I am probably going to be pretty partisan, writing this, I admit. It was one of the options I put forward last year. It was on my list because it was on my shelf! I'd bought it in one of my sprees in Waterstones, (other booksellers are available), so it was going to be good to make time to read it.
But it does seem I wasn't entirely alone in enjoying it. The ladies in the room who'd read it all gave it a good mark, with two of us going for 5/5. There were three 4s and a 3. Overall score in the region of 4.2.
There were some interesting comments from the group. one of us didn't fancy it at all, and was confused by the three different voices used. But then they got the hang of it, and it moved along well.
We had a discussion about the different voices, how they were pretty much 'of their time'. William spent his time completely overlooking his daughter Charlotte, who was the most interested in his study of bees, and creation of the new style of hive, whilst expecting the wayward Edmund to step up and share his father's passion. To no avail.
George almost expected his son Tom to follow on in the farm, giving up his dreams of journalism and authorship, and it was only when the 'event' happened that Tom did come back. His dreams were eventually realised, although he would probably never be aware how useful his writings were to be.
Tao was driven, and a frustrated scholar 80 years in the future. Had to leave her studies behind as a child to take up her duties in the orchards. Her journey to discover what happened to her son (for me) was the most gripping element of the book. Her time in the hospital and in the library were so thought provoking that I feel I must go and plant more lavenders in the spring.
The author kept the three stories running along well, each chapter pretty much ending on a cliff hanger. It might be a good exercise to read the book again, but to read all of William, then all of George, and then Tao.
Whilst a couple of us found William irritating, I think it is a testament to Ms Lunde's skills that we still loved the book! We have a non sympathetic (anti)hero, at least for a third of it, and I still give the book full marks. It really was a great page turner. And a possible future history that didn't resort to zombies and gimmicks, pointing out that the smallest things could give rise to the biggest change.
We had some questions. Were we meant to read more into the character Rahm? Were there some undercurrents we should have focussed on more? How did Charlotte end up bringing Edmund's baby to America? What happened to Edmund, and Alberta? Or maybe, that was just me..
Finally. If you do decide to read this, do go for the actual book. The Kindle version isn't as pretty...
Next meeting: 7th March, venue to be confirmed.
Book: The Prince of Mist, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
April's book: The Lightkeeper's Daughters, Jean Pendziwol
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