November meeting - Big Brother

The November meeting of the Low Fell Book Group marked a year since our merry little band of readers had started congregating regularly. As such, we decided to go somewhere special for our anniversary and met upstairs in The Bank. There was a good turnout and interesting discussions of Big Brother by Lionel Shriver commenced.

It was generally considered that the book was well-written and everyone got into it, although many people were quite perplexed by the ending. Joan admitted to being caught off guard by it and needed to flick back and forwards over the section where the plot twisted in order to get her head around what had happened.

"It would have been better if it had started with the funeral" - Joan

Sue said she felt like the book was more like a memoir and had in fact found out that the author had written it around the time that her own brother died. Writing about the themes of guilt surrounding the issues of obesity and what can be done to help someone in the situation Edison (the big brother of the title) was in could therefore have been something of a catharsis for her.

Joan suggested that leaving your family to live with your brother was somewhat unrealistic, but Jeanette pointed out that the book was about people's relationships with food as opposed to each other. Joanne C said that she though it was offensive to skinny people, who are portrayed as judgmental throughout.

The idea of eating oneself to death is one that is uncomfortable and sparks plenty of debate. Sue was reminded of the film La Grande Bouffe in which a group undertakes a suicide pact to eat themselves to death on fine cuisine. Relatively early on in the book, there is a line that I (Emma) felt summed it up. "Now cratered down the middle like a half-dug grave, the mattress would have to be replaced".

"It was about losing himself and finding himself" - Jeanette

We discussed the various characters and which ones were likable, with Linda pointing out that the daughter was the only one she could get on side with. Once again, the partner of one of our group could be seen in the character of Fletcher (although we'll keep names secret to protect the innocent!). It was generally agreed that the names were also fairly pretentious.

Several members of the group have read We Need to Talk About Kevin, which is also by Shriver and decided that they preferred it to this latest offering.

"I read it; I was enjoying it; but I hated it by the end" - Sharon

The group decided to give Big Brother three stars, with some rating it as little as one and others going as far as 4.5.

Eight of us stayed on an had a meal at The Bank, which despite the long wait for food and a conspicuous absence of Caesar dressing made for a very enjoyable evening.

Next month's book is The Stranger in my Home by Adele Parks. Feel free to read along with us.

Meeting: 6th October 2016 at The Victoria: “The Loney” by Andrew Michael Hurley

“….every year a few people drowned - The Loney had been pushing their bones back inland as if proving a point”

It is Easter weekend and a group of people are on an annual pilgrimage to attend a shrine on the bleak and craggy Lancashire coast. They are a small dedicated cohort of 4 couples, accompanied by their spiritual leader, Father Bernard. The group consists of the narrator (un-named) and his disabled brother, Andrew (“Hanny” to his brother); the pure and devout Miss Bunce and her fiancee, David Hobs, Mr and Mrs Belderboss and the narrator’s parents Mummer and Farther (Mr and Mrs Smith). Father Bernard is considered by most to be a poor substitute for their much loved priest, Father Wilfred, who had recently died in mysterious circumstances.

They reside for the weekend at “Moorings”, a derelict, dark house with its own secrets and portents. The bleakness of their surroundings seems to represent their piety and spiritual suffering in their hope of finding a cure for Hanny’s disability, which will hopefully take place at a local shrine on Easter Sunday. In contrast, another house across the lethal waters of the bay named “Thessaly”, taunts us with its offering of spiritual destitution and pagan practices. And there is always the constant reminder of the ever-present sinister villagers and their killer dog….

We thought it had the makings of a good film with its descriptive imagery and ominous enticements, finding it “scary”, “perplexing”, “frustrating” and unfortunately even “boring” in places. The initial response contrasted sharply between thoroughly disliking the novel to completely loving it, but either way it gave rise to an interesting and absorbing discussion. 

The plot follows the narrator’s story, travelling back and forth through his lifetime, which most of us found both distracting and fascinating at the same time. Hurley seems to suspend the story in a limbo between the strange and the supernatural. The book is full of atmospheric contrasts and we reflected on many examples, such as the description of a sheep giving birth to her lamb in dark and stormy circumstances creating a dramatic conflict between the miraculous and the “gothic sinister”.

