The Persian Pickle Club: 20th Anniversary Edition
It is the 1930s, and hard times have hit Harveyville, Kansas, where the crops are burning up, and there's not a job to be found. For Queenie Bean, a young farm wife, a highlight of each week is the gathering of the Persian Pickle Club, a group of local ladies dedicated to improving their minds, exchanging gossip, and putting their quilting skills to good use. When a new member of the club stirs up a dark secret, the women must band together to support and protect one another. In her magical, memorable novel, Sandra Dallas explores the ties that unite women through good times and bad.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
thenextgoodbook.com
What’s it about?
This story is set a small farming town in Kansas during the 1930’s. It is the height of the depression when Tom and his new wife Rita arrive back to his parent’s farm. No one is happier than Queenie (who is married to Tom’s best friend). Rita is immediately welcomed into the local quilting circle and soon learns all about friendship in a small Kansas community.
What did it make me think about?
It seems like women helping other women has been a common theme in my last few books.
Should I read it?
This was just a delightful little story. It was as folksy as you can get (almost how I would imagine Dolly Parton would write a book). But it was a compelling story and Sandra Dallas did a great job of creating the setting. She adds in a little mystery to keep the plot going and creates a group of women that you will root for. This is a good choice for historical fiction fans.
Quote-
“I’d never met a woman who didn’t sew. None of us had, and we stared at her again, until Ceres Root said with a nice smile, ‘You modern women have so many interesting things to do. In this day and age, there’s no good reason to make thirteen quilt tops before you marry, like I had to when I was a girl.’ We all nodded, except for Mrs. Judd, who wasn’t one for making excuses for other people. Agnes T. Ritter didn’t nod, either. A hundred quilt tops wouldn’t help her find a husband.”
What’s it about?
This story is set a small farming town in Kansas during the 1930’s. It is the height of the depression when Tom and his new wife Rita arrive back to his parent’s farm. No one is happier than Queenie (who is married to Tom’s best friend). Rita is immediately welcomed into the local quilting circle and soon learns all about friendship in a small Kansas community.
What did it make me think about?
It seems like women helping other women has been a common theme in my last few books.
Should I read it?
This was just a delightful little story. It was as folksy as you can get (almost how I would imagine Dolly Parton would write a book). But it was a compelling story and Sandra Dallas did a great job of creating the setting. She adds in a little mystery to keep the plot going and creates a group of women that you will root for. This is a good choice for historical fiction fans.
Quote-
“I’d never met a woman who didn’t sew. None of us had, and we stared at her again, until Ceres Root said with a nice smile, ‘You modern women have so many interesting things to do. In this day and age, there’s no good reason to make thirteen quilt tops before you marry, like I had to when I was a girl.’ We all nodded, except for Mrs. Judd, who wasn’t one for making excuses for other people. Agnes T. Ritter didn’t nod, either. A hundred quilt tops wouldn’t help her find a husband.”
Sandra Dallas takes a cozy quilting circle and stitches it into a murder mystery fueled by loyalty, secrets, and women protecting one another. Persian Pickle Club feels like sitting on a Kansas front porch listening to neighbors trade gossip over iced tea while slowly unraveling the truth behind a brutal death.
Queenie Bean treasures her weekly meetings with the Persian Pickle Club, a group of women who quilt, gossip, and survive the hardships of 1930s Kansas together. Life in Harveyville is already difficult with drought, poverty, and struggling farms weighing on every family. Then, whispers surrounding the murder of an abusive man named Ben begin surfacing within the club. A new member pushes Queenie into investigating, and each revelation uncovers just how far these women will go to protect one another.
What I loved most was the fierce sense of female solidarity woven through every chapter. The mystery itself unfolds in a wonderfully messy chain of confessions that somehow becomes both hilarious and deeply touching. Every woman stepping forward to shield another felt like an act of rebellion against the expectations placed on women in that era. Sandra Dallas captures the intimacy of small-town friendships beautifully, especially the unspoken understanding that survival often depended on women standing together.
Ali Ahn’s narration elevated the experience even more. Her variations in accent and cadence gave each woman a distinct personality without ever feeling exaggerated. Listening to her tell this story felt warm and immersive like hearing family stories passed down across generations. She brought humor, heartbreak, and tension into balance so naturally that I kept finding excuses to keep listening.
The final reveal surprised me because the book transforms from a straightforward mystery into something much more meaningful about community, sacrifice, and protection. It reminded me strongly of Fried Green Tomatoes with its blend of Southern storytelling, female friendship, and women quietly reclaiming power in a world that dismisses them. Pick this up if you love stories about women protecting each other, cozy small-town mysteries, front-porch storytelling, and quilting circles with secrets.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.