Thank you to Aimie K. Runyan, Bloom With Tall Poppy Writers (FB), the publisher and the late author (may she rest in peace) who died a week before I won this book. I feel honored and privileged to read this book. I loved her others that I read by her and I am sorry I won't be reading any more of her books.

Ah the 60s where women had to be well-behaved and cater to their husbands. How times have changed. Just reading this book made me cringe sometimes how women were supposed to stay home, and not have a profession and be ready for their husbands to come home from work and have dinner ready, etc. Ruth (the main character) was not like that. Even though she and Asher, her new husband lived with his parents, she graduated law school and was studying for the bar exam though her in-laws didn't know this.

Her mother-in-law wanted her to fit in too with the “high class” women of Philadelphia. Ruth lived in New York before she got married. She sent her to an etiquette class first run by her now her best friend Lillian. She made friends here with three other women who were totally different from her lifestyle of course but she tried to fit in.

I finally connected the dots with the characters with about 100 pages left and it was not what I expected or maybe I did. Lillian and Shirley were hiding secrets of their own from their past but Lililan's was out in the open earlier in the book.

I love a good epilogue and this was one of the best.

Let me close with this and I have to quote the later author's last line in her acknowledgements, which really made me emotional. “If you'd like to supply chocolate as I write my next novel, let me know.” Sorry she never got to write her next novel.

R.I.P. Amy Sue Nathan. You will be missed in my reading world. ( )

Taking place in Philly in the early 60's, a small group of young women meet in etiquette class. One of them has an abusive husband. I found the time of the book and the idea of "etiquette" class both dating and daunting. I can see how much society has changed in the last 60 years with womens' place in society and with womens' rights. But I found it to drag if this is how the society part actually was at that time. ( )

Super fast read. Did a bit of a 180 and then wrapped it up quickly I liked it. ( )

Slow to get into. But, then quite good and fun. A look back at what the world was like for women with ambitions outside of the home. ( )

I'm old enough that I remember what life was like for women in the early 60s. None of the moms in my neighborhood worked (except for my mom). Dinner was on the table at exactly 5 and then the man went to read the paper while the wife cleaned up. Thanks to major cultural changes during the 60s, everything changed and women were encouraged to get an education and to work outside the home. Well Behaved Wives is set in the middle 60s when things were changing. The older generation wanted to stick to the old ways while the younger women were anxious for an education and a career.

Ruth is a law school graduate from New York City and studying for the bar exam. She married well and she and her husband moved in with his parents in an affluent neighborhood in Philadelphia. Ruth's mother in law, Shirley, is old school and more interested in manners and etiquette than in women being educated and getting jobs. Even though Ruth's new husband has encouraged her in her future plans, he wants to keep her education history a secret from his mother. When Shirley suggests (or demands) that Ruth go to etiquette classes, Ruth only goes along with it to keep the peace in the family. Surprisingly she makes new friends in the group especially with Carrie. When secrets are revealed in the group, it begins to appear that life isn't all wonderful. The author treats the subject of domestic abuse very gently and there are no difficult scenes to get through. As the women in the group begin to change, they realize that there are more important things in life than good manners and what really counts are your friends.

I enjoyed this look back at the 60s and it reminded me how in some ways, women have come a long way but negative things like domestic abuse are still an ongoing issue. I thought the author did a great job of explaining life during this tumultuous decade when everything was changing and reminded us all of the importance of female friendships. ( )