You are cordially invited to the Secret Book Society…

London, 1895: Trapped by oppressive marriages and societal expectations, three women receive a mysterious invitation to an afternoon tea at the home of the reclusive Lady Duxbury. Beneath the genteel facade of the gathering lies a secret book club—a sanctuary where they can discover freedom, sisterhood, and the courage to rewrite their stories.

Eleanor Clarke, a devoted mother suffocating under the tyranny of her husband. Rose Wharton, a transplanted American dollar princess struggling to fit the mold of an aristocratic wife. Lavinia Cavendish, an artistic young woman haunted by a dangerous family secret. All are drawn to the enigmatic Lady Duxbury, a thrice-widowed countess whose husbands’ untimely deaths have sparked whispers of murder.

As the women form deep, heartwarming friendships, they uncover secrets about their marriages, their pasts, and the risks they face. Their courage is their only weapon in the oppressive world that has kept them silent, but when secrets are deadly, one misstep could cost them everything.

This book club pick by my friend was almost meta. Well, meta because it featured a book society, but that’s about it. We’re pretty lucky not to live in the Victorian era where basically anything can get you put into an asylum.

Martin did a wonderful job not only immersing readers back in time, but making us engaged with each of the characters. She pulled off two cool twists regarding who was going to get sent to the asylum and made it plausible enough for each one to be a contender.

My favorite was Rose’s arc, allowing her to mend her relationship with her husband in the face of her cruel brother-in-law. Eleanor’s arc was the strongest, becoming more confident and willing to stand up for herself and her family. We both also enjoyed Lavinia’s arc of becoming a poetess, and my friend was very happy she found a guy who understood her. Of course, our fav was the founder of The Secret Book Society herself, Lady Duxbury. Her story was so sad, my friend cried.

Martin brought some awesome moments like the death of Eleanor’s husband (this is not a spoiler tbh. You can guess based on one of the back blurbs), hatpin fighting, and chilling ones like when we see Eleanor’s son copy her husband’s aggressive commands to his nurse.

There’s just one missed moment with the books the women are perusing, they never got to The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins which perfectly fits with Lavinia’s arc about insanity, women’s emotions being viewed as hysteria and the isolation of your creative outlet being taken away from you. But maybe it would have been too new for the women to get their hands on it.

Even though it’s unlikely for this book to get a sequel because it’s a fine stand-alone, we both agreed if there was one, we’d read it. Love to see the further adventures of Lady Duxbury and the women she invites into her society.