Lunch Ladies - by Jodi Thompson Carr (Paperback)

About the Book

With humor and heartache, Lunch Ladies captures time and place as the people of Hanley, Minnesota - living and dead - come together for the bicentennial parade.

Book Synopsis

Winner of the 2025 WOMEN IN PUBLISHING SUMMIT AWARD FOR BEST FEMALE DEBUT

"Readers who love nostalgic small-town tales will devour Carr's debut." - BookLife

"A heartwarming story that captures relationships, growth, and tragedy in an enlightening atmosphere readers will find engrossing." Midwest Book Review

"Wonderfully complex characters...perfect for a book club or rainy Sunday morning." - Independent Book Review

A TREASURE OF BOOK CLUB FICTION. Lunch Ladies captures time and place with laugh-out-loud humor, and reach-for-a-tissue heartache, as the people of Hanley, Minnesota - living and dead - come together for a community celebration.

For lovers of women's fiction with characters who linger long after the close of a book, Lunch Ladies immerses readers in lives and relationships that are joyful, troubled, and emotionally charged. Characters' intertwined lives, their dreams and heartbreaks, their histories, and their secrets, emerge as this story develops with startling honesty and depth.

Lunch Ladies offers a spot-on depiction of the 1970's in small-town America. As the book opens, it's 1976 and there's a bicentennial parade in the works. Is this a task for the school district's lunch ladies? Their answer would be "no." And yet Crystal, Coralene, and Sheila find themselves crafting food stands to feed parade goers, come the Fourth of July.

Crystal has other things to do: matching lonely travelers from the newspaper obituaries with kind souls still living. Coralene doesn't need this nonsense. She has a home and family, and a nephew she must save before it's too late. Is it already too late for Sheila? Her safe harbor is a booth at Denny's on Friday nights, with the only person who might help her move beyond her past.

In language both lyrical and stark, Lunch Ladies serves up a poignant, tender, and humorous view of the flawed and fascinating citizens of Hanley. The novel is peppered with wit and insight, as it captures the absurdities of family and community life, while revealing the humanity of those who've been lost, or left behind.

Review Quotes

"Carr serves huge slices of entertainment with that perfect small-town setup, crafting eccentric characters who immediately win over readers...Carr has a talent for spinning imaginative prose and injecting healthy doses of dry wit, though that doesn't mean the story is lacking in deeper moments...Readers who love nostalgic small-town tales will devour Carr's debut." BookLife

"From Friday night dinners at Denny's to matchmaking with obituaries, Lunch Ladies will keep readers entertained from cover to cover. Rich with witty dialogue and the ups and downs that come with friends and family...Kudos to author Jodi Thompson Carr for creating a masterpiece full of emotion, love, warmth, and life." Seattle Book Review

"Wonderfully complex characters...Lunch Ladies radiates warmth as the women navigate relatively average lives...a truly well-written reflective novel perfect for a book club or a rainy Sunday morning." Independent Book Review

"This is a book that readers will find dear to their hearts. Lunch Ladies will make you laugh, cry, and cheer with its quirky characters. This is a beautifully written novel about relationships, friendships, togetherness, and loneliness." Chicago Book Review

"A finely crafted and thoughtful look at the problems that bind us within our seemingly mundane, everyday lives...Keen eye for detail concerning the importance of the parade elevates what would have felt mundane in the hands of a less skilled writer...Overall, this is a wonderful, emotionally resonant tale with a relatable, well-observed narrative that rewards readers with its quiet strength and wisdom. Very highly recommended." Readers' Favorite

"Lunch Ladies a full-bodied flavor of adventure and discovery as each woman navigates family, hurt feelings, anger, and new options... How the women and their community join together to overcome obstacles and contribute their talents to the greater good creates a heartwarming story that captures relationships, growth, and tragedy in an enlightening atmosphere readers will find engrossing." Midwest Book Review

"This plunge into the friendships and inner thoughts of a caste of women who usually remain 'unseen' and 'unheard'...is heartfelt, and wrought with sensitivity, tragedy, and humor...The insights that lucky readers gain into the intimate details of overlooked working-class women's souls are as dynamic, dramatic, and important as any characters peopling the middle- and upper-class fictional fare on the market today." Carol Dawson, author of The Mother-in-Law Diaries, Body of Knowledge, The Waking Spell, and Meeting the Minotaur