December: Bel Canto by Ann Pratchett
Bel Canto is inspired by the crisis in Lima, Peru, where on December 16, 1996, the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement took nearly 500 people hostage in the Japanese embassy and held 72 for more than four months. The hostages, of many nationalities, had been attending a party. Two major romantic relationships develop as the standoff drags on and serve as the backdrop to the rest of the story. The first is between Coss and Hosokawa, The second is between the translator Gen and the young terrorist Carmen, who must keep their love a secret and meet in the pantry every night. Finally the government breaks into the house and kills all the terrorists. All of the hostages are freed except for Hosokawa, who dies in the struggle. In an epilogue that takes place some years later, former hostages Simon Thibault and his wife meet with Gen and Roxane, who are getting married in Italy.
Most of us enjoyed the book but we thought the ending was very abrupt, The 8 or us who were attending the zoom meeting gave an average of 3.4 whereas Goodreads was 3.9.
November: Rosa's Gold by Ray Kingfisher
It's good now we have as much time as we like through the U3A's purchase of a Zoom contract. There were 9 of us meeting at 2pm. None of us had read the book before, which had alternating chapters with stories about Mac and his horrific experiences in Auschwitz and Nicole, a 17 year old girl who was having teenage problems with family. Nicole found Mac's notebook in the cellar of the house Nicole and her mother moved into, and read it. The two stories were independent of each other but gradually moved together with some surprises at the end. Some of us thought the plot was rather contrived, and we all agreed that the quality of writing was not bad, but probably not good enough to want to read more. We gave it an average score of 3, compared to goodreads 4.3 from over 3000 people. It's interesting but I am beginning to sense how members in our group will react to the books we choose!
October: Lockdown by Peter May
Well of course we had to read this book! Written in 2005 by Peter May who had done much research on Bird Flu, it failed to find a publisher because they didn't think London could possibly be in the lockdown predicted by Peter May. So when lockdown happened over the world, Peter May fished it out again and the publishers snapped it up! It was with a sense of deja vu that we read about the masks and deserted streets and shops and lack of traffic or people. It was basically a crime novel with a rather gory plot, and we wondered whether the fact that London was the epicentre and also in lockdown affected the story at all, or whether the crime part of it could have happened independently. In fact, as one of our members pointed out, this particular crime could not have happened without lockdown. We all enjoyed reading it up to a point but didn't rate it as highly as some books possibly because the plot had too many convenient coincidences. Scores were all very close the average being 3.4 from 9 people, compared to Goodreads 3.8.
September: Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
Well we made it outside in the garden and 6 of us had a good natter and discussion on the book in beautiful sunshine. apologies from some who were on holiday or had other commitments but sent comments and scores. It certainly was unusual, with the theme of the behaviour of elephants in grief running alongside the 4 main characters Jenna, Alice, Serenity and Virgil, some of whom turned out to be ghosts. One person thought it excellent and gave 5 out of 5, others couldn't handle the supernatural bits and pieces. We all thought it was well written and Jodi Picoult can tell a good story. One member read Leaving Home by Jodi Picoult by mistake, 3 short stories, and liked them much better than Leaving Time. There was a wide range of scores giving an average of 3.5 from the 6 of us who had read to the end. Goodreads gave it 4.0
August: Hitman Anders and the meaning of it all by Johans Johannson
We had hoped to meet in our garden but projected thunderstorms put paid to that idea and so 7 of us met on Zoom, with a free Zoom extension which was nice. We all enjoyed the book in a pleasant way, making a good contrast from the Mill on the Floss, though 3 members who had read his first book thought 'The 100 year old man who jumped out of the window and disappeared' was much better. We summed our book up as quirky, funny, zany, not quite laugh-out-loud. The 4 members who sent apologies described it as unfunny, tedious, too long, lacking any characterisation, not quite my humour, and only 1 of these 4 managed to finish it. If we'd all been at the meeting we'd have had a really controverional discussion! The unlikely comic plot involved a Hitman who found Jesus, a priest who lost Jesus, and a receptionist who found love. The average score was 2.9 from the 8 of us who had read to the end, compared to Goodreads 3.4.
