The Underground Railroad by Colston Whitehead - January 2021
We held another book group meeting in December using Zoom, “attended” by nine members, when we discussed The Underground Railroad by Colston Whitehead. The novel tells the story of a teenage slave named Cora, who flees the Georgia plantation where she was born, risking everything in pursuit of freedom, much the way her mother, Mabel, did years before. Cora and her friend Caesar are pursued by a fanatical slave catcher named Ridgeway, whose failure to find Mabel has made him all the more determined to hunt down her daughter and destroy the abolitionist network that has aided her. Traveling from Georgia to South Carolina to North Carolina to Tennessee to Indiana, Cora must try to elude not just Ridgeway, but also other bounty hunters, informers and lynch mobs. She is helped along the way by a few dedicated “railroad” workers, both black and white, willing to risk their lives to save hers.
We all agreed that it was a well written very powerful book covering an important topic which had many parallels with today’s world. However, a number of people said it was a difficult and harrowing read because of the topic it covered. It was an interesting and stimulating afternoon discussion.
Andy Moir
The Binding by Bridget Collins - February 2021
We held another book group meeting in February using Zoom, “attended” by ten members, when we discussed The Binding by Bridget Collins. The novel is a fantasy set in a place vaguely like Victorian England. It tells the story of Emmett Farmer a young man who after having suffered some sort of mental collapse and no longer being able to do his farm work, is sent to become an apprentice book binder. In Emmett’s world people visit or are sent to book binders who remove painful or difficult memories. Once people’s stories have been told to the binder, written down and bound between in a book, their memory is wiped clean.
The member who recommended the book was unable to attend the meeting and wrote us a review where she said “The Binding certainly takes me to places unimaginable and is so beautifully written that I got taken into its spell and was happy to stay there. She makes her characters wonderful, yet believable and there is a poignancy about them which makes them quite compelling. Given the “sameyness” of our lives at the moment it is like a starburst or a pop of strong chilli to take us beyond the now”.
Unfortunately, the other members of the group didn’t enjoy reading the Binding and in fact a number didn’t finish it. People thought that it was over-hyped, very dark, the fantasy world was poorly described and the characters very superficial. The group thought that at a time like this they would prefer a more cheerful, uplifting and entertaining book.
Andy Moir
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - March 2021
We held another book group meeting in March using Zoom which was “attended” by eleven members, when we discussed A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.
The novel tells the story of Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov who in 1921 is sentenced by a Bolshevik tribunal to a life of house arrest in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel. The Count is sentenced to house arrest rather than being shot because the Count had written a poem in 1913 with revolutionary undertones. When he returns to the hotel following his sentence, most of his possessions are confiscated, and he is moved from his luxurious suite on the third floor to a single room on the sixth floor.
At first the Count has a difficult time coping with his new life. He feels restless and purposeless but then he is befriended a young girl named Nina, who is precocious, stubborn, and most importantly, adventurous. Nina has acquired a pass key for all of the hotel’s doors, and she shows the Count its various rooms and passageways. The novel then tells the story of the Count’s life and the colourful characters he meets during his life in the hotel over more than 30 years.
Unlike most meetings of our group, we were unanimous in our praise and enjoyment of the book. One member said that it was “beautify written, extremely unusual and highly entertaining”. Another said “I loved this book and we would all like to read more by Amor Towles”. It was a very good book to cheer us all up during these difficult times.
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
We held another book group meeting in April using Zoom which was “attended” by nine members, when we discussed The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. Unusually for our group the book is non-fiction rather than a novel.
The book begins when, at 50 years old, Raynor Winn and her husband Moth lose a legal battle and are forced to give up their farm in Wales and face homelessness. At the same Moth is diagnosed with a chronic degenerative condition which will only give him a few more years to live. The doctor prescribes rest and relaxation, indicating that there is no possible cure.
However with seemingly nothing less to lose and nowhere else to go, they decide to pack the essentials into two rucksacks, purchase a tent and sleeping bags, and set off on the 630 mile long South West Coast Path, using a guidebook.
The book was a major critical and popular success but not with our group! Whilst we agreed that the book introduced important topics like homelessness, none of the members present enjoyed the book or liked the narrator Raynor Winn. Our comments were, “she was self-indulgent and irresponsible”, “I was irritated by her self-pity”, “it was all me, me , me”.
Not a book that we would recommend.
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
We held another book group meeting in May using Zoom when we discussed How to Stop Time by Matt Haig. The novel is about Tom Hazard who has just moved back to London, his old home, to settle down and become a secondary school history teacher. And on his first day at school, he meets a captivating French teacher at the school who seems fascinated by him.
However Tom has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare medical condition, he's been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history; performing with Shakespeare, exploring the Pacific Ocean with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald in 1920’s Paris. But now, Tom just wants an ordinary life.
The majority of the group liked the book including members who don’t normally enjoy speculative fiction. One members said “it was a fascinating mix of fact and fantasy. We went from Newton’s theory in the 18th century to String theory in the 21st with many interesting interludes on the journey. His description of the many places and the times he lived in them was interesting and at the same time sad, knowing that most of those he met would die whilst he lived on.”
An interesting book and an interesting discussion.
My Brilliant Friend by Eleanor Ferrante
We held another book group meeting in June using Zoom when we discussed My Brilliant Friend by Eleanor Ferrante. The novel is the first in a series of four Neapolitan novels by the anonymous author who remains unknown behind the nom de plume.