It was felt by some that the book neither mocks the believer nor admonishes the non-believer. However, this was countered by the feeling that religion was dealt with in a cynical manner and that blind faith was made ludicrous through its characters’ rituals as, for example, in the ceremonial wetting of Hanny with the fetid well water. The book certainly had an eerie mix of religious fervour and pagan superstition. Although tense and nail-biting at times, the adventures of the brothers sometimes tipped over into the “Famous Five” as time and again they made their way across the lethal waters of The Loney. Again, however, we were drawn back by the descriptions of the Lancashire landscape with its sense of impending danger to powerfully sustain our curiosity and imagination:

“a dead mouth of a bay that filled and emptied twice a day”

or 

“the soggy afterbirth of winter”.

Hurley describes the landscape and the characters in it with intricate detail but taunts us with questions begging for answers. 

Some of us expressed feelings of unease which the claustrophobic atmosphere created in the reader, but we all agreed there were touching moments in the human relationships between the pilgrims, like the narrator and his disabled brother Hanny, or the friendship between the brothers and Father Bernard. Also, the clumsy devices which were planted to help with the development of the plot, like the dead priest’s lost diaries or the letters found in the locked room in “Moorings”, merely contrived to frustrate, leaving us to make our own way to find explanations. It certainly kept our meeting buzzing, if nothing else!

We also agreed that the characters were cleverly defined and realistically portrayed and that Hurley drew our sympathy and dislike for them with equal measure. Nevertheless, the book left a deep impression, if only for the contrasts and the dynamics which drives it. “The Loney” certainly played with our minds and although it was not originally intended as a gothic horror it certainly contained all the elements.

And so on this night, as darkness fell in the shadowy depths of the “The Vic” after thoroughly analysing and demystifying “evil” versus “good” for an hour or more, our dedicated group took comfort and some relief, in food and refreshment, to talk only of lighter, more day-to-day things and laugh a little... As it was Anne Marie's birthday, we celebrated with a cake.

 “The Loney” was awarded 3.5 marks out of 5.

The chosen book for next month’s reading is “Big Brother” by Lionel Shriver.

September meeting - The Marble Collector

The September meeting of Low Fell Book Group discussed The Marble Collector by Cecilia Ahern. It took place at Rosa 12 at my suggestion, who accommodated us beautifully with absolutely no help at all from me. I didn’t book a table, had no idea how many people would be attending, but the staff gamely offered support with the only rider being that we would need to be out by 10pm. Oh how we laughed, three and a half hours for a book group meeting, surely not! (We left at 21:50.)

Just to continue with the chaos of the event I’d not printed out the booklist for next month (supplied by Joanne B) and have now lost all the email comments people had sent to me on the book. (It’s been tough month.) After providing the booklist for the October meeting as promised I think I’ll take a back seat and just enjoy reading the books for while!

Anne Marie started proceedings commenting that the book was ‘nice easy reading’ which she enjoyed although ‘it took a while to get into it’.

Universally the group expressed some surprise at the wealth of material that could be woven around marbles. I must admit having just divided my late father’s estate the book had me dashing to the internet to see if we’d sent something of value to the car boot sale. Well it seems there are some very nice and expensive marbles out there. A bit niche in their appeal perhaps. Not something there is a department for in ‘Collectables’ for example (other glass and china gift shops are available.)

It was delightful to have a door to this world opened for a while, although personally I did find relentless marble facts tedious after a while. No-one in the group had been aware of championship marble competitions, and remained rather underwhelmed by the knowledge.

In a new venture for the group we considered the ‘Reading Group Questions’ at the end of the book. Rather curiously one question seemed to invite disclosure of secrets in the group. ‘Have you ever hidden something about yourself, however small?’ I wonder how other groups fared with that one?

Sabrina was not found to be a likeable character. Dashing around mystery solving with relentless urgency, diving into hospital hydrotherapy pools fully clothed, travelling to some party in a car park in wet clothes with someone you’ve barely met and ‘tashing on’ with a man young enough to be your son. Emotionally unstable personality disorder at least. Or if there is truly a cycle to this ‘the moon made me do it’ possible mania in a bi polar presentation?

Emma wasn’t impressed with Sabrina’s life guard skills, leaving Mr Daly just a little too long underwater, getting angry about missing the action of a near drowning when she took her 5-minute (ok four and a half minute) coffee break. And her response to not being there when the emergency cord needed to be pulled; throwing a cup against the wall!  Anger management issues?

