Review: The Gentlemen’s Club by Becky Due
Reviewed by Melanie Kline
Angie belongs to the gym so that she has a place to shower before she heads off to her jobs. Credit card debt and a bad relationship have left her living in her car, but this is just the tip of the iceberg that has ravaged her life. She has pretty much seen it all – abusive men, molestation, etc.
Angie is convinced that there is a better life out there somewhere and when she meets Julie, the pieces finally begin to fall into place for her. They become instant best friends. They enjoy the same things and have had very similar life experiences; Julie gives Angie a hand to hold while she works things out.
Angry at men and their treatment of women, Angie decides to write a piece for the newspaper where she works about the strip club across the street. She interviews the workers there and they become fast friends. At a group meeting the women discuss their own secrets of rape, prostitution, assault and depression and Julie suggests that they pay the men back. At first they joke about what they would like to do to them, but it quickly escalates into a plan for a hostile takeover of the club.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Gentlemen’s Club until almost the end. Suddenly, I found myself almost repulsed by the way that the women were blaming everything on men. Yes, the men were wrong, but they refused to admit that they were in any way guilty themselves. For example: the men treat the women badly at the club – ogling them, talking trash, etc. So my thought was quit, don’t work there. Angie herself had done a stint working at a strip club and quit when she didn’t like the way she was treated. For me, it became male bashing and blaming at its finest. I understand the point that was trying to be made, but I am afraid that the attempt fell far from the mark and made the women themselves the unlikable characters.
Rating: 2/5
Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Becky Due. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
Category: Contemporary, Literature & Fiction
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Hi Everybody!
Thanks for the great comments and the review. I really do appreciate it.
Let me address a couple of things. The Gentlemen’s Club: A Story for All Women was my first novel, based on my life and my experiences. I’m a little taken aback by the comments attacking the women in this novel. Is it that hard to believe that women sometimes don’t like the choices they make, feel stuck and can’t find a way out?
I’ve worked with women who have been victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence, and I know how hard it is for them to overcome their experiences. It’s hard to convince the women that they are strong, beautiful, intelligent, and capable of creating the life they want and deserve. Sadly, instead of supporting each other, women often judge other women for being beat down and making poor choices—never really wanting to understand the truth about violence.
The ending of The Gentlemen’s Club is all about feeling the anger, not burying it inside—allowing themselves to be angry about their experiences. Sometimes we need to get angry before we can create change, and thankfully, Angie does figure it all out in the end.
Come on, Women! Let’s stick together! : )
Thanks again for the review!
The first thing I felt about the book (whether right or wrong) was how much I dislike the cover. I know, “don’t judge a book by its cover”, but if I was to see this book in the store I would probably not even pick it up…it just turns me off.
I am with Carol that I am not sure what the female stripper characters were expecting to receive from the men who oogled and talked unkindly to them at the strip club. Um….are the men supposed to look down at their feet instead of at the stripper
? This book could have been taken a lot of different ways that might have made it better: showing the women empowered at the end, not getting bitter because of what they experienced; seeking out revenge but in more of a tongue and cheek way instead of just as the helpless victims who can’t catch a break; having the women come together and made some sort of organization to help women get past what has happened to them and better their future, etc. I can see how the premise of the book starts out strong but I think I would get annoyed with the complaining by the end. Thanks for the review!
I will definitely pass on this one. Can’t understand why she wouldn’t have expected to be oogled and talked trash to at a strip club. I must admit that I have never joined a gym because I am self consciuos about my body size. I don’t know why she is fighting this battle. When I was slimmer I faced behavior by a few men, not all that upset me deeply. To me, that is the battle she should be fighting.
Carol Wong
beside the derailing of the women’s desire to regain their power, in studying the cover more closely, i find the ‘crucifixion’ image disturbing. if women want freedom, then why choose to submit yourselves to the ogling and denigrating? what benefit are they receiving that they’re unwilling to give up? in countries with a vast social net, churches and organizations to aid in redirecting lives in positive change, it still comes down to individual’s making life choices…
thx Melanie~
This sounds like it addresses a problem in our society which is the “objectification” of either men or women for sexual enjoyment..and yes I mentioned men because women can be just as bad in clubs with male strippers. This sounds interesting but I’m worried about the ending as it doesn’t sound like the women were actually empowered at the end but just re-acted. Thanks for the review but I think I’ll pass on this one.