Book Review: Thursdays at Eight

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Thursdays at Eight     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Debbie Macomber
Class/Genre:   Romance   Woman Main Character
Mira, Jun 2001, $22.95, 304 pp.

The four women met at a university class. Each one needs something different because undesirable change has come into their respective lives. Though on the surface they share little in common, the female quartet meet every Thursday at 8:00 AM at the Mocha Moments Café and experience the camaraderie that helps them adapt to unwanted change.

Over thirteen months divorced with two teenage sons, Clare Craig seeks new beginnings, but still feels haunted by her spouse’s desertion for a younger woman. Though her husband died six years ago, fifty-seven years old Liz Kenyon still grieves him as memories of his last moments when the semi hit his vehicle haunts her though she was not there to see him die. Still in her twenties, Karen Curtis still believes in her high school drama class dream though no one else, including her parents and Jeff, does. This forces her to grow up and think of abandoning her deepest desires. Julia Murcheson turns forty this year and begins to feel the empty nest syndrome as her teens get nearer to college, that is until she learns she is pregnant.

Debbie Macomber shows why she is one of the most powerful, highly regarded authors on the stage today. THURSDAYS AT EIGHT is a brilliant, insightful look at relationships through the interaction of four women, who depend on one another and their weekly breakfast to survive radical change. Each of the main protagonists seem real and their problems genuine, as many reader will testify. The four subplots cleverly blend into a great contemporary tale that demonstrate why Ms. Macomber consistently provides some of the best literature in new and used bookstores.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner

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