December: Take Nothing with You by Patrick Gale
We had another interesting discussion on this book which was about a homosexual boy in the 1960s. Eight of us met in Meopham library, with the usual Covid precautions. The story of a young boy, Eustace, growing up with his parents managing an old peoples’ home had an interesting beginning as it started with him going in to a hospital ward for Radiation therapy on a cancerous growth on his neck, aged in his 60s. There were then several time switches. Eustace showed homosexual tendencies in his early teens and there were a few explicit accounts of his sexual encounters with other boys, which we all agreed were unnecessary and didn’t help the story. The book did however, give a pretty accurate idea of what went on in the 60s at both private schools and comprehensive schools. There was a strong emphasis on his passion for the cello, and experiences with a gifted teacher, and also his reaction to his parents. There were several unanswered questions but overall we agreed the novel was well written. We gave it an average of 3.5, compared to Goodread’s 4.1.
November: Redhead by the side of the road by Anne Tyler For the first time in 20 months we met again in Meopham library. Just wonderful to be back and almost a full house of 10 people met for the discussion. We soon dropped the masks, as it is pretty impossible to hold a discussion wearing masks, and they do make breathing and hearing difficult. We've all been double or even treble vaccinated anyway. New member Ailsa was welcomed into the group and settled down well I think. the book was quite short, less than 200 pages but written with such an eye to detail it was most enjoyable to read. We all enjoyed the descriptions of Micah's life and his stickler for routine and lack of conversation with his chaotic sisters. Two members liked Micah a lot and one mentioned that in fact he was a pretty typical man in the presence of so many women. We wondered whether to give 2 scores. One for the writing and one for the storyline/ plot, but decided to continue to use our gut feelings for now. We gave an average score of 4.0 from 11 people, compared to 3.6 from Goodreads over 35000 reviews.
October: Dominion by C J Sanson
We all enjoyed this book. We met in our lounge as it was a trifle too cold to sit outdoors. The plot was that of a spy thriller, held in the UK in a fictitious world of post 1940. 1952. Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany. The global economy strains against the weight of the long German war against Russia still raging in the east. The British people find themselves under increasingly authoritarian rule--the press, radio, and television tightly controlled, the British Jews facing ever greater constraints.
But Churchill's Resistance soldiers on. As defiance grows, whispers circulate of a secret that could forever alter the balance of the global struggle. The keeper of that secret? Scientist Frank Muncaster, who languishes in a Birmingham mental hospital.
Civil Servant David Fitzgerald, a spy for the Resistance and University friend of Frank's, is given the mission to rescue Frank and get him out of the country. Hard on his heels is Gestapo agent Gunther Hoth, a brilliant, implacable hunter of men, who soon has Frank and David's innocent wife, Sarah, directly in his sights.
DOMINION dares to explore how, in moments of crisis, history can turn on the decisions of a few brave men and women--the secrets they choose to keep and the bonds they share. We gave it a score of 4.2, higher than Goodread's 3.8.
September: The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
This was probably the last time we will meet under the apple tree but the weather was kind and we had a pleasant time discussing the book, which many had read before, a dozen or so years ago. We all enjoyed it more on the second reading, possibly because Autism and Asbergers are more generally recognised nowadays. The title of Mark Haddon's award-winning novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is taken from a remark made by Sherlock Holmes in "Silver Blaze". The protagonist of this novel, Christopher John Francis Boone, mentions Sherlock Holmes several times throughout the book. We all liked the way Christopher digressed with his thoughts and had his favourite colours and had to calm down when his brain became overloaded with too much information. It was interesting to have an insight into how a different person percieved the world. We gave it a score of 4.2.
August: Here We Are by Graham Swift
We met in our back garden under the apple tree again but this time there were only 4 of us, the others taking long-waited-for holidays, hospital appointments and waiting in for a man to call!. Despite our small numbers, we had a most enjoyable discussion on this very short book, with some members liking the brevity of language and others wanting more. It was more of a novella, about Ronnie who was evacuated to a family during the war, where the man of the house was an amateur magician. He became engaged to his assistant, Evie, but was possibly usurped by his friend Jack. When Ronnie found out, he created a final act, and on the last day of the show he disappeared behind a rainbow. Comments from the group "I enjoyed the first part when ronnie was young and at Evergreme. It then took a nose dive" "The title appeared once, on page 180, referring to drinks being served by Penny Lawrence. How was that significantenough to be used as the tiele?" "there was no real story or structure to it", " I enjoyed the book. In fact, I skimmed over it a second time to try and decide what happened to Ronnie and to assess Evie's feelings about it all" Scores ranged from 2 to 4 with an average of 3.1 compared to Goodread's average of 3.5.
