April Read: Lullaby by Leïla Slimani

It was a good turnout at The Vic’s comfortable and welcoming room and there was no shortage of  energetic responses to this month’s book. 

“Lullaby” is a truly horrific and subtle thriller, which reveals in its first pages the murder of two young children, “baby dead …. older sister fought like a wild animal …. throat filled with blood”. They have been murdered by their nanny in their own home. Every parent's worst nightmare…….

We’re made aware of a seemingly unrelated tale of a young migrant mother, settling a small baby to sleep in an orphanage. She soothes the baby with a lullaby.

The plot gathers pace as we meet Miriam and Paul, a successful Parisian couple, who set out to find the perfect nanny so that Miriam can pursue her legal career. They find Louise, who is the answer to their prayers…

This psychological thriller makes us search for the motive and we are led through historical reflections of Louise’s past. It is one of abuse, humiliation and despair. She is desperately lonely and unloved, and finds her fulfilment through meeting the needs of other people’s children. But she knows children will grow up and will have no further use for her. She has one wish and that is to “dig herself a niche, a burrow, a warm hiding place”

We all agreed that “Lullaby” was a disturbing and difficult read so much so that one or two of us failed to complete the book.

Leïla Slimani, a young and talented winner of the “Prix Goncourt” has been honoured by President Macron to promote the French language and culture. The question asked by some of our group  was why did she chose such a devastating subject, set in a Paris described as a despairingly deprived, harsh, isolating place, interwoven with sexual abuse, violence and human exploitation? 

Jeanette, thought that parts of the novel was very well written, especially the textured, palpable atmosphere of Paris’ underbelly:  an allegorical commentary on class, gender, politics, mothering, and profound isolation.

I thought the prose was superb and Abby loved the layered way the book gathered velocity and the way the characters beautifully illustrated the narrative.

In contrast, Pauline, as did some others, thought the translation rather clumsy, making reading prohibitive in places. (translator: Sam Taylor)

Anne Marie found the fact that we were told of the murders of these children on the very first page disconcerting, especially as they are so horrifically and graphically described. Many of us were in agreement.

Joan A. had hoped it was because the author was planning a more cheering and optimistic conclusion and was bitterly disappointed at the end. She also felt that many questions were left unanswered. Sheila and Joan were in agreement with Katherine who felt that the plot had too many loose ends e.g What happened to Louise’s daughter? Did Louise kill her too? What actually were her motives for the murders?

Sheila and Joan felt little sympathy for the parents who were completely self-absorbed.

Emma found the characters wholly sympathetic e.g. with the parents, so blinkered by their need to pursue their careers, that they were totally unaware  of Louise’s manipulation of them. Also Louise herself, so despairing and desperate for the family’s need of her and so seriously harmed by her gruelling life experiences.

Anne Marie also felt some sympathy for Louise and was genuinely horrified by the speed she changed from Mary Poppins to Myra Hindley! 

The novel certainly prompted reaction, positive and otherwise. Generally it was agreed it was an extremely well - written book with regard to the violent symbols in the narrative which weren’t explained, but were left suspended in our imaginations, and which contributed to the tension and expectation of the inevitable, i.e the chicken carcass incident, the bruising and bites on both children and nanny, the make-up incident and a sharp ceramic sushi knife…

As the narrative unfolds we are given morsels of information which drive our search for the seemingly elusive motive.

And lurking, ever present in our consciousness, is the immaculately presented Louise herself... needed and needful, damaged and dangerous.

Personally I found this a psychological roller coaster of a novel.  I was utterly shaken and exhausted by the experience at its finish.

“Lullaby” was awarded 4 stars. 

March meeting - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

On March 1st (St David's Day), five intrepid members of the Low Fell Book Group met in the back room of The Aletaster. I say intrepid, because it was at the height of the Beast from the East and the Fell was deep in snow and most of us had been holed up in our homes for days.

There had been a certain level of expectation surrounding this month's book - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - as it had received a large amount of hype. Not only was it nominated in the 2017 Costa Book Awards, but the film script had been picked up by Reese Witherspoon before Gail Honeyman had even completed the final chapter.

For some members of the group, it lived up to the hype and for others it fell somewhat short. Most of those who made it to the meeting were in the latter camp, although Pauline was the biggest supporter in attendance, saying she was happy to suspend her disbelief when reading a book and that's exactly what she did with Eleanor Oliphant.

Others thought that many of the plot devices were problematic - from the way that the therapy was so successful so quickly to the musician's band suddenly making it big in America just like that. I did think that the characters of Eleanor and Raymond would end up in a romantic relationship at the end and was pleased that the loose ends weren't tied up quite as cheesily as that, but still wasn't enamoured with it as a whole.

We thought that it was quite unlikely that a person like Eleanor would go and get a Hollywood wax in real life and that the opinions of her colleagues would be so easily swayed by a change in her appearance. Raymond was generally seen as a likable character, as was Sammy and the plotline surrounding his family.

Most people didn't see the twist at the end coming, although we picked up on the references to another person in the narrative of the fire, which crept in throughout the novel. Looking back, the mention of Sense and Sensibility and its characters of Elinor and Marianne at the beginning of the book were the biggest hint.