Speaking of the tashing….. it seemed this interlude opened the door to a ‘create your own character’ moment.

I had the young man as a cross between Harry Styles and Russell Brand … I think it was the reference to the skin tight jeans… Anne Marie pictured him with dreadlocks. But with a quick check mid-pasta eating it seems that he had long black hair, but no dreadlocks. Is there something that you have kept hidden from your past that you would like to share with the group Anne Marie?!

In contrast to Sabrina there was a lot of warmth for Fergus. His family history was particularly enjoyed by Joan who noted that ‘coming from a large family of scallywags’ herself, she identified with the relationships, politics and alliances. The moment in Venice when his ‘heart in a marble’ was rejected by Gina was painful reading, and it was no surprise to the group that this marriage ended in divorce.

It almost seemed that the pace of the ‘one-day investigation’ overshadowed the unravelling of Fergus’s storyline. Many members of the group had read the book very quickly. Gripping story? Easy read?  Not much on? I wonder if the urgency of the plot transferred to urgency for the reader?

Joanne B really enjoyed the juxtaposition of the storylines; a whole lifetime contrasted with the events of one day. The group found the ‘and they all lived happily ever after ending’ (Fergus regaining his memory) a little twee and unrealistic.

The biggest fan of the book this month was Susan who found the characters genuinely identifiable and the writing sympathetic and accessible.

Joanne C felt, having read other books by Cecelia Ahern, that this isn’t her finest hour, not one likely to be picked up by Hollywood this time. She is certainly an author that the group would be happy to read again, and this is reflected in the 3.5 stars rating.

Huge apologies for comments I have missed. It was lovely to be joined for the evening by a previously ‘remote’ member of the group. Sharon I’m sorry about the disorganisation of the evening, we shouldn’t be judged by my poor event management!

Next month's book is The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley and will be held on October 6th.

August meeting - The Shadow of the Wind

The August meeting of Low Fell Book Group took place at The Angel View Inn on a rainy evening on Thursday the 4th. We discussed The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Six members attended the meeting, but three had still not finished reading the novel, so it was quite awkward to fully discuss the book without revealing the plot and ending of this story.

Those who had read, and in some cases re-read, the book loved it and all agreed that it was well written and well translated. A “proper story “was Joan’s comment. Most of the group had also been lucky enough to visit Barcelona where the book is set and felt that helped them to feel part of the atmosphere, knowing some of the landmarks, streets etc. Although Joan did comment that the gothic nature of the book gave the impression that the city was dark and gloomy, this does not really reflect the essence of the city. Emma felt that this was imagery used to compliment the gothic style of the book.

The novel celebrates the idea of books and writing in itself and weaves multi-layered plots and sub plots with eternal themes of love, obsession, revenge and human flaws of passion and cruelty. Yet it has a lot of humour as well as the constant shadow of the Spanish Civil War as a contrast.

Several members commented on the sometimes confusing aspects of having multiple characters with similar names; however, Jeanette was at hand to suggest a remedy for such situations. She finds it helpful to make a separate list to refer to who is who when confronted with a lengthy cast. A suggestion many of the group felt they would use in the future.

The group did agree with Joanne’s comment that some of the confusion with a lot of the characters stemmed from the fact that there were too many names starting with F: Fermin, Fumero, Fortuny to name a few! My way of dealing with that dilemma is to assign a characteristic to the name e.g.  Fermin = Funny, Fumero = nasty…whatever works for you.

It was an added bonus to receive Pauline’s comments via Joan. They were such a good contribution I have relayed them in full: “I enjoyed it, beautifully written, a meaty book [I love that description]. It required more attention than a bedtime read. It was confusing at times and I was glad to be able to look back via my e reader. I had a lot of empathy with the characters which drew me through some of the more complex bits. I also liked the humorous touches.” Pauline give it 3.5.

The meeting also carried over to a lovely social event. With the partaking of food, drink and the retelling of funny personal stories. It’s a real strength of our book club that it’s now also a great social event with new friendships being formed too.

I gave the book a score of 5; Joanne 4.5; and at the time of writing this we had not given it an overall sore as too many members had still not finished reading it, but safe to say it was a hit with those who had.

