, and yet none of them hang together, none of the characters are worth caring about. Things/issues the author introduced in this story include: the Depression, homelessness, poor parenting, infertility, miscarriage, death of a child, death of a young spouse, death of parents and grandparents, mother-daughter conflicts, nepotism, helicopter parenting, incompetency in business, ruthless millionaire barons, closeted homosexuality, family conflicts setting records in the Guinness book….and none of these things were developed in any meaningful way. Birthday parties were dwelled upon. Fried foods were discussed. But important threads about characters were left dangling or never explained. (What ever happened to Gus? What did Gus do that was so terrible to require Betty to run away?)
And did I mention the non-linear presentation of this book, which jumps forward and back from 1930’s to 1990’s and points in between, with little to no transition? Or the multitudes of insignificant characters, friends, neighbors introduced by first and last names as if they’re important, but pop up only once or twice in the whole book?
Ugh. Save your time for something worth reading.
June 6, 2023
2.5 rounded up.
Let me start by saying that lots of readers love this novel, I'm just not one of them. I did not read his previous books, but I was not impressed by this one. Too many different timelines, so many in fact, that it felt like the author lost track of them himself. The characters were not consistent in their personalities or their actions or their words. I was confused most of the time, but maybe that's just me. Sometimes it felt like the author just used a convenient contrivance to explain things, or to get rid of a character. Details matter to me, and once an author loses me for getting something wrong, I lose my trust in him. That's what happened here; after the first couple of times it happened, I could no longer take him seriously. He also seemed to have a problem with homosexuality, as he alluded to it a few times, but never could face it head on.
Anyway, you get the idea. So I'll shut up. As I said, this book has gotten good reviews and has lots of fans.
Let me start by saying that lots of readers love this novel, I'm just not one of them. I did not read his previous books, but I was not impressed by this one. Too many different timelines, so many in fact, that it felt like the author lost track of them himself. The characters were not consistent in their personalities or their actions or their words. I was confused most of the time, but maybe that's just me. Sometimes it felt like the author just used a convenient contrivance to explain things, or to get rid of a character. Details matter to me, and once an author loses me for getting something wrong, I lose my trust in him. That's what happened here; after the first couple of times it happened, I could no longer take him seriously. He also seemed to have a problem with homosexuality, as he alluded to it a few times, but never could face it head on.
Anyway, you get the idea. So I'll shut up. As I said, this book has gotten good reviews and has lots of fans.
May 8, 2023
The decor would be old-fashioned, the drinks would be strong, and the dining experience would evoke beloved memories, all for a pretty decent price.
Stradal cooks up another perfect tale of domineering mothers, stubborn daughters, destiny versus desire, tragedy, and forgiveness, all served up on a bed of leafy good humor.
I LOVED it!
This is heartwarming comfort food at a pretty decent price.
Stradal cooks up another perfect tale of domineering mothers, stubborn daughters, destiny versus desire, tragedy, and forgiveness, all served up on a bed of leafy good humor.
I LOVED it!
This is heartwarming comfort food at a pretty decent price.
October 17, 2023
This is a rich, character-driven story of two families who own restaurants in Minnesota: one a supper club in the north woods and the other a classic American family restaurant that has developed into a chain of restaurants across the midwest.
The story is told in alternating timelines:
1930s: Florence Miller and her mother Betty meet Floyd Muller, the owner of the Lakeside Inn in Bear Jaw, Minnesota, and he becomes their lifesaver by offering them a place to stay and a job;
1980s: Then there's Ned Prager, grandson of Eddie and Norma Prager who started the original Jorby's Bakery and Café in Red Wing, Minnesota. He is the heir apparent of the ever-expanding restaurant chain, working for his father, Edward;
1990s: And Mariel, Florence's daughter and inheritor of the Lakeside Inn, who meets and marries Ned Prager;
2000s to the present: their daughter Julia Prager will inherit the Lakeside Supper Club at age 21 but is it what she wants for herself, to carry on their dream?
It's a little hard to keep all these characters straight at first as they are introduced but it's so worth the effort. The story has such a warmth to it, filled with both sadness and joy, taking the reader back to a bygone era of midwestern American life. Highly recommend.
