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'The disappearing act of Esme Lennox' by Maggie O'Farrell
From a sun-drenched infancy in India to the greyness of 1930s Edinburgh, we trace the lives of two very different sisters and the eventual incarceration of Euphonia (Esme), the highly spirited younger girl, in a mental health institution where definitive diagnostic skills appear to be in short supply.
Now, fast forward 60 years when Esme is due to be released under a "Care in the Community Scheme" into the unwitting hands of thoroughly modern Iris, who had hitherto been unaware of her great aunt's existence.
Much of the story is told by the half-remembered fragments of Kitty, the elder sister, through the fog of senility and most of us found these passages hard-going - even though they contained valuable clues.
Against a sub-plot of her own complicated love-life Iris hunts for the skeletons in the Lennox family cupboard and the plot moves to a dramatic climax when the REAL grandmother finally stands up!
A murky tale of sexual and social repression and ignorance which made us reflect on how judgments and attitudes to morality have changed.
Not all had enjoyed or even finished the book, though a majority described it as "compelling", despite the frustrations of the writing style. Marks out of 10 averaged 7.
'The Wind in the Willows' by Kenneth Grahame
If Youth is wasted on the young then certain depths in 'Wind in The Willows' will be missed by younger readers. So it was a treat to revisit the book as adults and wander through the Wild Wood and sense the beauty of the English countryside before conservation was invented; to feel that yearning for home, friends, beauty and adventure being satisfied in that idealised country community. The book reminded many of us of happy childhoods spent playing outdoors in a country less concreted. Margaret Attwood in one of her books wrote, ' We were happy then and we didn't know it' but in re-reading' Wind In The Willows' we had the opportunity to reflect on childhoods which were happy and we now know it.'
'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' by Mark Twain
This is a book which I wish I hadn't read. Why? Because I will never again have the sheer pleasure of reading it for the first time again. That, anyway, was the view of one Huck-struck reader. A life on a raft on a river. A life not yet 'sivilised'. A tale of adventure and boyhood. A country becoming civilised and losing its moral compass so that Huck the outsider has to move on to new territory to a place uncivilised enough to call home. Very funny yet sharp in its observation of the culture of pre-civil war America. Wonderful comic characters in the King and the Duke who rival Falstaff in their lovable roguishness. I wish I hadn't yet read it. At least I can choose to read it, perhaps on a raft on a river taking me to a place where people won't try and 'sivilize' me.
'Case Histories' by Kate Atkinson
A cleverly interconnected series of case studies of human behaviour, well-observed and teasingly fragmented throughout the book right up to its surprise ending. The private detective central to the book copes with the variously dysfunctional characters as if it is all in a day's work. The setting in the Fens made credible all sorts of ne'er do well. The 'black humour' of the policeman amused some whilst the horror in some situations prevented any further reading. The book scored well but most felt that the 'Victorian' novel style seeking to tie up the loose ends was uneccessary - or was it just part of the book's humour? Ambiguity rides again!
'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' by Mohsin Hamid
Sparse, precise, well-observed critique of post 9/11 America through the relationship of an aspiring Princeton immigrant with his wealthy corporate employer and with his American girlfriend. The corporate career and the relationship both failed but the value of the book lay in the telling of the disengagement of the central character with the values which his job represented and his inability to relate to a love which could never be won.
A story of love and loss, power and greed questioned the basis of relationship at the personal, corporate and inter-national level. Add a sinister touch and an ambiguous stranger who could be armed and extremely dangerous and you have good reason to be glad that you can read.
'Half of a Yellow Sun' by Chimamanda Adichie
Out of Africa was out of mind for most of the group in the 1960s at the time of the Nigeria/Biafra war, but not after reading this novel. We were drawn to the characters whose lives as lovers, business men, academics or aspiring houseboy were rich and humane. The war imposed on most of them a gradual disintegration and descent into survival in refugee camps. The more humane conquered by the more powerful and political. 'Too real to enjoy', said more than one reader, but the book awoke an empathy with those millions of refugees who are currently over-powered and displaced by those less humane. Refugees who are no longer out of mind.
'Human Traces' by Sebastian Faulks
A long book which sweeps through the 19th century uncovering the development of the treatment of mental illness and the fact of being human. The characters explore what it is to be human: 'What a piece of work is man' but what also a striving, searching soul is man who seems to have to encounter the possibility of madness as a contingent element of his humanity. Are there 'human traces', not just as footprints which may be washed away but in discoveries and deeds of lasting worth? The book affirms that we do have value and at our deepest listening levels we able to make a difference.
'Ben - in the World' by Doris Lessing
This book produced the widest swing of the year on our 'bookometer' scoring system. From -4 to 8, the book provoked strong reaction. Odd, disturbing, sad, unusual, powerful, fascinating, were some of the words used to describe the outsider Ben's journey through the world in which he is abused, exploited and sometimes loved. Not credible, a dreadful ending and I would have returned it said some. A cardboard character in a book with the 'nutritional value' of cardboard said another. There was no doubting the strong reaction. We agreed to read something else of Doris Lessing in 2008 just to try and form a more balanced view - or not.
