May meeting - Undercurrent by JA Baker

May's meeting of the Low Fell Book Group was held in the cosy little room we like at The Aletaster. Undercurrent by JA Baker had been put forward as one of the suggestions by Joan and was chosen in part due to its local setting in County Durham. It was a departure from our usual genres and was generally well-received by most of the group.

Some members were somewhat perturbed by the number of mistakes that had managed to get through the editing process, but this only really put Emma off. Anne Marie thought the author was in need of a thesaurus due to the number of times she used the word detritus, but despite this, it was an easy read and one most people enjoyed.

Having not read many thrillers before, I was keen to know if it was fairly typical of the genre and was informed that it was pretty representative. Phoebe's first person narrative really drew many people in. Despite not being able to make the meeting, Jeanette provided us with her opinions via Facebook. She spent her holiday in the Yorkshire Dales looking for bodies in rivers, which means it was certainly on her mind!

Jeanette and others found some issues with aspects of the plot, but a little bit of artistic license was granted, as these elements were required to allow events to move on. Not having too many characters made it easy enough for us all to follow and Joan particularly enjoyed how pacy it was.

Undercurrent was given a total of four stars.

Next month's meeting will discuss The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry and will be held at Joan's house.

April meeting - The Versions of Us

For the April meeting, we met in the book-lined surroundings of the library at The Vic for a chat about The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett. Described as a combination of One Day and Sliding Doors, the novel centres around the relationship between Eva and Jim and the possible different ways their lives could have taken shape depending on their actions.

Opinions were mixed, with Anne Marie stating that she wouldn't recommend it to anyone and Pauline and Linda saying they enjoyed it. Joan went so far to say that the author had a fairly boring story and it was only the structure of splitting it into three alternative tales that gave it interest.

One of the key areas of debate for our group was whether or not more should have been the same in each version of the tale. Joanne C suggested that it might have been better if Eva had done wildly different things, such as travelling the world. As it stood, the type of life Eva had was fairly similar in each incarnation. Specific characters and events were also consistent throughout, providing markers in the text to tie scenarios to.

Another topic of discussion was how confusing it was to follow. Several of us had intended to make notes of the defining features of each story to help us through, but nobody actually got round to it. This meant a few paragraphs of readjustment at the beginning of each chapter, which was not too much of a problem in the end. Joanne B read seven pages and was so confused she decided to give it a miss for this month!

As a group, we awarded The Versions of Us three stars.

The next meeting will take place at The Aletaster on May 4th to discuss Undercurrent by J A Baker.

Sweet Caress by William Boyd - March meeting book review

The March meeting was held at Fell's Kitchen, where 9 members met over an enjoyable meal and gave their views on Sweet Caress by WilliamBoyd.

Some of the assembled were still reading it ( Pauline, Sue and Linda ) but commented that they were enjoying it so far. Those who had completed it (Anne Marie, Joan, Joanne C, Jeanette, Emma and Sheila) were also complimentary, with the exception of Jeanette, who really did not like it at all.

The story describes the memorable life of a well-to-do woman from 1908 to 1977. Amory Clay’s racy and well travelled life is shown to the reader through beautiful story telling and the inclusion of photographs. She finds herself caught up in many of the twentieth century’s most dramatic and defining events. Joanne particularly enjoyed the historical aspects and they were woven well into the overall story of a life well lived.

Most of us agreed that the book was well written drawing you in easily and sustaining your interest. However some found the jumping backward and forwards in time rather frustrating. An unusual feature of this novel was the inclusion of old photographs littered throughout the story. Most of the group felt that the photographs did not add to the narrative. Given that Amory Clay was an award winning photographer Jeanette commented that most were badly executed other than the one with the woman in stockings. Emma agreed adding that the two photographs supposedly of Queenie were clearly two different women. The photographs were actually taken from the author’s private collection.

The plot was sweeping and panoramic and tells the whole life story of one woman’s search for success and love and conveyed this very well. There were some issues with the plot. Amory always seemed to be present in the places where the action was happening; in jazz-age Berlin, fighting Fascists in 1930s London, wartime France and Vietnam. Perhaps it could be argued that her presence in these places did stretch your believability, however the author depicted these historical events well and reminded us of the destructive and damaging impact of war on the lives of individuals.

