Formerly known as “Literary Wives,” The Marriage Plot is an online book club. Once per quarter, we read a book (usually a novel) that explores love and roles in long-term partnerships such as marriages.

You are welcome to join the five regular club members in any of our upcoming reads. We post reviews on the first Monday of March, June, September and December.

The main question we ask is: What does this book say about marriage or about the experience of being a spouse/partner?

The club has been running since October 2013. You can view the extensive archive of our previous reads on Kay’s blog.

The Schedule:

September 2026 – Family Family by Laurie Frankel

December 2026 – The Eden Test by Adam Sternbergh

March 2027 – Wedded Wife by Rachael E. Lennon

June 2027 – Liars by Sarah Manguso

September 2027 – Brick Lane by Monica Ali

December 2027 – Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages by Phyllis Rose

March 2028 – The Course of Love by Alain de Botton

June 2028 – My Husband by Maud Ventura

Members:

Becky of Aidanvale

Becky is a lawyer by day and a reading enthusiast always. She lives in Sydney with her husband, two kids – each with huge personalities – and one very spoiled cavoodle. Life is a juggle of family, friends, and full-time work, and she is always trying to find some kind of balance in the chaos. She is happy to read everything but is often happiest with a cosy detective novel and some peace and quiet.   

Kate of Books Are My Favourite and Best

Kate can’t remember a time in her life that didn’t include books. She started her blog in 2012 as a way of extending her bookish-circle – and extend it, it did!

Kate lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and four children. When she’s not reading, she can be found swimming laps at her local pool, dreaming of her next beach holiday, or walking by the Yarra River. Kate works as a grief counsellor.

Kay of What? Me Read?

Kay is a long-time professional technical writer (now retired—yippee!) who also taught composition and technical-writing courses at the college level. She loves reading all kinds of books. She is also a moderator for The Classics Club. She is the secret author of three (sadly unpublished) trashy romance novels and one literary novel.

Marianne of Let’s Read!

Marianne is originally from Germany and spent half of her life in Belgium, England, and the Netherlands. After retirement, she moved back to her homeland with her husband to be closer to family. Unfortunately, her sons are also abroad but they keep in close contact.

She has been reading all her life and started writing a blog for former members of her book club. Her favourite genres are classics and historical novels. While she is not a big fan of science fiction and fantasy, she reads anything for one of her various book clubs.

Apart from reading, she loves crafts, photography and languages.

Rebecca of Bookish Beck

Originally from Maryland, Rebecca lives in Newbury, England and works as a freelance proofreader and book reviewer. She also curates a neighborhood Little Free Library and volunteers with community gardening projects and at her local public library.