Preview
  • The Briar Club

  • A Novel
  • By: Kate Quinn
  • Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
  • Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (2,544 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Briar Club

By: Kate Quinn
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.19

Buy for $25.19

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye and The Rose Code returns with a haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse during the McCarthy era.

Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss, whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; policeman’s daughter Nora, who finds herself entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Beatrice, whose career has come to an end along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.

Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: who is the true enemy in their midst?

Capturing the paranoia of the McCarthy era and evoking the changing roles for women in postwar America, The Briar Club is an intimate and thrilling novel of secrets and loyalty put to the test.

Includes a bonus conversation with Kate Quinn, Saskia Maarleveld, and Tessa Woodward, editor of The Briar Club.

©2024 Kate Quinn (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Briar Club

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,044
  • 4 Stars
    359
  • 3 Stars
    94
  • 2 Stars
    27
  • 1 Stars
    20
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,097
  • 4 Stars
    192
  • 3 Stars
    49
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    18
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,885
  • 4 Stars
    332
  • 3 Stars
    82
  • 2 Stars
    37
  • 1 Stars
    31

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exceptional

Exceptional characters and voice acting. Incredible story telling in an historical context. It’s a must read for lovers of historical fiction.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliantly written

Cleaver, historically correct with a fictional spin. The reader is not persuaded by any ONE thing. Each character has a story that everyone today can empathize with, if not share totally.
The recipes were a delightful addition that is wholly original.
I’m impressed completely and appreciate totally the whole of this piece of artful literature. Thank you. It was truly a breath of fresh air. An intriguing perspective from an otherwise (of late) boring and predictive host of readings I’ve had. Did I say it was a breath of fresh air?! It is and brilliant!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

didn't know much of what went on in early 50's

always like a group of strangers getting together and how thier lives intertwine in a great story!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

This book deserves more than 5 stars, perfect character development and incredibly written as related to the time period. Love, love, love!!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

FANTASTIC LISTEN!

My favorite so far. Loved the way the different character were developed and given a voice, including the house! Will be recommending to all my bookish friends!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Hang on. It may take awhile but Kate Quinn eventually delivers

When I started and continued to read I thought maybe this was going to be Kate Quinn’s worst book. I almost quit about half way through thinking she had decided to write a woke book like so many authors have felt obligated to do but instead she delivered a balanced view of the many issues. Well done!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Grace

Nothing I really enjoyed the entire book and cannot name something that I didn’t enjoy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This is my new favorite book. The concept, the characters, the story and the narrator!

I’ve read a LOT of historical fiction, but never set in this time frame. I love strong women characters.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved Every Second

I'm highly critical of long books being engaging 100% of the time - this one takes the cake. So we'll done with historical references embedded throughout. I have already bought a hard copy for my classroom library for those students who drink up real writing to borrow!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Creative

This story drew me in so quickly! Each character was unique and interesting. You will love the ones you’er suppose to love and dislike the ones that are not likable.
Such an interesting format that was both creative and enjoyable.
Enjoyed it to the very end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!