Amory Clay, the novel’s heroine, is not always the most likeable of women, but most of the group felt that she was interesting, Sue felt that Boyd had got into a woman’s mind very well. To steal Amory’s inventive game of describing people in four adjectives, she is irritating, boastful, imperfect and spirited. We also felt that most of the other main characters were well rounded too, even though many had quite absurd names, but at least they were memorable. Several members of our group commented that initially they thought the story was autobiographical, which I feel shows the skill in Boyd’s writing conveying her as a real person, flaws and all.

I feel it is pertinent to include here the main criticism of the story as far as Jeanette was concerned, as it generated a lot of discussion on the night. This was the attempted suicide of Amory’s father, which really does not sit easy with Jeanette. I tend to agree in part with this observation as suicide as a theme in novels does seem to crop up quite a lot. Is it simply a lazy means of portraying drama in literature? Perhaps this is a good dissertation subject for a student of literature or psychology to research more fully?

Overall the group gave Sweet Caress the score of 4. Personally I rated it a 5, as I really loved it from the beginning and would sum it up as accomplished, brilliant, captivating and dazzling.

The book selected for March is The Versions Of Us By LauraBarnett.

The next meeting is Thursday 5^th April - venue to be confirmed. 

February Meeting: "Ostrich" by Matt Greene

This month’s meeting was held in Emma’s fab flat with an accompanying bagel feast and cocktails!! What more could we ask for? Great company, good food and a good read to chew over.

And “Ostrich” by Matt Greene did get our digestive juices going, although some did find the book difficult to  swallow. 

I loved it, as did Jeanette, Joanne, Anne Marie, Pauline and Emma. Sheila and Joan thought Alex precocious and unlikeable. All agreed he was a clever fellow for 12 yrs old, as he portrayed his view of his world and the people in it, but we didn’t all feel dedicated to following his immature ramblings. 

Emma, Jeanette and Joanne felt that Alex’s understanding, (blurred and disjointed at times due to his convulsions,) his age and his fixation with the idiosyncrasies of English usage (chances of passing a scholastic entrance exam  … like he’s got nothing else to be bothered about!!))) is remarkably sensitive and philosophical. He also uses plenty of words he can’t understand or can’t spell, and this lends very much to the chuckle element in the book.

We are led like detectives, clue by clue until we uncover the truth of Alex’s world. In particular, his obsession with tautology, which is often hilarious and heart wrenching. We agreed you can miss gems on first reading, and I for one felt the need to read it again at a later date.The book is about brain surgery (sort of) and about a hamster named Jaws 2 (but not really!!) It’s about parenting, courage, love, friendship and growing up... and quantum mechanics!

Pauline was touched by his inability to spot how others are intent on belittling him as, for example, his English teacher's patronising and obtuse conversation with him after class. His precocious conversation with his French oral examiner, on the other hand, is extremely funny and makes up for it somewhat.

Like most teenagers Alex feels “ostrichized”, outside the place he finds himself in, and typically, he is influenced by his peers, like girlfriend Chloe (she being a product of a broken family). She is instrumental in fuelling his belief that his Dad’s having an affair and his Mum is going through a nervous breakdown of some sort. He makes no link with their behaviour and their worries and concerns about his wellbeing .

His Dad's bad jokes have the "tumbleweed effect", for example, when discussing the currency whilst on holiday in France, Dad is asked by him:

ed:

“Are they francs?”

and he answers

“No they’re mine”

Some of us laughed at this, but Alex did not.

But, if you don’t get anything else from this book , you will get that his parents are the best parents a boy could have. They are heroic and magnificent in their treatment of him. He just doesn’t get them or where they’re at. But then, his mind is often otherwise occupied with his brain malfunction!! And that’s a lot for a young 12 year old boy to deal with….

Writing about people suffering from serious illnesses is difficult to tackle, but we felt that Matt Greene does a brilliant job. It is a well written and well paced book and possibly comparable to “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time” by Marc Haddon, although we weren’t all agreed on that one.