My local library system provided me with a digital copy of this novel for which I am very grateful. Where would we be without our libraries?
The story is told in alternating timelines:
1930s: Florence Miller and her mother Betty meet Floyd Muller, the owner of the Lakeside Inn in Bear Jaw, Minnesota, and he becomes their lifesaver by offering them a place to stay and a job;
1980s: Then there's Ned Prager, grandson of Eddie and Norma Prager who started the original Jorby's Bakery and Café in Red Wing, Minnesota. He is the heir apparent of the ever-expanding restaurant chain, working for his father, Edward;
1990s: And Mariel, Florence's daughter and inheritor of the Lakeside Inn, who meets and marries Ned Prager;
2000s to the present: their daughter Julia Prager will inherit the Lakeside Supper Club at age 21 but is it what she wants for herself, to carry on their dream?
It's a little hard to keep all these characters straight at first as they are introduced but it's so worth the effort. The story has such a warmth to it, filled with both sadness and joy, taking the reader back to a bygone era of midwestern American life. Highly recommend.
My local library system provided me with a digital copy of this novel for which I am very grateful. Where would we be without our libraries?
December 4, 2022
3.5 stars. I enjoyed Stradal's two previous novels so much that this one had big shoes to fill and it didn't quite fill them. It still does a lot of the things he does best. It has a wide cast of characters, it is rooted in the Midwest (this time in small town Minnesota), it is about food and what it means to people. But I didn't get that extra Stradal spark this time, it didn't quite become a cohesive whole.
Perhaps this is because this book is less about food and more about restaurants. Two of the major characters, Mariel and Ned, both come from restaurant families, though very different ones. Mariel's owns the Supper Club of the title while Ned's has built a chain of diners across the region. They both love these restaurants but they are conflicted about taking over the businesses.
We also flash back in time to Mariel's mother, Florence, and how the restaurant came to enter the family. As well as how Florence rejected her place in it. There are a lot of parent and child elements here, and I think that is also where the weakness of the book comes from. We learn a lot about Florence and a lot about Mariel, but almost all the time we see them it's separate, it is hard to understand how they fit together and how they relate to each other.
Despite this not giving me that extra something, it was still a read I enjoyed and finished quickly. Content warnings mostly for infertility, miscarriage, death of a child, all given in significant detail.
Perhaps this is because this book is less about food and more about restaurants. Two of the major characters, Mariel and Ned, both come from restaurant families, though very different ones. Mariel's owns the Supper Club of the title while Ned's has built a chain of diners across the region. They both love these restaurants but they are conflicted about taking over the businesses.
We also flash back in time to Mariel's mother, Florence, and how the restaurant came to enter the family. As well as how Florence rejected her place in it. There are a lot of parent and child elements here, and I think that is also where the weakness of the book comes from. We learn a lot about Florence and a lot about Mariel, but almost all the time we see them it's separate, it is hard to understand how they fit together and how they relate to each other.
Despite this not giving me that extra something, it was still a read I enjoyed and finished quickly. Content warnings mostly for infertility, miscarriage, death of a child, all given in significant detail.
March 31, 2023
Positively charming!
Definitely one to add to your TBR.
Definitely one to add to your TBR.
November 6, 2022
I’ve been an avid J. Ryan Stradal fan since Kitchens of the Great Midwest, so I was excited to received a galley of his latest—and IMO best—novel yet. Simply put this novel is about a northern Minnesota supper club passed through generations and the difficulties and joys of that legacy. But really it’s a sprawling family saga told through four points of view, and Stradal writes each with empathy, humor, and an original perspective. Like all his novels there are hearty and stubborn Minnesota women, delicious food descriptions, a rich understanding of how restaurants and food build community, and Minnesota in-jokes and references. But this novel is also more emotionally tender and honest about hard topics like grief, parenthood, and building your own identity when tied up in family legacies. It has some of Stradal’s best writing on a sentence level yet. Mostly why I love his novels is they’re compulsively readable, the characters feel as strong as the brandy in the old-fashioneds, and they remind me of home.
