Quick Synopsis – Told through the eyes of ten local women, Grabowski’s Women and Children First is an exquisite portrait of grief and a powerful reminder of life’s interconnectedness.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Season of the Sticks by Noah Kahan

Release Date – May 7, 2024

Content Warnings – This book deals with addiction (drug and alcohol), suicide, grooming, sexual assault (off-page), and dysfunctional families. There are several mentions of parent death, child loss, or a parent leaving a family. There is underage drinking and drug use.

Rating – 4 out of 5 stars⭐

Review – Let me just say this book is beautifully written. It’s an ensemble piece with each chapter switching between different women and teenage girls as they deal with the often depressing reality of their Massachusetts town. Each chapter/character clearly has their own voice and actions; it’s stunning to weave the pieces of their lives together.

Women and Children First takes place over the course of what seems like a year. Primarily, the book revolves around the events before the death of a student and the aftermath, though I feel like the before should have really been during. You find out pretty quickly a teenager has passed, so there never really is a before. Each character has their own personal connection and trauma, and we as the reader are just passing through. There is no real catharsis; instead, we have to sit in the uncomfortable den of someone else’s tragedy. This isn’t a book I would normally like because it is bleak, but I really connected with this story. It was beautiful because it felt so real to me, it was based in New England, but could have been Anywhere, USA.

There were two issues I did have with the book, the first being the timeline. At first, I thought we’d be going through the same day or the same set of days with each chapter, but the book seems to cover almost a year, and each chapter is moving the story along. I liked this as a plot mover, but it was also confusing. I had a hard time reconciling the events and where we were narratively. The second issue I had was I wish Lucy would have had a chapter. I get that her not having a chapter is poignant and makes a statement. In life, we rarely get an insight into someone’s last moments or interior motivations, but it would have helped me care more about such a central part of the story.

Women and Children is a stunning debut and while there could have been a few minor changes, I genuinely enjoyed reading this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Zando/SJP Lit for the ARC. All opinions are my own.