Book Club
The Group meets on the second Friday of each month. Since the group was started in 2013 we have met in the home of one of our members. However, the group membership has grown and many of us do not have the space for everyone to gather comfortably. We now meet in a room in Bicester library where we have been made most welcome.
Our choice for March was "Elizabeth is Missing" by Emma Healey.
Maud is very forgetful. She doesn't always remember who her daughter is and writes notes to herself all the time. But, she knows her friend Elizabeth is missing and somewhere in her damaged mind, there is an answer to an unsolved mystery from seventy years ago. We had very mixed feelings about this book, written by an author who has a great understanding of dealing with dementia. There are two storylines which was a little confusing at times. We felt it was rather long winded and some of the group found it disturbing and rather depressing. Not an easy read but you had to keep going to see what happens. Ranked as a best seller but not everyone would recommend it.
Fourteen members of the group met in April to discuss "Shrines of Gaiety" by Kate Atkinson.
Set in the "Roaring 20s" in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become a focus for a delirious new nightlife. Central to the story is Nellie Coker, a notorious night club owner with a chequered history. Beneath the dazzle of Soho's gaiety, there is is dark underbelly, murder, police corruption and the disappearance of several under age girls. The group had a very lively discussion about this book, some really enjoyed it, others disliked it. A complicated plot, numerous characters and a detailed, interesting history of the period. Maybe not one of the authors best novels, but an entertaining read.
Our meeting in May will be to review "Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont" by Elizabeth Taylor.