October 29, 2022
A beautiful, realistic saga of two Midwest families with legacy restaurants over four generations.
J. Ryan Stradal once again writes about the upper Midwest, as he did with his two previous novels.
It’s a pleasure to immerse ourselves in family matters In Minnesota.
More to follow.
J. Ryan Stradal once again writes about the upper Midwest, as he did with his two previous novels.
It’s a pleasure to immerse ourselves in family matters In Minnesota.
More to follow.
March 30, 2023
HEADLINE: Lifetime reservation for a Table of 2 at the 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛
Thank you to @vikingbooks for the ARC. You made my year!
Love and hope live in parallel with hardship and grief and Stadal takes these seemingly normal, everyday people in everyday moments and propels them into a new dimension with his rich writing. I love how observant Stradal This book had me shedding honest-to-goodness tears on more than one occasion. In public no less. Love love love. I was completely engrossed with the story (perfectly paced), characters (complex and unforgettable) and writing (vivid and emotional) that I couldn't wait to see where it would take me next.
I spent the first 18 years of my life in MN and the last 25+ in WI.There is such a strong sense of place, but I don't think you need to hail from the Midwest to appreciate this book.Even though I'm familiar with the location, Stradal writing is so immersive that I could smell the distinct combination of aromas that hit your nose as soon as you walk through the door. I could hear the crunch of Mariel's feet as she walked to work and the quiet lapping on water on the shore. I could nearly feel the tips of the trees on my fingertips. My personal background allowed for a level of nostalgia that just added to the experience. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
𝐂𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: Of course I made two cocktails. A Brandy Old Fashioned is a Supper Club staple and Betty's Lemonade is featured in the book. I will be making Betty's Lemonade by the pitcher once the snow finally melts in WI. ⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄: I absolutely adored Stradal's other novels, 𝘒𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘵𝘢. I'm making it a goal to see him speak and strong arm him into letting me buy him a beer.
𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄: There was a passage where the characters are driving through Sherburne County, MN on their way up north and I literally gasped. I grew up a stone's throw from Hwy10 in Sherburne County and took that very drive up north to visit family every summer.
𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆: This cover? Amazing. I plan on making it forward facing in every bookstore I visit.
Thank you to @vikingbooks for the ARC. You made my year!
Love and hope live in parallel with hardship and grief and Stadal takes these seemingly normal, everyday people in everyday moments and propels them into a new dimension with his rich writing. I love how observant Stradal This book had me shedding honest-to-goodness tears on more than one occasion. In public no less. Love love love. I was completely engrossed with the story (perfectly paced), characters (complex and unforgettable) and writing (vivid and emotional) that I couldn't wait to see where it would take me next.
I spent the first 18 years of my life in MN and the last 25+ in WI.There is such a strong sense of place, but I don't think you need to hail from the Midwest to appreciate this book.Even though I'm familiar with the location, Stradal writing is so immersive that I could smell the distinct combination of aromas that hit your nose as soon as you walk through the door. I could hear the crunch of Mariel's feet as she walked to work and the quiet lapping on water on the shore. I could nearly feel the tips of the trees on my fingertips. My personal background allowed for a level of nostalgia that just added to the experience. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
𝐂𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: Of course I made two cocktails. A Brandy Old Fashioned is a Supper Club staple and Betty's Lemonade is featured in the book. I will be making Betty's Lemonade by the pitcher once the snow finally melts in WI. ⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄: I absolutely adored Stradal's other novels, 𝘒𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘵𝘢. I'm making it a goal to see him speak and strong arm him into letting me buy him a beer.
𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄: There was a passage where the characters are driving through Sherburne County, MN on their way up north and I literally gasped. I grew up a stone's throw from Hwy10 in Sherburne County and took that very drive up north to visit family every summer.
𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆: This cover? Amazing. I plan on making it forward facing in every bookstore I visit.
April 7, 2023
2.5 stars. This book just wasn’t for me. Around 60 percent in, I realized that almost nothing had happened. I skimmed the last 20 percent.
