I feel like I'm giving this book three stars based on its potential as opposed to the actual work. I wanted so badly for this to be good! It started off strong with a really neat take on women trying to balance personal aspirations and societal expectations in the 1960s. I was all in. Unfortunately, while the premise is a good one and the author is full of great ideas, she also writes in a way that almost insults her audience's intelligence. There were far too many poignant moments that were ruined by the author summing up exactly what she was trying to say in one clear, concise sentence. I loved the women in the novel - their relationships with each other, their husbands, their children - but in the end, I couldn't really get past the blatant disregard of a reader's desire to interpret, explore, and question.