Debbie was not a fan of the book and found it a struggle to get through, much to the amusement of her children. As someone who reads a lot of kids' fiction for work, she was disappointed with this foray into the world of adults' literature and amusingly relayed her attempts to finish it without throwing it at the wall.

Commenting on the hype surrounding the book, Abby summed it up, saying: "Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd". This just goes to show how some things get picked up on and become part of the public consciousness, not always because of merit, but due to word of mouth.

A display of the book in the Newcastle branch of Waterstones

Despite not being able to make the meeting, many of the group still expressed their opinions. Sue, who was struck down with flu said: "As a first novel, it was pretty good. I found it engrossing and entertaining. The story is of profound loneliness and one that should be recognised more in our society."

Jeanette, who was snowed in down in deepest, darkest Yorkshire, said somewhat succinctly that this was another book with mental health as a theme that she didn't enjoy.

Joan, enjoying birthday celebrations with her husband, commented: "I have mixed feelings on Eleanor. Quite enjoyed it, but I got deja vu. There was a very good film once called Sybil, about a woman who was abused by her mother and she ended up with multiple personalities. For me, this book fell very short of that story.

"It also reminded me of Ove and The Dog in the Night Time, and I feel it is just the fashion to write books of this ilk. It started with great promise but ended with '...and they all lived happily ever after', and you know how much I like that!"

Lynda didn't fancy venturing out in the snow, but contributed: "I loved Eleanor Oliphant. It was very easy to read and hard to put down. Very moving, funny and poignant."

Joanne, unable to make it across from Westerhope, said: "I enjoyed this book. I found it easy to read, although when I first started it I did not think I was going to like it. I thought the character of Eleanor was a little bit unbelievable to begin with. However I soon grew to like her and was intrigued to find out more about her troubled past.

"The other characters in the book were interesting and contributed to the heart-warming feel of the book. It drew attention to the fact that there are some people in life who are not obviously alike being drawn together. I especially liked the storyline with the old man and his family and how they appreciated Eleanor and Raymond and became good friends.

"I did not particularly like Eleanor's obsession with the musician, but understand how this was a necessary part of the story to show how her mental health was a theme of the book. I found the book funny, sad, interesting, easy to read and enjoyable."

Katherine didn't want to tackle the hike up the hill in such weather conditions, but mentioned earlier in the month: "Finished listening to Eleanor Oliphant on Audible last night and looking forward to hearing whether my experience of it differed to having the written word. It was an emotional rollercoaster to say the least!"

It was also lovely to hear from an online participant of our group. Lyndsey said: "Couldn't put Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine down! Read it in one evening...I really did love this book. I can never make the meetings (childcare), but please keep on choosing such gorgeous books. I love reading them and the notes from the meetings."

Taking everyone's views into account, we gave Eleanor Oliphant three stars.

Next month's book is Lullaby by Leila Slimani, which will be discussed in The Library of The Victoria on Thursday April 5th.

February meeting - Dangerous Crossing

The February meeting of Low Fell Book Club took place on Thursday 1^st February in the cosy library room of The Victoria. Ten members and a new addition assembled to discuss Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys.

Before the discussion of the book got into full flow a couple of administrative issues were agreed. Sue has kept the entire lists of all the books we have put forward each month, and it was agreed we would revisit some of the ones that did not get the green light. I apologise for forgetting how we decided to do this, can someone remind me?

Joan also suggested that we use The Vic as our regular venue and most of the group felt this was a good idea. Again I did not get notes of the more extensive discussion on this as I was trying to keep up with comments about the book we had all just read.

I say ALL but during the meeting Joanne was valiantly trying to get to the end of the book to allow us to have a full discussion without any spoilers. Well done Joanne. 

Young , naïve Lily Shepherd (oh dear I keep wanting to write Lily Savage…..) boards The Orontes ocean liner in search of a new exciting life, but nothing can prepare her for what unfolds on the five week journey to Australia . At first we are treated to a cocktail of fun, glamour, exotic new places and people as Lily embraces her trip of a lifetime. However, against the looming backdrop of World War 2 the excitement takes a turbulent turn, exposing secrets, scandals, prejudice, violence and murder.

Most of the group who met on the night seemed to have more or less enjoyed the book but most had some critical issues. Jeanette had read it very quickly and on reading the authors note at the back, felt she would have preferred to have read the original journal by Joan Holles , which had inspired the story.

There was a lot of agreement that the author seemed to struggle when describing the emotions of her cast of characters. Also, most of us did feel that they could have come straight out of central casting for an Agatha Christie film or TV adaption. Eliza and Max Campbell - the charismatic aristocrats who enjoy the good life and playing games with others.

Edward Fletcher- young handsome with curly hair, travelling with his sister to try and restore his ill health . Not forgetting everyone’ s favourite bad guy George Price- the red-faced, blustering bigot. The characters as such came over at times as one dimensional. Our new member Abbie was particularly unconvinced by Lilly, commenting she was "spineless and not particularly likable".

Joan, was also driven demented by a quirk in many of the scenes where people constantly came up behind the main character and divulge  some dramatic addition to the plot. This does seem to happen a lot and made us all chuckle..