Next month’s selection is The Marble Collector by Cecelia Aherne. Meeting on Thursday September 1st. Venue to be confirmed.

July meeting - The Tea Planter's Wife

The July meeting of The Low Fell Book Group took place on the 7th at Low Fell Rugby Club. We had the large room to ourselves overlooking the lush greenery of the pitch on a warm sunny evening. The setting complimented the discussions of June’s choice of The Tea Planter’s Wife by Dinah Jefferies.

Most of the group agreed that it was an enjoyable if, an undemanding read. Several commented that they had to return to the book to remind themselves of the names of the central characters, however it was easy to continue with and good bedtime reading were other comments.

Joanne C was the book’s most ardent supporter and she has had the added advantage of having been to Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Joan has also been lucky enough to visit this country and both agreed that the author’s descriptions of the countryside and culture were both accurate and powerful. With one notable exception - Joanne had actually visited a tea plantation and remarked: “They smell of tea not grass”!

Jeanette felt that the novel was a bit too laden with detailed descriptions, such as: “In the sweet-smelling, multiple- mirrored room, she splashed the repeated image of her face, and applied a dab of Apres L’Ondee, which luckily had been safely stowed in her small case.”

Jeanette was less critical of Gwen, who some of us felt came across as a bit wet. Jeanette felt her character did fit with the time and setting and that she did develop throughout the story. Perhaps on reflection that was fair as we may have been looking at her character through modern day eyes.

We also agreed that the narrative was guilty of giving the reader constant reminders of where and when it was set, which tended to become tedious. We were given numerous examples of the times, such as the sinking of Titanic and the Wall Street Crash.

Most of the group also agreed that the plot had echoes of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. The young, newly married girl plunged into an unfamiliar life, the older, moody husband who keeps tootling off somewhere and the shadow of the dead former wife. Several members also guessed the secrets in the plot at an early stage, but heroically carried on with Gwen as she slowly and dramatically conceals her own secret.

Overall we gave the book a score of 3.5

It was nice to welcome a new member to the group and to have Joanne back from her fabulous time in Las Vegas with superb photographs of “Elvis” too.

Our next meeting will be on 4th August at 6.30pm, venue TBA.

Next month’s book choice is The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

June meeting - The Glorious Heresies

The June meeting of the Low Fell Book Group was held on the 9th at Rosa Twelve, giving us an extra week to read the book. We had a large table upstairs where we discussed The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney and received attentive service ordering drinks.

It's safe to say that this month's novel was quite a departure from the other books we've read since the group formed last year. While some members found it difficult to get past the swearing, others thought it served a purpose and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The biggest cheerleader for The Glorious Heresies was Anne Marie, who said: "If I was a writer and that was my first book, I would die a happy person."

While we all agreed it was not a difficult book to read, the themes were pretty intense. All of the characters seemed completely incapable of escaping the circumstances of their birth. This was despite the aspirations they had for themselves and the next generation.

Jeanette pointed out that chapter eight provided a small amount of relief from the setting of the rest of the book. As the character of Georgie finds herself by the lake, we are taken away from the lives of the underworld of Cork city, although it is not long before we are plunged right back in.

It was agreed that the dialogue was central to the book and that this was really well written. Because of the use of swear words, however, it's worth thinking carefully about who you recommend it to. It turns out there's a good mix of reading mothers and mothers-in-law who come down on either side of the bad language line!

Comment was made about the fact that many reviews said the novel was hilarious, while most of us found it quite sad. Anne Marie did say she found some of the bits with Maureen's character, such as when she worried about not having enough bleach to clean up the murder scene, funny.

Coincidentally, the day before our meeting, McInerney won the Baileys Prize for Fiction for Glorious Heresies. I don't think any of us were aware it was even shortlisted when we decided to read it.

Our founder Joanne was unable to make the meeting, as friends from New Zealand she hadn't seen in 12 years had stopped by. While she was missed, we all agreed this was a good excuse.

We gave The Glorious Heresies 4 stars out of 5 - the highest rating since we introduced the star system.

The next Low Fell Book Group meeting will be held on July 7th, with the book to be discussed The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies. The venue is yet to be decided.

