The Quitter’s Club by Jessica Stawser Review

FINALLY there is a book for the people like me: the QUITTERS! I have been basically a professional quitter since I insisted I had to quit vacation bible school camp 1996, and have been hooked on quitting since. In all seriousness, it is SO refreshing to read a book that captures the nuances of deciding to start over and the ups and downs that can entails.

The Quitters Club follows four woman in a  friend group who are around 40. After meeting for a vacation they make a pact to quit the big thing in their life weighing them down. For Lucy, it’s writing. For Marie, it’s her marriage. For Collins it’s being stuck in her grief for her late husband. For Brooke, it’s trying to have kids.

Only, this is a story and conflict ensues because things never go that smoothly. What’s that saying, “if you wanna hear God laugh, make plans?”. Months later the friends have ended up in much different places than they started!

This book has some heavy themes like grief, illness, infertility, separation and divorce. It also really sucked me it. Each woman starts the book in a messy spot, quitting makes it all messier, and then life brings its own obstacles. It’s a real page turner that made me look at my own life. I basically read it in one long sitting because I’d say “oh I’ll take a break” and then something would happen in the book that made me keep reading.

Jessica Stawser is a great writer who got me invested in all four complicated characters. Thank you to Tall Poppy Writers and Lake Union for the gifted copy.