The Professors' Wives' Club — Joanne Rendell

Nestled within Manhattan U's faculty housing, there is a garden where Jim: women will meet -- each with a scandalous secret that could upset her life, destroy her family, and rock the prestigious university to its very core....

WITH ITS SHADY MAPLE TREES, ELEGANT IRON GATE, AND high fence laced with honeysuckle, Manhattan U's garden offers faculty wives Mary, Sofia, Ashleigh, and Hannah a much-needed refuge. For Mary, the garden is an escape from abuse. For Sofia, it offers solace as she considers trading in her diaper bag for a briefcase. Then there's Ashleigh, who wonders whether she should tell her conservative father something that might well give him another heart attack. And last is Hannah, who rues jeopardizing her lukewarm marriage. for one passionate night.

As Mary's husband, the power-hungry dean, makes plans to demolish the beloved garden, these four women will discover a surprising secret about a lost Edgar Allan Poe manuscript...and realize they must find the courage to stand up for their passions, dreams, and desires.