Every Other Wednesday

By: Susan Kietzman

Narrated by: C. S. E. Cooney

For years Ellie, Alice, and Joan enjoyed a casual friendship while volunteering at their children's Connecticut high school. Now, with those children grown and gone to college, a local tragedy brings the three into contact again. But what begins as a catch-up lunch soon moves beyond small talk to the struggles of this next stage of life. Joan Howard has spent 30 years of marriage doing what's expected of Howard women: shopping, dressing well, and keeping a beautiful home. Unfulfilled, her boredom and emptiness eventually find a secret outlet at the local casino. Meanwhile, Ellie's efforts to expand her accounting business lead to a new friendship that clashes with her family's traditional worldview. And Alice, feeling increasingly distant from her husband and alienated from her once fit body, takes up running again. But a terrifying ordeal shatters her confidence and spurs a decision that will affect all three women in different ways. Over the course of an eventful year, Ellie, Alice, and Joan will meet every other Wednesday to talk, plan - and find the freedom, and the courage, to redefine themselves.

©2017 Susan Kietzman (P)2017 Tantor

Relaxing Connecticut read

As a Connecticut local who adores New England towns this is such a delight to read. I appreciate that the characters are well rounded and there are no cliches. I feel like I know people like the characters in real life. Great, enjoyable read, at a relaxing but compelling enough pace. I enjoy listening to this book in the car driving through CT with my two boys under two asleep in the backseat. It’s some great relaxing “me time” before they wake up.

Great story, super reader

Susan Kietzman has crafted a genuine, heartfelt, and moving story tracking three interesting women through the midlife transition of the "empty nest". The women explore several contemporary issues in a well paced story. The book delivers a perceptive insight into women's perspectives on gun control, gambling, sexual orientation, and traditional and evolving expectations on the roles of mothers, kids, wives and husbands. The reader, C. S. E. Cooney, does a super job. You instantly know which character is speaking at any moment. The reader delivers with perfect touch, tone and inflection an insightful story.