The Thursday Murder Club

The women in The Thursday Murder Club are strong, and many of them are the reason that the murder case is able to be solved. Elizabeth holds power over almost everyone in the novel, having more connections and being owed more favors than even the police. Within the police force, women are also more formidable than their male counterparts. The phone logs, showing the mysterious number, are left unsolved until Donna discovers the connection to Jason, because of Jason objectifying her and pulling a stereotypical move of a man trying to get a girl’s phone number. While the strength of the women, and their obvious objectification by the men, is seen several times in the story, the true depth of the feminist lens lies in the need to prove oneself. There has always been a need for women to prove themselves as individuals and in the workplace.

There are two significant narrative threads that focus this: first, in the similarities between Penny and Donna when working at the police station, and second, in the narrative of Joyce and her desire to become more than what people assume she is. This reveals itself in her diary entries gushing over how exciting her life is getting, as well as the relationship with her daughter, who sees her mother as a new independent woman by the end.