The Revenge Club DEALS
The Revenge Club by best-selling Australian writer Kathy Lette is a hilarious tale of 4 women championing feminism. This novel was published in 2024 and has been longlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2025.
It is an easy read that can be classed under various genres such as general fiction, chick lit, and humor. This hysterically funny piece of fiction has a crazy, quirky premise that makes you wonder “what if?”.
The Revenge Club Summary
Jo, Matilda, Cressida, and Penny are a group of women in their late 50s who used to be close friends in college but had a falling out. Jo gets in touch with the other 3 women and organizes a lunch.
Matilda, Cressida, and Penny wait for Jo to turn up, but a man takes her seat who turns out to be none other than Jo herself in professional make-up. Everyone is stunned when Jo informs them that she’s been pretending to be a man to prove a point at work, where she was mistreated because of her gender.
Matilda is a writer whose work is suddenly being ignored by her publisher because of her age and lack of sex appeal. Due to her weight gain, her publisher deems her ‘un-shaggable’ and is therefore uninterested in her work.
Cressida is a wife and a mother who gave up her acting career for her family. She walked in on her husband cheating on her. He casually informs her that he’s been having an affair, but he won’t agree to a divorce because it makes him look bad.
Penny is a journalist who puts her career above all else. She chose not to have a family of her own because it would have impacted her success. She works closely with a male journalist who isn’t as accomplished or talented as her, but he’s the one who gets a promotion while she’s been told that she’s starting to look too old for television.
Once Matilda, Cressida, and Penny face this unfair treatment, they begin to see the wisdom of Jo’s actions. They accept Jo’s help in trying to take revenge on the men who ruined their lives.
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Strengths
I loved the fact that this book brings important issues to light, such as ageism, misogyny, and anti-feminism. It blatantly states all the unfair treatment that women, and especially older women, are subjected to through the main characters who have been wronged.
We, as a society, still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality (more in some countries than others), and it is inherently beneficial to continue having meaningful conversations about such issues to raise awareness and educate future generations. This book conveys the message loud and clear hilariously.
The misogyny’s not so noticeable individually, is it?’ I surmised. ‘But the drip, drip, drip of anti-female stories adds up to a sexist tsunami.
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I did not like the narrator’s voice. The narrator is Matilda, the writer, and she just overflows with puns and quips that I felt were a little excessive at times.
It was probably meant to show what her character was like, but it was annoying to read. There was also a fair bit of clichéd stereotypes of men and women that were used to make a point.
However, I think it would have been more interesting to make the stereotypes a bit more subtle and the characters a bit more complex. But this book is not meant to have a serious or nuanced tone, and so it needs to be enjoyed as it is.
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Key Themes And Takeaways
Feminism is the key theme of this novel. It also touches upon body positivity, sexist ageism, and sexual harassment. All very important topics that are as relevant today as they have ever been.
The main takeaway from this fiction novel is understanding that women continue to be subjected to reprehensible behavior from men, whether it is glaringly obvious and problematic on a large scale or very subtle and therefore accepted as normal or a mere inconvenience that they should put up with unless they want to be gaslighted and labelled with any number of unsavory titles.
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Verdict
Although this book has some cringeworthy narration, it was hilarious overall. It’s a fun story, and I did enjoy it. I can easily imagine this book being adapted into a movie. I was so intrigued by Jo’s actions that I wished the book covered a bit more of how she pulled off pretending to be a man.
It would be very interesting if what Jo did was carried out as a social experiment. I would be keen to see the difference in real-life situations if a woman posed as and was believed to be a man. It would be the making of a great future documentary on feminism.
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The Review
The Revenge Club
It’s a fun story, and I did enjoy it. I can easily imagine this book being adapted into a movie.
PROS
- Champions feminism
- Highlights relevant issues
- Exceptionally funny
CONS
- Cringey narration
- Stereotypical
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