Precious Bain by Mary Webb - January 2023
At our January meeting we discussed Precious Bain by Mary Webb. Mary Webb was a novelist who was popular in the 1920s and 30s but who went out of fashion until her novels were republished by Virago in 1978.
The novel tells the story of Prue Sarn, a strong-willed girl who was born on a remote farm in Shropshire in the early nineteenth century. Prue has a hare lip, her precious bane, because of which she is seen by the superstitious local people as a witch. The book also tells the story of Prue’s brother Gideon who is equally strong-willed and is determined to escape the poverty of their farm. He devotes all his energies to making money.
The novel was very positively received by the group with one member saying “The descriptions of scenes were so vivid that I felt that I was present. The essence of the book that I got was that although times change, human nature definitely does not. The characters could easily be transported in time to the present day and not seem out of place. I had never hitherto heard of the author Mary Webb, but feel that she should be as respected as the Brontë Sisters as one of the great authors of the English Language.”
Another member said “Historical/period type novels aren't my favourite but I found this so much more interesting being a tale of country folk with all their long gone customs and traditions. This was history to Mary Webb even as she wrote it but I think she has captured the time in a very graphic way which is an important thing to have for posterity. The use of local dialects and old English terms meant that it was not a quick read but that actually supports its authenticity.”
A interesting afternoon discussing an author of whom most of us had never heard of before.
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles - February 2023
At our February meeting we discussed The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. The novel is set in 1954 and begins when eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson arrives home to Nebraska after he has just served fifteen months in a work farm for involuntary manslaughter. His mother is long gone, his father recently died, and the family farm has been foreclosed by the bank. Emmett’s intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But before he can leave two of Emmett’s friends from the work farm Duchess and Woolly arrive having escaped. The four of them then set off on an adventure covering ten days which is told from multiple points of view.
Two years ago the group read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles and we all really enjoyed it and so we were looking forward to reading another of his novels. We all agreed that the author writes extremely well and tells some very amusing anecdotes . However our opinions of the book were more mixed. One member said “a wonderful and enjoyable book I loved every page” but another said “it was an effort to finish the book and I didn’t enjoy it”.
It was an interesting and enjoyable discussion with some very varied opinions about the book.
Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton - March 2023
At our March meeting we discussed Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton. The novel is set in the present day in rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard. The book begins when the headmaster of a progressive school is shot by a masked gunman. Most of the pupils are evacuated but some are trapped in the library, the school theatre and a pottery studio.
The novel then tells the story of the school siege from a number of perspectives including those of the teachers, pupils, parents and the police as they struggle to understand what is happening.
The majority of the group really enjoyed the book and found it an exciting and gripping read a real page turner. We agreed that we would like to include another of the authors novels in our future programme.
It was an interesting and enjoyable discussion with some varied opinions.
Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe - April 2023
At our April meeting we discussed Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe. The novel depicts pre-colonial life in the south eastern part of Nigeria and the arrival of Europeans during the late 19th century. It tells the story of Okonkwo, the leader of an Igbo community, from the events leading up to his banishment from the community for accidentally killing a clansman, through the seven years of his exile, to his return, and the impact on tribal Igbo society of the arrival in the 1890s of white missionaries and colonial government. As the society changes due to the impact of the outsiders Okonkwo’s life falls apart.
The group found the novel very interesting in the way it depicted the pre-colonial tribal society and disastrous impact that the arrival of Europeans had on that society. The novel showed how the lack of understanding of each other’s cultures lead to sometimes fatal results.
It was an interesting and enjoyable discussion with some varied opinions.
The Manningtree Witches by A. K. Blakemore - May 2023
At our May meeting we discussed The Manningtree Witches by A. K. Blakemore. The novel is a fictional account of real events that happened in Essex in the 1640s during the Civil War between Parliament the King Charles I. Essex was a centre of support for Parliament and Puritanical fervour was very strong.
In Manningtree, where many men are away fighting in the Civil War, a newcomer Matthew Hopkins arrives to take over the Thorn Inn. When a child falls ill with a fever and starts to rave about covens, Hopkins starts to accuse the old and poor women of the village, who were already unpopular with the affluent villagers, of witchcraft. These accusations and their terrible consequences for the accused begins Matthew Hopkins’ infamous career as the Witch Finder General.
We agreed that the book was beautifully written and most people found it a real page turner. We thought that it really made you feel through its vivid descriptions what it was like to live in Manningtree in the 1640s. A time when people were gripped by superstition and religious fervour.
However a number of people said that they struggled reading the book at times because of the description of the horrific way the women who were accused of witchcraft were treated.
Sunfall by Jim Al – Khalili - June 2023
At our June meeting we discussed Sunfall by Jim Al – Khalili. There was a mixed reaction to Sunfall ranging from enjoyment of the book to one member commenting that after some initial chapters of promise, it became a “Boys’ Own /Ripping Yarns” story. However, there were others who admitted that as they were either unfamiliar with or disinterested in science fiction, they nevertheless found that they enjoyed the book, finding it a real page-turner and scurried to read the conclusion.
Almost unanimously, members agreed that although the science was unfamiliar to them, they held Jim Al Kahili’s eminence as a scientist to sufficiently authenticate his description of Dark Matter and those other esoteric elements of his story.
On a majority, an enjoyable read.