Matt Greene does a brilliant job in getting into Alex’s head and many of us loved being in his mind with him. The book is loaded with wit and wisdom and it can make you laugh and cry. 

Awarded 4.5 stars 

Thank you Emma for your 5 star hospitality

The next meeting will be on March 2nd although the venue is yet to be decided.

The chosen read for next month's meeting is “Sweet Caress” by William Boyd.

January meeting - Reviewing our Christmas reads

The January edition of the Low Fell Book Group was slightly different on two fronts. The first was that instead of meeting at one of the fine eating or drinking establishments on the Fell, we all trooped along to a member's house. Jeanette was kind enough to host us all and the table was laden with dishes for a pot luck supper. She also provided a selection of activities, including questionnaires about our love of books and crackers complete with whistles, to keep us all entertained.

Secondly, we weren't all reading the same book. In fact, each one of us read something different, as we'd all thrown a wrapped novel into the centre of the table at the last meeting and taken our pick. Most people seemed to enjoy the books supplied by other members of the group. Reviews were submitted in various forms, including limericks and haikus. Read on to see our creative efforts:

A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale

There once was a young man named Harry
Who followed tradition to marry
On a venture quite scary
He moved to the prairie
And found there it's with boys he should tarry

By Jeanette











Dissolution by CJ Sansom

Hmm, 'Disolution'
Sadly it was not for me
Better luck next time

By Joanne B













The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

In olde Amsterdam it wasn't fashionable to go Dutch
And the main male character, just wasn't that butch.
The female voices all shouted louder
Above the ever present smell of gouda.
But don't be put off from this wonderful story
Even though at times it does get gory.
In this instance small isn't always what it seems,
Perfect in every detail, but not the essence of dreams.
A wonderful read, a five star rating,
So read it now; no sense in waiting.

By Annemarie



The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Disturbing echoes
Red leaves falling, tears within
Fertilisation

By Joan













Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben

Haiku:
acdc..o
ptsd...omg
dbeyr

Poem:
She's a super woman
Highly trained to kill
Suffering the terrors
Making her ill
Not easily fooled
The guilty she finds
Only by her rules
All mercy declined
Does she succeed?
This I can't say
Just read the book
So get on your way...

                                                        By Sue

December meeting - Christmas book swap

Our December book club meeting was held at Primavera Italian restaurant and was also our Christmas get together. We all ordered food and drinks and then found out that only five out of ten of us had read this month's book - The Stranger in my Home by Adele Parks. There had been some difficulties in buying the paperback copy, as it doesn't come out until February. After eating a delicious meal we decided to split the group and those of us who had read the book began to discuss it.

We talked about the characters in the book. The main character Alison is faced with the trauma of finding out that her 15 year old daughter was switched at birth and she has been raising someone else's child. Pauline felt that Alison was very overprotective of her daughter because of her own unhappy upbringing. We talked about Alison's feelings of guilt due to her having to give up a child when she was 16.

We all agreed that we had suspicions of Tom. Some of us guessed that he had taken Katherine. However we were not convinced that Olivia's 'pregnancy' was a necessary part of the story. Joan felt that the ending was too much of a happy ending and we agreed that it was too perfect.

The book was easy to read and we could picture the characters easily. The baby swap storyline was a bit far fetched, but it was a good story with a twist. We all agreed that we enjoyed the book. Joanne B said that she was not sure if she would read any other books by the same author. Pauline had read Spare Brides by Adele Parks and said it was OK.

We rated this book 3 1/2 stars.

We had decided at our last meeting that we would give a secret Santa gift of a favourite book. We exchanged these gifts and are all looking forward to reading these in preparation for our January meeting. The books we received are as follows:

Lynda - The Hypnotist's Daughter by Liane Moriaty
Joan - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Susan - Fool Me Once by Harlon Coben
Sharon - The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Jeanette - A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale
Emma - Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann
Anne Marie - The Minaturist by Jessie Burton
Joanne - Dissolution by CJ Sansom
Pauline - The White Princess by Philippa Gregory
Joanne - The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I had previously read the book I had received and so I chose to read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.

Our next meeting will be at Jeanette's home where we will choose our next book.

The Christmas tree at Barter Books, Alnwick

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.