Leigh & District

Book Reading & Armchair Critics

APRIL MEETING 2024

Our April meeting was in the same place and at the same time but a day late due to the bank holiday. Our thanks to the Family Welfare Centre for accommodating us and thanks also to Leigh Library services for providing our group book set.
Under discussion this month was the classic novel ‘Brighton Rock’ by Graham Greene.

A few of the group did not finish the book, with some thinking it was drivel and the violence too much and none of the characters deserved any sympathy. Some felt it was a self-indulgent exploration of Greene’s love – hate relationship with the Catholic Church, his ambiguity being played out in the characters of Pinkie and Rose. Their deep philosophical and ethical self-questioning did not come across as being the thought processes of an average 17year old. Whilst the book shows Greene as a powerful writer, its world weary cynicism is marmite like.

Although published in 1938, the setting of the book lends itself to the 1950s and even to today. There is a seedy, grimy atmosphere set against the backdrop of poverty and its impact on the individual is well explored. Rose and Pinkie were each brutalized as children but they turn out differently as Greene explores the dichotomy between good and evil. There is no real back story to Pinkie but he is bound by a habit of hate and he is unable to move on in the way some of the other gang members managed. It is his psychopathic nature that allows him to be the leader of the gang at just 17 years old; the others are frightened by his ruthlessness. We thought about Pinkie’s unwillingness to consummate his marriage to Rose and wondered if it was because of a childhood spent hearing his parents’ sexual activity or whether he may be gay. Suppression of his sexuality would go some way to understanding his violent nature. We discussed how the same scenario plays out today, with disaffected young people joining county lines gangs, looking for a sense of belonging and relatively easy money. It is this belonging that keeps Rose with Pinkie as she is a sucker for his attention and yet she also knows that she is deluded and that he really does not love her.

Ida is a strange character. She passes a few hours with a man who is soon found dead and yet spends time and money trying to find out the truth. Does she want to be the author of Pinkie’s comeuppance or is she enjoying the excitement of the chase? Either way, she is a rarity in literature of the time. She lives how she chooses, moving from man to man, with no real regard for their marital status. Was Greene presenting her as a ‘tart with a heart’ or was she just another device through which he was exploring sexual morality against the teachings of the Catholic Church?

A sign of Greene’s prowess as a writer is how he leaves wondering what happened next. We know that Pinkie jumped and we assume it was to his death, but what if he survived? Rose goes back to work in the café but does she get her life together and find true love? Could she be pregnant? How does she react when she hears the message Pinkie left her? The ending is a clever device, even if the novel turned out to be a’ marmite’ read!

As a result of reading Greene’s book, some members decided to go on and try more of his works. However, others sought solace in familiar genres and writers. One such book was Kate Morton’s ‘The Homecoming’ and whilst her writing is formulaic, she produces good stories that bound along. This novel is set largely in Australia and has sunshine moments along with more sinister elements. It is a love story, a family history and shows how the past reverberates with the present. Another antidote was the thriller ‘A Bird in Winter’ by Lousie Doughty. The eponymous Bird is on the run which presents a confusing start to the book but Doughty’s writing allows for the plot to be gradually revealed. It’s a good and easy read which can be a relief after a book that was so deep and meaningful!

‘Past Lying’ is a book in the series about detective Karen Pirie by Val McDermid. Set in Edinburgh in the lockdown of 2020 it follows a cold case that has suddenly warmed up again. It is a tale with a twist, exploring betrayal and revenge but there might be too many twists as the writing does seem to wonder off plot at times. Another crime book read was ‘The Merchant’s House’ by Kate Ellis. It is the first in a series featuring Wesley Peterson, a cop who has swapped the big city for a remote Devon fishing village. There are hints of racism in the place, a female colleague is drawn to him and a male colleague resents him because of missing out on Peterson’s job. The wring is clear and there are seeds being sown that will be developed in later books or discarded if no longer seen as being relevant to the plot. Harlen Coben also featured with ‘Caught’, the story of a TV journalist pursuing a paedophile with disastrous consequences that she must put right.
Crime was a popular genre in March and next is ‘Midnight at Malibar House’ by Vaseem Khan, a British writer. Indian partition has just happened and a young woman becomes the first detective in India. She is sidelined and nobody trusts her but things take an upward turn when she lands the country’s most sensational case. Our stubborn and smart female detective must find a way to solve the murder of a prominent English diplomat.

A favourite of the group ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ by Bonnies Garmus is the story of a female scientist in the 1950/60s and how she does not get the credit for her work. There are funny moments but it is a book that explores the everyday sexism of the era. The ending is a happy one but it is perhaps just too contrived. If you enjoyed watching the film ‘Hidden Figures’ then is a book for you.

Described as a wonderful read, James McBride’s ‘The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store’ tells the story of a couple, one an immigrant Jew and the other an America Jew. They live in a poor part of Philadelphia and the wife runs a kosher shop where the Black population are free to shop. The husband runs a dance hall where the Black community are free to dance and socialize. He is successful and wants to move up the social and property ladders but she wants to stay.

Mick Herron has written a novel called ‘Slow Horses’ about an MI5 team who messed up badly and can’t be trusted anymore. His book ‘The Secret Hours’ is the prequel to ‘Slow Horses’ and tells of an MI5 inhouse inquiry to weed out officers guilty of misconduct. There is a scandal from a covered up botched operation in Berlin and we learn how the characters in ‘Slow Horses’ were formed. There are laugh out loud moments but it is a sad exposure of a secret history. Another spy related book was Michael Ondaatje’s ‘Warlight’. 1945 and London is still reeling from the blitz and years of war. The father of two teenagers must go away to work and soon after their mother departs and leaves them in the care of a man known as ‘The Moth’. He introduces them to a group of people who want to educate the teens, in unusual ways and who also want to protect them from something. In later life, Nathaniel, one of the teens, does some digging and learns so much about their lives and that of their parents. The novel is a journey through memories and imagination as he tries to make sense of the past.

‘A Watermelon, a Fish and a Bible’ by Christy Lefteri is a book read by a few of the group. The backdrop is the Turkish invasion of Kyrenia on Cyprus. Many people’s lives are changed, mainly for the worst but one woman is given the chance to share her side of a story and a soldier looks for along lost love. It is the story about love, loss, identity and what we really mean by family.

If there was ever a book that deserved to be made into a film then it’s ‘Great Circle’ by Maggie Shipstead. Based on two timelines, it tells the story of two women who were orphaned. Pre World War 2 in America and a young girl is entranced when she sees a plane and her dream is to fly. We follow her life and what it takes to achieve her ambition. She will fly the great circle, from pole to pole. Her choices, love, friendships and relationship with her uncle and twin brother are wonderfully portrayed, even if they are far from perfect. In the here and now, a young actor has a trainwreck of a life and when she is offered the opportunity to play the part of our aviator hero, she jumps at the chance, seeing it as the chance to reset her life and career. It’s a long book but it grabs you from the start and is a fantastic read.

Pip Willaims’ book ‘The Dictionary of Lost Words’ is a story based on a real event, the creation of The Oxford English Dictionary. Our main character Esme is fictional but her experiences and those of others are based on true events. A garden shed in Oxford is where people from all over the world send slips of paper that define words and the men who work there decide what is included and what is left out. Esme collects the slips that are discarded and uses them to make sense of her world. However, she begins to see that women’s words and those of the working class are not used and she wants to create a new dictionary. There is love and loss, the suffrage movement and World War I and how these impact on Esme and her lexicography.

Our May meeting will be at 1pm on TUESDAY 7th May at the Family Welfare Centre. We will each be reading a different book.