Thursdays at Eight

Thursdays at Eight is the 65th stand-alone novel by popular American author, Debbie Macomber. In this novel, Macomber takes what are essentially four short stories and entwines them by having the main characters meet on Thursdays at Eight for breakfast, chat, love and support. The women are quite different, not just their ages, but also their attitude to life. Clare’s husband left her for a younger woman: her sons are angry and she is stunned by how much anger and bitterness she still feels towards her ex, even a year after their acrimonious divorce. Then her youngest son starts to meet with his father in secret. Hospital Administrator, Liz is managing to cope with being a widow, but her loneliness is intensified by her daughter’s family moving to another state, and her son moving out of home. Then, a slightly younger paediatrician with a womanising reputation sets out to woo her, but does she want what he’s offering? Substitute teacher and would-be actress, Karen wishes her mother would just accept her as she is and stop comparing her with her respectable sister. But is the life her sister has quite as perfect as everyone believes? With her fledgling yarn shop finally taking off, Julia is pleased with her life at forty, until she finds she is pregnant. Macomber uses two formats to present her stories: each woman keeps a journal and these entries, together with third-person narration, tell the story. Macomber manages to touch on many aspects of everyday life: divorce, grief and loss, cancer, empty-nest syndrome, domestic violence, late-in-life pregnancy, career choices, selfish teenagers and crack babies. Each chapter is prefaces with an interesting and often funny quote from a well-known woman. There are lots of words of wisdom in this feel-good offering from Debbie Macomber.