Book Club Reading List
Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore. Although this was described on the cover as “a finely wrought psychological thriller”, a few of us thought this description was misleading. There was certainly psychological tension in the relationships portrayed, but the plot moved quite slowly. While the main story was set against news of the developing revolution in France, some felt that this was a distraction. News came secondhand or through biased press reporting – perhaps an interesting reflection of how news arrives through social media and news feeds in modern times. Once again, opinion was divided on the merits of the novel. While a majority praised the quality of the writing and the authenticity of the descriptions of life in late 18th century Bristol, some found it quite a difficult read.
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. This was 2016 Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and for Waterstones. The Spectator said that “despite its gothic horror set-up, it sets out unashamedly to lift the spirits”.
'Autumn' by Ali Smith. While a minority found the novel intriguing and politically relevant, the majority thought that it was too difficult to follow the thread of the story or to identify with the characters represented. As usual, the discussion was animated, and we all felt that we learned more about the book.
Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor, an author who is currently living in Nottingham. This was one of the shortest books we have read, but it provoked one of our longest discussions. It certainly divided opinion. The graphic descriptions of the lives of homeless and deprived men and women on the streets of a northern town, with drug addiction and alcoholism ever-present, were both enlightening and difficult to confront. Some found the style of writing, which seemed broken and repetitive like the lives of the main characters, confusing. To others in the group it was compelling. It was certainly a difficult book to “enjoy”.
“How to Measure a Cow” by Margaret Forster. Tara Fraser has a secret. Desperate to escape from herself and her past, she changes her name, packs up her London home and moves to a town in the North of England where she knows no one. But one of her new neighbours, Nancy, is intrigued by her. And as hard as Tara tries to distance herself she starts to drop her guard. Compelling, taut and suspenseful!
Heyday- the 1850s and the Dawn of the Global Age by Ben Wilson. The 1850s was a decade of breathtaking transformation with striking parallels for our own times. It was the dawn of the first global age, when the world was reshaped and connected by technology, trade, mass migration and war. Historian Ben Wilson recreates this time of dizzying change, focusing on the lives of the men and women on its frontiers and with Great Britain, at the peak of its power, at the centre. A dazzling history of a tumultuous decade that was fundamental not only in the making of Britain but of the modern world.
‘Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet’ by Jamie Ford. The old Seattle landmark The Panama hotel has been boarded up for decades but now the new owner has made a startling discovery in the basement - personal belongings stored away by Japanese families sent to internment camps during World War II.
‘The Muse’ by Jessie Burton.
A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale
Patrick Gale set out to write a version of his great grandfather’s story. Harry Cane had always been a skeleton in the cupboard in the family. Nobody would speak of him. Gale knew he had left England very suddenly leaving behind his wife and young daughter, Gale’s grandmother. He went to Canada and never having done a day’s work took a concession on the Prairies, 160 acres of free land as long as it was fenced, cultivated and lived on.
But why did he have to go so suddenly? How did he survive? Patrick Gale has written a bittersweet, passionate love story. It encompasses the monied classes of Edwardian England, psychiatric practices after the Great War and life in the raw on the Canadian Prairies. We much enjoyed this book and gave it an overall score of 8 out of 10.
The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild.
Where the Crawdads Sing by American author Delia Owens. It has topped the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 2019 and The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 2020 for a combined 32 non-consecutive weeks. The story follows two timelines that slowly intertwine. The first timeline describes the life and adventures of a young girl name Kya as she grows up isolated in the marsh of North Carolina from 1952 to 1969. The second timeline follows a murder investigation of Chase Andrews, a local celebrity of Barkley Cove, a fictional coastal town of North Carolina. It is a beautifully written book and members of the Book
Group gave it the highest marks so far of any book we have reviewed.
My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay. This “powerful and unflinchingly honest memoir” has much to say about the failures of our childcare system and the silences of our society – being black, being in foster care, the struggle for identity, belonging, equality and dignity. It was only after he had left the care system that Lemn was able to gain access to his official records. The book presents these as facsimile documents and the author uses them to trace a path through his early years from being fostered as a baby, being placed in a children’s home in his teens and ending up in a secure unit. Many members of the group were shocked by what they read. Some members with past experience gained in social care and psychological services were able to give further perspective on the issues raised.
The Beekeeper of Alleppo by Heather Morris. This novel describes the harrowing journey of refugees and asylum seekers as they moved through Europe. In particular, the story details the experiences of a couple from Syria and their attempts to travel to Britain. We know from near the start that they will succeed in reaching the UK, because we also read about their attempts, along with refugees from other countries, to gain asylum here. We discovered that the author has personal experience of what she describes in the novel, both through her parents’ fleeing from Cyprus following the Turkish invasion in the 1970s and through what she learned while working as a volunteer with refugees in Athens. The section in the book that describes the camps and reception centres in Athens was particularly well written and powerful in its impact. Members of the group learned a great deal from reading the novel and enjoyed reading it, though we agreed that “enjoyed” was not really an appropriate word to use when considering the considerable psychological and physical distress experienced by the characters in the book.