For more than a half century, these women have been bound by books | The Boston Globe

It started as a kind of escape by Yvonne Abraham , Globe staff.

Photo: Globe Staff/File/Globe Staff

Or, if not an escape, as a way to stay connected to parts of themselves crowded out by the relentless demands of small children.

“We were tired of talking about rashes and poopy diapers,” Judy Alexander recalled. “So somebody said, ‘Why don’t we talk about a book instead?’ ”

It was 1968. They were in their mid to late 20s, just starting out as mothers. Most of those who joined the book group went on to long, impressive careers as teachers, therapists, civic leaders, entrepreneurs. But right then, those seven women needed a space just for themselves.

And so they started with Doris Lessing’s “The Golden Notebook,” and moved on to Eugene O’Neill, Sophocles, and Turgenev...

What has this book club become, over these 51 years? A refuge of sorts; a place to gather with smart, interesting friends; a way to guide themselves through new thinking, and make sense of the world.

Most of all, this monthly gathering has been a still point amid upheaval, a place apart.

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Source: The Boston Globe