The story:
-has multi-generational plot lines involving four women
- spans decades
-has a restaurant, or “supper club,” that feels like a character
Essentially, SNATLSC tells the story of a restaurant in Minnesota, and how three different couples are impacted by ownership of the restaurant. There are a multitude of secondary characters that I had a hard time keeping straight.
I didn’t feel particularly connected to any of the main characters, and when a novel is character-driven, this is a deal-breaker for me personally.
Also, there was so. much. dialogue. Perhaps it would have been better on audio?
I adored The Lager Queen of Minnesota, which had similar themes but a more compelling plot. This was disappointing.
Thank you to Penguin Viking and NetGalley for my ARC.
The story:
-has multi-generational plot lines involving four women
- spans decades
-has a restaurant, or “supper club,” that feels like a character
Essentially, SNATLSC tells the story of a restaurant in Minnesota, and how three different couples are impacted by ownership of the restaurant. There are a multitude of secondary characters that I had a hard time keeping straight.
I didn’t feel particularly connected to any of the main characters, and when a novel is character-driven, this is a deal-breaker for me personally.
Also, there was so. much. dialogue. Perhaps it would have been better on audio?
I adored The Lager Queen of Minnesota, which had similar themes but a more compelling plot. This was disappointing.
Thank you to Penguin Viking and NetGalley for my ARC.
May 26, 2023
3.5 stars
Stradal’s novels are always full of Midwestern food and family coziness and this new release is no exception!
Two families, four generations, lots of love and heartache – and it all centers around a little supper club in Minnesota! I don’t want to give anything away because this story is such a sweet legacy of well developed characters that will become dear to readers!
Thanks to Pamela Dorman Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club was released on April 18, 2023.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
Stradal’s novels are always full of Midwestern food and family coziness and this new release is no exception!
Two families, four generations, lots of love and heartache – and it all centers around a little supper club in Minnesota! I don’t want to give anything away because this story is such a sweet legacy of well developed characters that will become dear to readers!
Thanks to Pamela Dorman Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club was released on April 18, 2023.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
June 11, 2023
J. Ryan Stradal is an author I have been meaning to read for quite some time now, but Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club is the first I have read and the first book of his I have purchased as well. I will not be holding out any longer though, and I officially want to buy his other 2 books ASAP. Being from Minnesota as he is, I recognized many of the locations that he mentions in the book, and it was also fun reading about supper clubs! I think I have maybe gone to one in my life so far, and it was a great throwback to the way things used to be in the Midwest. There are a large number of characters and viewpoints, and to be honest, they were a bit hard to keep straight. This is definitely one of those books where it would be good to take notes on each person because I found myself getting a little lost. Or possibly, you just need to pay really close attention? Either way, I had difficulty keeping the relationships between them all straight.
And this of course leads me to the audiobook which is, of course, narrated by one person instead of a full cast. I would love to know why publishers make the decisions they do because while I absolutely ADORED Aspen Vincent, it would have been incredible to have a narrator for each viewpoint to make the characters easier to keep track of. That being said, Vincent really was an incredible narrator for this book, and I loved listening to her. She also did a great job with each of the many characters and was very talented at getting all of the emotions across. I didn't have any idea what to expect from one of Stradal's books, but I thought the mix of humor and seriousness was wonderful and man oh man did this put tears in my eyes. If you are a Midwesterner with a penchant for family drama, supper clubs, and/or stories that pull at your heartstrings, Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club is something you will most certainly appreciate.
I received an advanced listening copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
And this of course leads me to the audiobook which is, of course, narrated by one person instead of a full cast. I would love to know why publishers make the decisions they do because while I absolutely ADORED Aspen Vincent, it would have been incredible to have a narrator for each viewpoint to make the characters easier to keep track of. That being said, Vincent really was an incredible narrator for this book, and I loved listening to her. She also did a great job with each of the many characters and was very talented at getting all of the emotions across. I didn't have any idea what to expect from one of Stradal's books, but I thought the mix of humor and seriousness was wonderful and man oh man did this put tears in my eyes. If you are a Midwesterner with a penchant for family drama, supper clubs, and/or stories that pull at your heartstrings, Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club is something you will most certainly appreciate.