The series follows the lives of two perceptive and intelligent girls, Elena (sometimes called "Lenù") Greco and Raffaella ("Lila") Cerullo, from childhood to adulthood and old age. My Brilliant Friend is narrated by Elena Greco and describes how the two girls, who were born in 1944 in a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Naples, try to create lives for themselves amidst the violent and stultifying culture of their home.
As often happens with the group our opinions of the book varied widely. One member said that the book was “totally absorbing and that the loved the details which gave a perfect picture of the characters and their surroundings.” She said that they had already ordered the next book in the series from the library. Another member said that they were confused by the characters and didn’t finish the book.
Another interesting afternoon discussing novels.
Bridge of Clay by Marcus Zusak
At our August meeting we discussed Bridge of Clay by Marcus Zusak. Bridge of Clay is a novel about the Dunbar family and is narrated by Mathew the oldest of five brothers living in the suburbs of Sydney in Australia. The five brothers live on their own after their mother, an immigrant who moved to Australia as a young girl, dies of cancer and their father deserts them. Some years later their father returns and asks them to help him build a bridge on his land in the Australian Outback. Only one of the brothers, Clay, agrees to help him.
We read Marcus Zusak’s previous novel, The Book Thief, in 2016 and we had all enjoyed it so we were looking forward to his new novel. Unfortunately, we didn’t enjoy this novel as much and several people didn’t finish it.
Several members did quite enjoy the novel and especially its description of how the five brothers related to each other and the description of their mother’s journey from communist Poland to her new life in Australia. We all agreed that it was too long and rather confusing when the story jumped back and forth in time.
However whatever we thought of the book, it was another interesting afternoons discussion.
One Split Second by Caroline Bond - August 2021
At our August meeting we discussed One Split Second by Caroline Bond. The novel begins when a car carrying four teenagers home from a party crashes into a brick wall. None of the people in the car escapes unscathed, but some of them are more deeply scarred than others and one of the group does not survive
The novel describes the aftermath of the accident and the devastating consequences, not just for the young people directly involved, but also for their families, their friends and the wider community.
We all agreed that the book was well written and easy to read. Some people thought that it was a very good book that raised interesting questions about responsibility, punishment and forgiveness others were not so keen.
However whatever we thought of the book, it was another interesting afternoon’s discussion.
Days without End by Sebastian Barry - September 2021
At our September meeting we discussed Days without End by Sebastian Barry. The novel follows two soldiers in mid-19th century America, the narrator, an Irishman named Thomas McNulty, and his lover John Cole, as they are involved in the Indian Wars in the West and then they fight for the Union in the American Civil War. Along the way they adopt a Sioux orphan, Winona, and put on a successful drag act.
With one exception the group agreed that it was a very good book and one person said that it was the beat book that they had read as part of the group. People said that “they loved the narrative style”, “really enjoyed the book”, “loved the colourful metaphors”.
We agreed that we would like to read another of Sebastian Barry’s novels as part of the group and some people weren’t going wait and are going to buy a copy of the sequel A Thousand Moons which continues the story with Winona as the narrator.
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney - October 2021
At our November meeting we discussed Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney. The main character and narrator is Frances, a twenty-one year old student and aspiring writer at university in Dublin. The novel describes her relationships with Bobbi a fellow student and former girlfriend and with an intellectual, married couple in their thirties, Melissa and Nick. Frances feels an attraction towards Nick, which she comes to realize is mutual. Meanwhile, Melissa and Bobbi are drawn to each other.
The book had received glowing reviews but whilst some members thought that it was well written we agreed unanimously that we didn’t like it.
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben McIntyre - November 2021
At our November meeting we discussed The Spy and the Traitor by Ben McIntyre. Unlike most books the group reads the book is non-fiction. The book tells the story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB Officer who became a double agent working for the UK during the Cold War. It describes his thrilling escape, after he was exposed, from Moscow to Finland hidden in the boot of a British diplomat’s car.
The majority of the group really enjoyed the book. One member said “The details of the escape took my breath away, down to the incident of the baby obligingly filling its nappy and being changed on the lid of the boot of the escape car. The old adage 'Truth is stranger than fiction' certainly holds true here.”
However two members of the group were more sceptical of some of the claims in the book and felt that we were only hearing part of the story.
Big Sky by Kate Atkinson - December 2021
At our December meeting we discussed Big Sky by Kate Atkinson. Big Sky is Kate Atkinson’s fifth Jackson Brodie novel. Jackson Brodie is a retired police detective inspector who now works as a private investigator. He has moved to a quiet Yorkshire seaside town, and his moody teenage son and an aging Labrador are staying with him.
Jackson's current job is gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his suspicious wife but a chance encounter with a desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister network which is making large amounts of money sex-trafficking young women from foreign countries.
Kate Atkinson is a popular author with the group and we have read a number of her books including others in the Jackson Brody series. We all agreed that she is a very good writer and that we enjoyed the novel in spite of it very dark theme.
However we also thought that the novel was too long, too complicated and with too many strands and red-herrings which were resolved very quickly right at the end of the book.
The group agreed that we would be happy to read another Kate Atkinson book in future but that we preferred her literary novels to her crime novels.