The Quitters Club
- Judith D Collins
- May 30
- 6 min read
Updated: May 31
By: Jessica Strawser
Narrator: Andi Arndt
Brilliance Audio
ISBN: 978-1662534959
Publisher: Lake Union
Publication Date: 06/01/2026
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars
"Jessica Strawser delivers a thought-provoking, life-affirming novel about the things we keep, what we leave behind, and the courage it takes to, well, quit. The Quitters Club is an ode to female friendship and the liberating truth that defining life on your own terms isn’t failure, it’s freedom. A five-star must read by an unforgettable voice.” —Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of Summer State of Mind
From the USA Today bestselling author of The Last Caretaker comes a hopeful and empowering novel about the messy beauty of female friendship and the deep courage it takes to rebuild a life at any age.
When four ride-or-die friends reunite for a getaway, they’re desperate for a break, a chance to reconnect. But each is hiding a deeper reason why. Marie feels like an impostor teaching “How to Say No” seminars while her marriage has evolved into something she never said yes to. Brooke’s most heartfelt goal—motherhood—is proving out of reach. Lucy’s dream career has broken her spirit, possibly for good. And Collins feels trapped in grief by her late husband’s legacy.
All their lives, they’ve encouraged each other not to give up—but they can’t do this anymore. Now, at a breaking point, they make a pact: Quit. And help each other through the fallout.
At first, it’s positively liberating. A husband gets a much-needed wake-up call. A singles retreat is a widow’s perfect escape. A very public career exit becomes a never-too-late return to college. And a childless life becomes a bold new plan to travel the world. But letting go will be more complicated than they imagined. Confronting hard truths about love, loss, and starting over, these four women must discover what’s worth fighting for—and what’s truly best left behind.
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My Review
A liberating, life-affirming contemporary midlife masterclass.
"A thought-provoking exploration of female friendship where making a radical pact to walk away reveals what is truly worth fighting for."
In THE QUITTERS CLUB, bestselling author Jessica Strawser departs from her usual suspenseful book club thrillers to deliver a deeply atmospheric, Midwestern university-town, contemporary fiction mystery. The story hinges on four ride-or-die college friends facing immense emotional and societal hurdles to rewrite their futures at age forty.
Midlife reinvention vs. the unintended fallout of starting over.
Elevator Pitch
When four lifelong friends reunite at a breaking point in their lives, they make a radical, life-altering pact to quit the things making them miserable—from toxic careers to unfulfilling marriages—only to discover that letting go has unforeseen, high-stakes consequences.
Setting
The story transitions from a serene, therapeutic beach getaway to the nostalgic, idyllic college town of Athens, Ohio, centered around the brick pathways of Ohio University. The environment is defined by its deep sense of history, autumn leaves, and the overwhelming weight of past expectations.
Vibe
Empowering, heartfelt, and deeply poignant. It perfectly pairs the warm, comforting nostalgia of a multi-perspective women's fiction novel with the sharp, realistic tension of adult women actively dismantling their own lives.
Genre
Contemporary Women's Fiction / Book Club Drama / Chick-lit / Friendship Fiction.
Themes
~The Courage to Quit
~The Lifeline of Female Friendship:
~Perception vs. Reality
~Midlife Autonomy
MARIE, BROOKE, LUCY & COLLINS: THE MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE
Turning collective exhaustion into a collaborative roadmap for personal reinvention.
Standout Characters
~Marie: The protagonist; a woman who ironically teaches "How to Say No" seminars while trapped in a stagnant marriage she never truly wanted.
~Lucy: A high-achieving professional whose once-dream career has utterly broken her spirit, forcing a very public and chaotic corporate exit.
~Collins: A grieving widow buried under the weight of her late husband's artistic legacy, fighting to reclaim her autonomy from the museums and expectations keeping her frozen in the past.
Author Writing Standout
Strawser’s trademark gift for writing deeply relatable, complex adult women shines through in her meticulous, highly empathetic rendering of the four distinct character voices. She avoids turning their midlife pivots into mere whimsical tropes, writing the everyday logistics of marital strife, career burnout, and shared grief with striking, tactile realism.
