As the Good Housekeeping books editor, I read a ton of books every year—some great, some overhyped—to find which new releases you have to read and which you can skip. That’s how I choose the best picks for the Good Housekeeping Book Club every month! The March book is one you’re going to love.
For this month’s pick, I’m recommending Wait for Me by Amy Jo Burns. It’s not just an emotional page turner—it’s also a favorite of Jenna Bush Hager, who also chose it for her Read With Jenna book club this month. With the double stamp of approval, you know this lyrical read is worth picking up.
Wait for Me follows two fierce women as their lives and traumas intersect. Elle Harlow is a gritty mountain healer turned famous folk singer. One night in 1973, she disappears without a trace, leaving only her haunting music behind.
Two decades later, Marijohn Shaw is a young musician trapped in the town she was abandoned in as a baby. She wants answers about her unknown mother, and her father was one of the last people to see Elle alive.
When a meteor hits their small town, the lives of Marijohn and Elle intertwine in stunning ways in this dramatic story about music, resilience, and love.
“This is an emotional mystery about music, legacy, loss, and love—about the power of memory and what connects us across time,” says Jenna. “This book is as beautiful and lyrical as the sunsets in Appalachia, where our story unfolds.”
Personally, I picked Wait for Me for the GH Book Club because I love stories about scrappy women. This book thrums with music and determination in a way that’s infectious, from hardscrabble mountain living to the cutthroat glamour of Nashville.
The prose is lyrical, much like the music the story revolves around, but it never shies away from the hardship of poverty, the burn of betrayal, or the haunting of a broken past. This book is filled to the brim with independence and heartbreak as it deftly interweaves Elle’s and Marijohn’s histories in surprising ways.
If you loved Daisy Jones and the Six, want to go to Dollywood, or have ever done something everybody said you couldn’t, this is the book for you.
Grab a copy from your favorite bookseller and read along with us (and Jenna!) this month. Then, don’t forget to join the GH Book Club for more amazing reads every month.