May meeting - 'The Saffron Trail'

For the May meeting we met in the back room of the Victoria in Low Fell.  Our book for discussion was Rosanna Ley’s ‘The Saffron Trail’.  Joan very kindly started the meeting by distributing fruit cake (many thanks to her winning first prize at the last Fells Angels WI meeting).

The response to ‘The Saffron Trail’ began with a Simon Cowell (Britain’s Got Talent) ‘I didn’t like it’, but sadly didn’t progress to the pregnant pause and unexpected reveal; ‘I loved it’.  Fair to say the closest positive endorsement was ‘I quite liked it’.

The unravelling of the story of Amy and Nell was found to be ‘predictable’ by most readers.  The alluring and heady promise of intrigue, magic, mystery, secrets of the tarot and the labyrinthine medina was more of a Rough Guide to Morocco with some rather nice tagine dishes to pause and enjoy along the route.

The research undertaken by Rosanna Ley into saffron, Moroccan cuisine and design did not go unappreciated.  Memories of holidays and time spent living in the Middle East were shared with enthusiasm in the group, but it was felt that nothing much ‘went off the beaten track’ in terms of both locations visited and the relationships between the characters.

Little moments of nodding connections with readers were enjoyed:  Hideous Kinky (‘seen that’), Catcher in the Rye (‘read that’) Leonard Cohen (‘heard that’) but there wasn’t enough to draw the readers in with any sense of excitement for the trail.

The interweaving of plot lines and the juxtaposition particularly of World War II and Vietnam conflicts was regarded as technically adept rather than being engaging.

Many members of the group thought it difficult to empathize with the main characters of Nell and Amy, finding that that the characterizations ‘lacked depth’, and were ‘too shallow’.  The similarity of the one syllable names did little to distinguish the women. Readers nipped back in the text to establish if Aunt Lillian was related to Amy or Nell (however given the connection between the women perhaps this was intentional.)

The male love interests were thought to be equally indistinguishable and unsupportive to their partners. It was difficult to remember who smelled of ‘grapefruit and leather’ and who has a whiff of ‘toothpaste and autumn leaves’. And incidentally why did Jake ‘always smell of grapefruit?’ (The unanswered question raised by Amy at the very end of the book.) Google suggests the answer lies with Dior Homme Sport by Christian Dior. Available on Amazon: £55.75 for 100ml.

The suicide (or was it?) of Nell’s mother seemed a rather gauche and ill researched plot line.  In the last few pages of the book we find out ‘she was ill’ and ‘she didn’t want surgery’. As someone who works in mental health I find suicide distinctly unromantic and left curious as to why this had to be the character’s death.

As a ‘skimming along the surface of a quite an interesting plot with a bit of a twist that you might see approaching from quite a distance’ type of read ‘The Saffron Trail’ fitted the bill.  Members were a little disappointed in the ‘and they all lived happily ever after’ ending, likening the loved up closing scene to a Mills and Boon storyline. But there again, the book is marketed as a holiday read and likely is ideal for this. ‘It’s an easy read’ was the feeling of the group, but possibly left in the hotel lobby for others to try rather than brought home with the intent of suggesting your best friend would enjoy it. One member of the group felt that the proof reading had been poor and the book contained a number of mistakes. I felt the ending seemed rather rushed, almost as if now the characters were back in Cornwall the author had lost interest and wanted to get things tied up as soon as possible.

However, finding something I enjoy reading is not necessarily my focus for joining a book group. Together with my enjoyment of the ‘collective consciousness’ experience of reading a book at the same time as others, my pleasure comes from being with the group. I’m at rather an unexpected stage in my life, where my prediction that a reduction in parenting responsibilities (daughter going to university) would lead to greater freedom in my social life has been somewhat upended by caring responsibilities for my mother moving into that space.

During this difficult period of losing my mother to Alzheimer’s disease it’s lovely to have the book group in my diary.

How wonderful to share cake and to take a moment out to hear about members of the group going to Las Vegas, sharing amusing stories about the latest WI meeting and commenting on favourite BGT acts. For me the joy of the book club is as much about the company of others as it is about reflecting on our reading. I’ll be happy to spend as much time viewing photographs of Elvis at our next meeting as I will be discussing ‘Glorious Heresies’. And I now know how to upload information onto a blog!

Group star rating for ‘The Saffron Trail’ 2 out of 5.