Harry Franklin
The Wonder - Emma Donaghue - July 2023
At our July meeting we discussed The Wonder by Emma Donoghue. The Wonder is set in the Irish Midlands in 1859, a few years after the devastating Irish Famine. The main character is Lib Wright, a young English nurse, who was trained by Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War. Lib goes to Ireland on a two-week assignment to a poor religious village to "observe" a young girl, Anna O'Donnell, whose family claims she that she has not eaten for several months. Some characters are claiming it is a medical anomaly or a miracle. Tourists have flocked to the cabin of eleven-year-old Anna, and a journalist has come down to cover the sensation.
Lib has to use all her knowledge and training to understand what is the truth of this medical marvel and also determine whose judgement she can trust. The longer Lib spends with Anna the more concerned she becomes about her health.
Almost all the group really liked the book and thought that the author was a very good writer. One member said ”I found The Wonder a very interesting read, touching on many difficult ethical and moral questions wrapped up in a compelling story.”
The book lead to an interesting and enjoyable discussion.
The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman - August 2023
Richard Osman’s The Man Who Died Twice, was the subject of a very mixed reception from members. Comments ranged from one member having to give up less than halfway through because she didn’t like the “jolly murders”, and another who thought the book “too long, with a totally unbelievable plot.”
In contrast, one member thoroughly enjoyed it at the level of nonsense at which it was written, an opinion shared by another member who spoke of the book being cleverly written, quite funny but totally ludicrous.
Somewhere between these extremes were the comments such as facetious, like a soap opera, amusing and boring.
In summary, a book that managed to divide the opinions of membership quite thoroughly.
Harry Franklin
The Second Sleep by Robert Harris - September 2023
At our September meeting we discussed The Second Sleep by Robert Harris. The author is very popular with our group and we have read several of his novels. The Second Sleep begins with a young priest, Christopher Fairfax, riding on horseback through a landscape strewn with ancient artefacts – coins, fragments of glass, human bones. He is on his way to a remote Exmoor village to conduct the funeral of the local priest who has recently died in mysterious circumstances.
Initially the novel appears to be set in the 14th or 15th Century but Robert Harris gives us clues. For example there is lots of plastic amongst the ancient artifact and Fairfax hears the call of parakeets in the trees, So you begin to realise that the book is set hundreds of years in the future after a mysterious catastrophe has destroyed modern 21st Century civilisation.
We all agreed that Robert Harris writes extremely well, does lots of research and it was in interesting idea to base a book on. However the majority of the group felt that this was one of his less successful novels. Nevertheless the group would still like to read another of his novels in the future.
A Better Man by Louise Penny- October 2023
At our October meeting we discussed A Better Man by Louise Penny. The novel is the sixteenth in the series to feature Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force for Quebec. The novel begins on Gamache's first day back as head of the homicide. Flood waters are rising across the province. In the middle of the turmoil a father approaches Gamache, pleading for help in finding his daughter. As crisis piles upon crisis, Gamache tries to hold off the encroaching chaos and with a daughter of his own, he finds himself developing a profound, and perhaps unwise, empathy for her distraught father.
There was a mixed response to the novel, though we generally agreed that Louis Penny writes well. People said that the descriptions of the flood were very vivid and well written. However a number of members said that without having read any of the earlier Gamache novels it was difficult to follow some of the plot lines.
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
At our November meeting we discussed Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. The novel is based on the life of Mary Anning, who had a talent for finding fossils, and whose discovery of ancient marine reptiles shook the scientific community and leaded to new ways of thinking about the creation of the world.In 1810, Mary Anning and her brother uncovered the fossilized skull of an unknown animal, later called an ichthyosaur, in the cliffs near Lyme Regis. With its long snout and prominent teeth, it might be a crocodile – except that it has a huge, bulbous eye.
Working in an arena dominated by middle-class men, Mary found herself out of step with her working-class background. In danger of being an outcast in her community, she made an unlikely friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a prickly spinster, who had moved to Lyme Regis from London, with her own passion for fossils. The strong bond between Mary and Elizabeth saw them through struggles with poverty, rivalry and ostracism, as well as the physical dangers of their chosen obsession.
The novel was very popular with the group with members really enjoying the story with its vivid evocation both of the place and time. It painted an interesting picture of the constraints and prejudices that women of all classes lived with in the early nineteenth century.
Whilst most of us had heard of Mary Anning we were surprised to discover when we read the author’s notes at the end of the novel that most of the other characters were also based on real people.
Silverview by John le Carré - December 2023
At our December meeting we discussed Silverview by John le Carré. The novel was published posthumously in 2021 there are two major characters the first is Julian Lawndsley who has left a successful career in the financial sector in London to open a bookstore in a small seaside town in East Anglia. Soon after opening the shop, a Polish immigrant named Edward Avon comes in, not to buy books but to chat.
Edward Avon is later revealed to be a retired agent for MI6 who claims to have known Lawndsley's father at school. Julian soon becomes involved with the life of Edward Avon's family: his wife Deborah – also a former top British intelligence agent – who is terminally ill, and his daughter Lily, a single mother.
The second major character is Stewart Proctor who is the secret service's head of domestic security. As a result of a letter he received from Avon’s wife Debora, Proctor begins to investigate Avon as the source of an intelligence leak.
We all agreed that John le Carré is a very good writer and the majority of the group enjoyed the novel. However a number of readers found the plot confusing and we had a lively discussion about what was happening in the book.
We weren’t surprised that John le Carré didn’t publish the book when he was alive because it painted a very negative picture of the British secret service. For example, in the novel one of Proctor’s colleagues says to him “As one old spy to another, I reckon I’d have been more use running a boys club”.