Takeaway
True freedom requires the immense bravery to say "no" to a life that no longer serves you; sometimes, the act of abandoning your security blanket is the only way to find out what you are truly made of.
Title Significance
The Quitters Club acts as an ironic, empowering subversion of a negative label. It transforms "quitting"—a word traditionally associated with weakness or giving up—into a proud, unified badge of courage for women reclaiming their agency on their own terms.
Metaphor
The "How to Say No" seminars that Marie teaches serve as the central metaphor of the novel. They represent the heavy, frustrating mirror of the characters' lives—a textbook theory of boundaries that they must physically put into practice, testing the structural integrity of their actual relationships.
Why You Should Read
Read this if you are a fan of life-affirming, deeply atmospheric friendship fiction like the works of Kristy Woodson Harvey or Emily Giffin, or if you want a heartfelt, comforting novel that celebrates the messy beauty of female solidarity.
My Thoughts
A huge long-time fan of the author, the novel succeeds beautifully in building domestic emotional tension. The college-town setting is perfectly captured—not just through aesthetics, but through the heavy emotional anxieties of midlife reflection and the timeless safety of old friends. The dialogue is an unforgettable standout; the collective wit, support, and stubbornness of the core four make their bond incredibly grounded. A masterfully executed, life-affirming climax.
Verdict 5 / 5 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
"A thought-provoking, life-affirming contemporary novel that captures the liberating power of female friendship and the courage it takes to start over."
Recs
~The Last Caretaker by Jessica Strawser (for more of the author’s signature, five-star storytelling that beautifully merges an empowering journey of starting over with an atmospheric sense of place)
~Summer State of Mind by Kristy Woodson Harvey (for a similarly rich, heartfelt celebration of close-knit female bonds and seaside healing)
~The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick (for another brilliant Midwestern-adjacent look at a quiet female revolution and midlife pacts against social conformity)
~Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner (for a deeply emotional, character-driven masterclass exploring the heavy toll of societal expectations and women reclaiming their autonomy)
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: June 1 2026
June 2026 Must-Read Books
Praise
“Jessica Strawser delivers a thought-provoking, life-affirming novel about the things we keep, what we leave behind, and the courage it takes to, well, quit. The Quitters Club is an ode to female friendship and the liberating truth that defining life on your own terms isn’t failure, it’s freedom. A five-star must read by an unforgettable voice.”
―Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of Summer State of Mind
"I'm reminded of Jane Fonda's advice to her younger self: the word 'no' is a complete sentence. What Jessica Strawser so brilliantly brings to life with her unforgettable club of quitters is almost more valuable. Saying no empowers us to find a better yes."
―Steven Rowley, bestselling author of The Guncle
"The Quitters Club beautifully captures the effort it takes to create change in our lives―and how that effort is made possible by deep, enduring friendships. These amazing characters and their journeys made me reflect on my own life and reminded me to treasure the friends who lift and support me."
―Katrina Kittle, author of Morning in This Broken World
“Can you change your life by quitting the thing that makes you unhappy? That’s the central question of this heartfelt and poignant novel. When a group of friends makes a pact to leave behind the biggest problems in their lives, they think they’re taking a step toward happiness. But quitting can have unintended consequences, and sometimes the things you abandon are what you need the most. I laughed AND cried.”
―Catherine Mack, USA Today bestselling author of This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone
About the Author
Jessica Strawser is the USA Today bestselling author of Catch You Later, The Last Caretaker, The Next Thing You Know, A Million Reasons Why, Forget You Know Me, Not That I Could Tell (a Book of the Month selection), and Almost Missed You. She was editorial director at Writer’s Digest for nearly a decade before becoming a novelist. Jessica is also a Career Authors contributing editor, a popular speaker at writing conferences across the US, and a freelance editor and writer with bylines in the New York Times Modern Love column, Publishers Weekly, and other venues. A Pittsburgh native and alum of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, she lives with her husband and two children in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she has been honored with Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards in 2024 and 2026 and served as 2019 Writer-in-Residence for the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library. For more information, visit www.jessicastrawser.com.