7th April 2016 - April Meeting

Another warm and cosy welcome from Lesley, the landlady at The Aletaster, and after refreshments and catch-up chats we settled to give our views on this month's book, "The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George. It was a translation from the German.

Members felt that the premise was a good one. It tells a tale of lost love, grief and guilt through the protagonist, Jean Perdu, a "literary apothecary", who runs a bookshop on a beautifully restored barge on the Seine. He helps people solve their personal problems by providing them with an appropriate book to read. However, the only person he is unable to cure is himself. He has been nursing a broken heart since the night, twenty one years ago,when the love of his life, Manon, fled Paris, leaving behind a handwritten letter that he has never dared read until now....

It was felt that some of the other characters were sketchily drawn so that it was difficult to identify with them and this could make the read rather laborious in places. Others expressed the view that the relationships which developed as the plot progressed ought to have been more deeply developed and the characters more intricately drawn. Their transience was frustrating and made the narrative seem bitty and the plot disjointed. It was suggested that the male characters were created from a female perspective and therefore seemed over-emotional. Also, that the nuance, in places, might have been lost or at least displaced in translation.

However we each felt that we had been treated to some colourful vignettes and deeply meaningful moments. These are afforded to us when Jean escapes from his misery by unmooring his barge and setting off in search of recapturing his memories and come to terms with his loss. Author Max Jordan joins him on his quest and they travel on the canals of France towards the Provencal south in search of Manon's story. Later he invites Cuneo and Samy into his life to travel with him. They all play a part in forcing him to face his demons, but sadly we thought them irrelevant contrivances which proved, in some instances, a distraction.

Viewed as a travelogue the members felt the book would have had a more positive response. The descriptions were well drawn and powerful, such as the harrowing account of a young deer which had fallen in the canal. The author's portrayal of the French countryside made the Francophiles amongst us long to plan our next holidays! The imagery was often lyrically and poetically atmospheric.

It's worth mentioning that there were some interesting titles which Jean Perdu kept on board and one in particular, "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" really interested Emma, so she "Googled" it and found it exists. So, Emma, we look forward to hearing your opinion of this tome next time we meet!

"The Little Paris Bookshop" was awarded 3* and we voted "The Saffron Trail" by Rosanna Ley to be our next book.

March Meeting

Our March Book Club meeting was held at The Nest on Durham Road, Low Fell. It was a lovely venue and we were provided with very nice coffee, tea and cake! There were 11 of us to discuss the book Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon.

Only 5 had completed the book and it received mixed reviews. Some felt that there were too many characters. It was agreed that the subject of the novel was interesting and that researching the Cold War helped to understand the book.

Those of us who didn't read the book felt it was too difficult to get into. Some felt there was little descriptive writing and maybe too much dialogue. It may have been better to have more of a background into Alex's family life in America at the beginning of the book to create an image.

Joanne recommended 'The North Waters'. Joanne B said she had read 'We Are Liars' from a previous list of books and said she had enjoyed it.

Sue shared a list of 7 choices for our next book and we all agreed on 'The Little Paris Bookshop' by Nina George.

We gave 'Leaving Berlin' 3-4 stars.

Emma offered to choose our list for our next meeting which will be April 7th venue to be decided.

The Nest was a very suitable venue. We ensured all dishes were washed and we left the room as we found it. Hopefully we will be able to use the place again!

February meeting - A Man Called Ove

The February meeting of the Low Fell Book Group was held at The Stone Trough on the 4th and we discussed Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove. It's safe to say that this novel was universally enjoyed by the group, even if a few people had reservations to begin with.

As a character, Ove starts out as a cantankerous old man, but as the novel unfolds and the reader gets to know more about his past and his ways, it's almost impossible not to fall for his somewhat unconventional charms. Some members of the group even saw people they know in the idiosyncrasies of Ove, including one person's husband (we better not mention any names here!).

Several people mentioned that Backman's novel reminds them of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - a book that many of us have read outside of the group. This may help to give potential readers an idea of the sort of tale they are embarking on and how it shows lovely character development over time.

5 stars

If you have read A Man Called Ove and would like to share what you thought of it with us, please feel free to leave a comment below.

The next book the group will be discussing is Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon. Feel free to read along with us online or join our meeting on February 3rd at The Nest on Durham Road.