July: The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
We're getting quite proficient with Zoom now, as we held our fourth meeting in lockdown. Even went in and out to get a longer meeting. There were mixed feelings about this book, with 4 members liking it, and 6 members feeling lukewarm. Compared to our previous book, this one was much longer, with sentences sometimes taking an entire page! Neither of these facts endeared the book to some, though the scenery, language and descriptions were well written. The plot started off very slowly and again some of us nearly stopped in book I but determination to finish prevailed and we all bar one made it to the end. There was a strong feeling about how women in the 1800s were treated, and indeed the book was almost autobiographical. the climax and ending all happened in 2 short chapters at the end, which contrasted with the long drawnout chapters of the rest of the book. The average score was 3.3.
June: The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
This was our third Zoom meeting in lockdown (week 12) and a different 8 of us joined in for an enjoyable discussion on this novel. We were, without exception, all full of praise for the lovely language used by Hardy, his wonderful descriptions of the countryside in Dorset and his intricate plot with its twists and turns. We discussed Hardy’s depiction of women as then compared to now, and how he portrayed his two characters Henchard and Farfrae, who could be a contrast of the old and the new. We all thought the book had so much more to offer than the one we read previously, and the scores reflected this. Our average was 4.7, the highest we’ve given for a book, compared to an average of 3.8 from Goodreads. But then we are more mature readers and can appreciate things that younger readers cannot!
May: The Sea Sisters by Lucy Clarke
This was our second Zoom meeting in lockdown. Eight of us discussed The Sea Sisters, which we bought from kindle or as a book from Amazon because the library is still closed due to the Coronavirus. The book received many positive reviews online and was a Richard and Judy recommended book. The general consensus however was that it would be fine to read on holiday by the swimming pool, but the characters were not all that likeable, the relationship between the two sisters was not like any of our own experiences and the plot was predictable. It was well written with not too much overt sex and the plot tho predictable in its outcome, did have many twists and turns on the way. Probably a good choice for our first lockdown book. The average score was 2.4 compared to Goodread’s average of 4.1.
April: The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
We had our first Zoom discussion in lockdown on this book, and everything worked if not first stime, then second time! There was a wide range of marks, from 1 to 4.5 giving an average of 3.8. The story told, in alternate chapters, of two young girls who led lives quite independently from the theme of the book and only came together in the last chapter. A box of ashes left on a train, found by the keeper of lost things, eventually joined up with the widow of the dead man's ashes via a series of well written and often amusing events. the book was clever and had some surreal elements in it like a room which was locked and became unlocked when the ashes returned to their original home.
March: The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
This book produced different reactions from different people, as was shown by the scores ranging from 1.5 to 4.5. We had a good discussion, most of us agreeing that it was well written, and showed the terrible strain of living in Russia under Stalin. However, it did appear to be mainly the life of Shostakovich, albeit not mentioned until fairly well-in the book and some thought it didn't rate much as a novel, because it was just a list of things that happened to Shostakovich. One member said Barnes does portray Shostakovich's struggle with his music, his politics (the Powers) and his conscience in a most thorough way. Another said the book was tedious and, at times, irritating. Reviews of the book generally reflected our own views, with the majority saying they were disappointed after his previous good book Sense of an Ending. Our average score was 2.9 from 10 people.
February: The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain
This month everybody in the group loved the book which was so well and delicately written. Comment from one member who could not make the meeting. I enjoyed The Gustav Sonata, albeit a sad tale, and felt it was very well written. It had a relatively happy ending! It raised lots of interesting points about the social background of people and the influence of family members on each other as well as on others. We were presented with a range of characters with their different personalities, weaknesses and strengths. The impact of anti semitism, during the war years, on both people's lives and on a country as a whole, I felt was displayed with empathy. I found the book easy to read and could appreciate the way in which Tremain found it relevant to have the story going back and forth in time. Our average score was 4, given by everyone in the group apart from one at 3.5 and one at 4.5.
January: Death of a Kingfisher by M C Beaton
Once again, the entire group were unanimous only this time it was because none of us liked it! Reasons which came out were, didn't like the characters, far too many characters, the plot was completely muddled and unrealistic. Unusually for our group, everyone gave it a score of 2 or less, with the lowest score being 0.5. Average 1.5. Let's hope for a more controversial novel next month!