Book Group
The Book Group has been going since 2001. Membership is restricted to ten but we do have some vacancies. We usually read fiction, but have read the occasional biography. We choose books from the SMBC Library catalogue so do not have to buy any books. We all read the same book and then discuss it, basing our discussion on questions downloaded from the internet. It is rare for everyone to agree, but the ensuing discussion is always enjoyable and stimulating. Occasionally we each bring a book of our own choice and this provides an opportunity to swap titles and authors.
In February we read the very popular “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. It is a novel about a young girl named Kya who learns to navigate life in the marshlands of Carolina after being abandoned by her family at a very early age. She is fiercely independent, with few friends, and the community rejects her. Kya grows into an attractive young woman. When a previous boyfriend is found dead, she becomes the prime suspect.
This is a delightful story, enjoyed by everyone. Owens gives vivid descriptions of the countryside and wildlife. The story ends with a surprising twist.
March’s book was “Silas Marner” by George Eliot which was published in the middle of the 19th Century and was apparently her favourite novel. She lived a very unconventional life for that period as she lived and travelled widely with George Henry Lewes gathering material for her books. Wrongly accused of theft and exiled from a religious community many years before, Silas Marner, an embittered weaver, lives only for work and his precious hoard of money. Although with a very dark beginning, the book comes to a satisfying conclusion. George Eliot was the one of the first novelist to portray a realistic description of life of the poor. This story, combining humour , rich symbolism and pointed social criticism, is an unsentimental but affectionate portrait of rural lIt is beautifully written but extremely wordy and most of us found it hard work.
Our next book, which we will be discussing in the second week of April, will be “How to Stop Time” by Matt Haig.
Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old history teacher, but he’s been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz- Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen it all. As long as he keeps changing his identity he can stay one step ahead of his past – and stay alive. The only thing he must not do is fall in love……
I think this unusual novel will promote some lively discussion.
We meet on the second Thursday in the month in members’ houses and we would welcome new members to our group.
Ruth