I received an advanced listening copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
June 10, 2023
Review to come!
August 17, 2024
This was a fairly good summer read. I liked the Minnesota setting and learned a little bit about supper clubs and relish trays. As a slice of Americana, it worked very well.
I didn't very much like the way the story was laid out. We open with Mariel and she's having a very bad day and has hit a deer. We then hop a timeline to Mariel's mother and grandmother and pretty much stay in their lives for a lot of the book until we pick back up with Mariel still just after she hit that deer, at the 48% mark. The thread that mostly kept me in the story trying to get back to Mariel was Ned and his life up to meeting Mariel. I have to admit that I didn't care much about or for Florence or Betty and their lives. There's all this build up to a sort of showdown/reckoning between Florence and Mariel and honestly, it fell quite flat for me. The story closed well and I felt on a high light. The back 25%, I just couldn't put this down.
I would recommend this. Others may feel differently about the timeline jumping and some of those characters than I did. I'm glad I picked this up.
I didn't very much like the way the story was laid out. We open with Mariel and she's having a very bad day and has hit a deer. We then hop a timeline to Mariel's mother and grandmother and pretty much stay in their lives for a lot of the book until we pick back up with Mariel still just after she hit that deer, at the 48% mark. The thread that mostly kept me in the story trying to get back to Mariel was Ned and his life up to meeting Mariel. I have to admit that I didn't care much about or for Florence or Betty and their lives. There's all this build up to a sort of showdown/reckoning between Florence and Mariel and honestly, it fell quite flat for me. The story closed well and I felt on a high light. The back 25%, I just couldn't put this down.
I would recommend this. Others may feel differently about the timeline jumping and some of those characters than I did. I'm glad I picked this up.
September 15, 2023
There is an endearing story at the heart of this latest from Stradal, a multi-generational story of a supper club in Bear Jaw Lake, Minnesota and the people who own it and inherit it. You can probably feel the "but" coming! While I overall enjoyed the story, the jumps in time - starting in 1996, flashing back to 1934, fast forward to 1950's, then 1996, then 1980's - got me all confused! I ended up having a hard time keeping track of the many characters and how they were related to each other. Throw in city vs. country issues, rich vs. poor, a Korean adoptee, closeted gay men, adultery, a stand-off between an estranged mother and daughter, fertility struggles leading to IVF and I would say that Stradal took on too much with this one. All the individual elements to the story felt authentically Minnesotan (I live here!), but it seemed very fragmented. Another reviewer suggested that this would work better told in chronological order. Perhaps! Still, I enjoyed enough for a 3-star rating, and must say that I'm glad I read in print. I can imagine how difficult it would be to keep track of timelines and people if I had listened!
Why I'm reading this: Minnesota author, Minnesota setting, lakeside, supper club - need I say more?
Why I'm reading this: Minnesota author, Minnesota setting, lakeside, supper club - need I say more?
April 30, 2023
It took me a bit to get into this book but man once I did I couldn't put it down. Revolving around a family restaurant, this book jumps back in time and place, switching between different members of the family as they experience some great highs and some heartbreaking lows. Reading very much like a collection of interconnected short stories, this might not be the style for everyone but I really, really enjoyed it and thought it was great on audio too voiced by new to me narrator, Aspen Vincent. Many thanks to @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!
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April 20, 2023"The Lakeside Supper Club" has all of the trademarks of Stradal's writing. It's set in the Midwest and is full of appealing, quirky characters. I'm finding it refreshing to read.
Still, at 132 pages into it, I am pausing here. The author keeps foreshadowing a devastating event. As good as the book is, I don't want to even contemplate this.
Still, at 132 pages into it, I am pausing here. The author keeps foreshadowing a devastating event. As good as the book is, I don't want to even contemplate this.
April 21, 2023
I found this book really underwhelming. It feels like it was written thirty years ago and I'm not really interested in books that can't say gay in the setting of 2014. I'm also not interested in books where "fighting against family inheritance" and privilege of being business owners is the only plot point. The sad moments that occur were also surprisingly underwhelming. I do not recommend.
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