The Four Ms. Bradwells by Meg Waite Clayton


Meg Waite Clayton immerses the reader in the murky water that surrounds the secrets women keep to not appear less than their male counterparts in The Four Ms. Bradwells. Clayton's characters, four friends from law school brought back together to delve into a secret they fear could destroy all they've worked for - a secret they hid to give those futures a fair chance in the first place. As they try to figure out how to handle their secret being made public, they are forced to face the secrets they kept from one another and the misjudgments they made about one another. Hurtful mistakes are uncovered causing emotions to run high. Clayton never shies away from the contradictory emotions or the struggles women feel to define their place in the world. For anyone who has had friends they couldn't bear to lose or who has kept a secret from a friend to protect the friend, this book will be both heartwrenching and uplifting. Readers will connect to the characters who seem all too real even in the moments when the reader wants to shout that they are making mistakes that will make things worse. Clayton unfolds the characters' lives, secrets, and innermost feelings in a way that capitivates the reader while also making the reader question his/her own misconceptions and biases.

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