July: A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier
We all liked this interesting, extremely well written story about the life of a single, unmarried, lady in the 1930s, which era had a lot of 'surplus women' due to the war. It tells of Violet, who left home and went to live in Winchester on her own. She meets a group of Broderers based at Winchester Cathedral, and has plenty of adventuires and meets a variety of people, including Arthur, who is a bell ringer at the Cathedral. One member commented "I also enjoyed reading about the minor characters: the prying landlady, the difficult mother, the two office girls O and Mo and of course the cathedral itself" We gave it an average of 4.1 compared to Goodreads 3.7; one of the few books we have liked more than the majority of voters in Goodreads!
June: Circling the Sun by Paula McClain This was an interesting story about Beryl Markham, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from East to West. It told of her life in Kenya in the 1920s, and gave a very good picture of the extravagant life in the Colonies in that era. Much of it was fact but there was also some fiction, and it was difficult to tell which was which, which detracted from the book with some of the members. It also spent a lot of the time leading up to the Atlantic flight, most of the book in fact, with only a few pages on the actual flight. In general we liked the book and gave it an average of 4.3, which seems to be the going rate for our group at the moment, apart from Queenie of course!
May: Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams This book was chosen by one of our members, who had read it some time ago and forgotten the graphic explicit sex scenes which it contained! The plot was about a 25 year old Jamaican girl, Queenie, whose white boy-friend of 3 years walked out on her because of her mood swings, arguments, and general let-downs by Queenie. She goes on to have numerous sexual encounters whilst at the same time hoping for him to come back to her. She loses her job as a journalist because she doesn't turn up on time and doesn't stick to deadlines. In desperation she has to live with her grandparents and attends counselling, and thereafter things improve slowly. We did not like the book. The language was typical 2021 with Whatsapps and texts and 'Urban talk' appearing. The second half of the book, after counselling started, improved and led up to a well written ending. Neverethelass, two of our group did not finish, having better things to do, We all gave low scores, average 2.8 compared to Goodreads 3.9
April: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens This was Delia Owens first printed novel, written in lockdown, and we all loved the style of writing, descriptions of the marshes and the nature that abounds there. The plot was somewhat improbable, involving a 6-year-old girl forced to live on her own and fend for herself, and this in the 1950s. But it was a page turner and we all liked it a lot. David hadn't finished reading the book and couldn't attend the meeting and his was the only negative opinion, 8 of us gave an average score of 4.3 compared to Goodread's 4.43
March: Arianwen by Angela Johnson We were honoured to have the author, Angela Johnson, join our Zoom meeting this month. We fired questions and comments at her, and had a great time listening to how she decided to write the book, The wide range of people, their emotions, the scenery, the weather and the passing of time in this story are all beautifully conveyed.
Life in the isolated communities of Wales and how it evolved, particularly after the end of WW2, is brought to life. Whether it was the tough life of farmers, the contrasting experience of teachers, the role of chapel ministers, the gradual encroachment of the English language or the village gossip network; all were described in a way that seemed very real. I found that I could relate to all of the people in the story. Some thought that only a few pages covering Arianwen's proposal and subsequent marriage and then death of her husband a year or so later was rather too abrupt. We gave it a score of 4.3 compared to Goodreads 4.75.
February : Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege. Told from the point of view of the people at the heart of it, from the wounded headmaster in the library, unable to help his trapped pupils and staff, to teenage Hannah in love for the first time, to the parents gathering desperate for news, to the 16 year old Syrian refugee trying to rescue his little brother, to the police psychologist who must identify the gunmen, to the students taking refuge in the school theatre, all experience the most intense hours of their lives, where evil and terror are met by courage, love and redemption. This story was very close to home with us all after the Manchester bombings trial, There was plenty of discussion, very much a tale of our time. The 10 of us gave it 4.1, pretty similar to Goodread's 4.23 from 9129 ratings.
January : Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Our first Bookclub 1 meeting of the New Year was another Zoom meeting in the thick of Lockdown number 3. It provoked different opinions and whilst many did not enjoy the book, and indeed one person said it was the most unpleasant book they had ever read, the general consensus was that it was readable and certainly gave us plenty to discuss.
Hailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school, far from the influences of the city. Its students are well tended and supported, trained in art and literature, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it.
It is written in the first person by Kathy, and eventually the reader realises that all the children at Hailsham are clones and destined to donate up to 4 parts of their bodies, and then die, to enable humans to get better and beat cancer. The 9 of us gave an average score of 2.8, considerably lower than Goodreads’ 3.8 from nearly half a million reviews.