'Black Swan Green' by David Mitchell
Roger Daltrey of The Who famously sang his stuttering song of 'Myyy Generation'. The 13 year old character in this book develops strategies for coping with his stuttering and his peers. Most of us felt it easy to identify with the boy and his sensitivities. Each of us raised a smile at funny little episodes and cameos throughout the book. The book echoed the 70s and for some added a nostalgic feel. Best 'out of ten' rating in the group was 9.
'Suite Francaise' by Irene Nemirovsky and Sandra Smith
Before her execution in Auschwitz, the author had only completed two parts of her planned five-part symphonically structured novel. The story of the effects of the war on the French and the invading Germans, so beautifully written, is engrossing as it presents us with the choices people are forced to make. A priest whose love of neighbour is challenged by a gang of 'Lord of the Flies' style young thugs. The cultured German officer with french ancestory billeted with the villagers who have to adapt to the occupation and seeing the enemy as neighbours and human. The writing is so good that one spouse in the group had to stop her husband from reading aloud to her all the bits which he thought were good. She did agree though and bought the book to read quietly to herself! The book scored even higher than our bench-mark Kite Runner'. Praise indeed.
'The Island' by Victoria Hislop
At the end of this tunnel leading to the leper colony on the Greek island of Spinalonga there is both light and shade. Despite disease and early death, gardens bloom and a local market economy flourishes. Relationships, both on and off the island, are affected as the isolating illness exposes fear and prejudice and also love, kindness, joy and hope. For Maria and the doctor there is indeed light at the end of their tunnel. The story-line may at times have transcended the quality of the writing but most of the group were deeply moved by the characters and the island with a tunnel in the sun.
Restless by William Boyd
After reading this book you will never look at a sharpened pencil or an old lady in a wheelchair in quite the same ever again. A really good page-turner of a book, whose intelligent spymaster character exists for duplicity (or even polyplicity). The reader is made restless in a search for clues and for someone to trust - for an ending at one with the idyllic setting of the secluded English village, the village of Middle Aston where the old lady in the wheelchair lives and who once had a very sharp pencil indeed.
Arthur and George by Julian Barnes
'Can you read it in the bath?' may not be the first question which a serious student of literature might ask, but for those whose treasured reading time is soaking and soaping there is no more important question.
Our latest read was an interesting mixture of detective story and biography. This semi-fictional approach pleased some but one intriguing comment was 'It was slightly boring at times because it was true'. Another reader noticed that in The Kite Runner, Small Island, Wide Sargasso Sea, Kitchen God's Wife and A Gathering Light, there was the theme of discrimination.
The victim was abused and wrongly imprisoned. The story is the unravelling of this injustice. For those who read in the bath there was a romance to divert one's attention whilst the bath water went luke-warm.
Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea
One member read it three times in the month before our meeting; another was re-reading it 25 years after her first Jane Eyre-inspired read and for the rest of us it was a first encounter.
Everyone rated it highly but nobody found it comfortable. The threatening post-abolition atmosphere on the tropical island left the characters vulnerable and isolated. The author used the island setting to increase the tension.
Even the beautiful landscape seemed more an enemy than a friend. The escape into madness was inevitable for our central character. Perhaps we will re-read Jane Eyre later...
Jennifer Donnelly: A Gathering Light
One reader liked the book so much that she bought a copy to keep!.This was a story of first love,the awakening of the intellect and of hope and promise.
A real murder provided a parallel story but the main pleasure was in seeing the characters struggle with the harsh life of a small farming community and emerge hopeful.The love story only added to the tension and enjoyment.
Amy Tan: Kitchen God's Wife
Most of the group have not read any of her work but that is the fun of being taken into unknown territory.
Ian McEwan: Saturday
Small Island by Andrea Levy was generally well received. The book dealt with the race relations issues of pre- and post-war Britain. The author had clearly researched her material and surprised many of us with the extent of the prejudice in Britain and the 'imported' prejudice from the U.S.A. into areas in which the American troops were based.
We wondered how the author would treat the same subject if writing about Britain today. The characters and Jamaican dialogue were generally realistic and persuasive. The book was enjoyed but did not knock 'The Kite Runner' off the top spot of best read of the year so far.
Our second book was Four Letters of Love. The general view was that the writing was often more poetic than prosaic and was well worth the read. Many felt that the author was a bit gloomy in a Hardyesque type of way.
Nobody regretted pursuing to read through the gloom because the quality of the writing made it very worthwhile. The next day one of our members was seen re-reading the book on a bus. That must mean something good about the book!
Our first read, The Kite Runner was an outstanding success. A good story, realistic but hopeful that redemption was possible. Made us see Afghanistan as a beautiful country. Tough and tearful, beautiful and brutal. Many stayed up into the wee-small hours to finish it.