However, most of us felt the book was easy to read and Debbi and Sheila both commented that they were sad when it came to an end. Sheila also said she would love to have found out more about them in their new lives in Australia. We do get a little bit of that at the end with the excerpt from a profile of the successful author Lillian Dent. This summing up device (again very reminiscent of Agatha Christie)had conflicting views from the group , some like all the loose  ends  tidied up others saw it as a cop out.

Almost all agreed that Rhys has managed to capture a particular time and place extremely well. The themes of race, class and sexual identity were portrayed very accurately and with skill. I think we all thought she described the stop off places on the voyage beautifully too, so much so that Pauline found herself dreaming about these far,  flung ,exotic  destinations.

We gave the book a score of 4 out 5.

I think next month’s selection is Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.

It transpired that we don’t know how we chose this one as nobody admits to voting for it! Was it the unseen on-line votes? It's looking like we have our very own mystery to solve…….. great stuff.

Next Meeting Thursday March 1st at The Aletaster.

January Book Club Meeting

The first Book Club meeting of 2018 took place at The Angel Inn on a rainy night in January (not Georgia).   Present were Annemarie, Joan, Sue, Jeanette, Pauline and Kate.  We discussed the various book gifts that had been exchanged at our Christmas meeting and read during December. We also enjoyed some food in the dining area. It was a nice venue as it is large and it felt as though we had the place to ourselves.

The following reviews are shorter than usual and not as detailed as I am trying to avoid giving too much of the storylines away as members are swapping and sharing the books.

Joan A  kicked off the proceedings with her views on  When Breath Become Air by Paul Kalanithi which had been given by Jeanette. The story is an autobiographical description of a young doctor’s memoir following a diagnosis of terminal lung cancer. Although it is obviously  sad,  Joan loved the book and also found it oddly inspiring.  She would not hesitate in recommending it to others .

Joan scored this book a 5.

Kate had received After You’d Gone by Maggie O Farrell which had been given by Emma. Kate had mixed feelings about the book. The plot revolves round a woman taking a train journey to visit her family. However she witnesses something shocking  and leaves for home immediately. Kate felt she had been put off by a reference right at the beginning of the story and found the plot rather unbelievable, and the twists did not reflect the characters.

Kate gave the book a score of 3.

Jeanette had been give Red House by Mark Haddon and was keen to read it as she had enjoyed The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Nigh Time.   The story centres on two families on holiday together in a cottage. Jeanette admitted that she struggled with it at first and had to resort to her memory technique as there were a lot of  names to remember.  She felt the chapters were too long and the lack of a back story meant she wasn’t really bothered about the characters till a long way into the plot.

Jeanette rated this one 3.

Pauline had received Precious Bane by Mary Webb from Annemarie.  She commented that it was a lovely book and beautifully written, although in this particular edition the lengthy preface gave too much of the story away. It is set in rural Shropshire  in the early nineteenth century and tells the story of a woman born in the countryside who has a facial affliction. Pauline felt the melodramatic nature of the story was comparable with Thomas Hardy.

Pauline rated this book 4.

Annemarie had been given  A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick.  If I had to sum up this book in three words it would be  Snowy, smouldering and secretive.  A woman steps from a train in rural Wisconsin in the bitter winter of 1909 to meet a man she has agreed to marry via his newspaper ad. I really enjoyed this book it has some classic gothic twists and turns but the ending was unexpected. I would certainly recommend it to others.

 I would rate this book 4.

Joan H gave us her comments via the Facebook site. Joan had read  The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Alborn.  Joan had enjoyed the book although she felt it was sad, but it does make you think about life. She found the book quick to read and is keen to pass it on to others. We don’t have a score as yet for this one.

Although Sue was present for the meeting she had only just started her book so it was too early to review this one.

If anyone who was unable to attend the meeting wants to add their comments please do so via the page or the blog.

Remember the read for January is A Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys.

Our next meeting will be Thursday February 1^st. Venue to be agreed.

December meeting - The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

The December group meeting took place in the ‘back room’ of The Victoria Public House, Low Fell and was beautifully hosted by Joan A.

I suspect at 14 members present this was the largest attendance of any group so far, and I’ve done my best to capture the essence of the discussion on ‘The Rosie Project’. Apologies to anything that has slipped through the net. A warm welcome was extended to our new attendees. What a pleasure to see the group expanding!

Personally speaking I gave up after chapter 9 of ‘The Rosie Project’ so can’t really speak with any authority, so the intent here is to reflect on contributions of others. 

The over-riding theme of the discussion was this was a ‘romp’ of a book, something akin to watching a ‘chick flick’. Not something anyone particularly raved about, but were mildly amused by (in the main). A number of the group did admit to having some ‘laugh out loud’ moments, but many felt that the praises of the plaudits on the cover of the book were somewhat over-enthusiastic. The book was advised to be taken ‘on face value’, and to ‘suspend reality’ whilst reading it. It was described as ‘silly’ and ‘light-hearted’.

Katie felt that the author had come up with a good idea (having a check-list to find a partner) and then woven quite a weak story around this. It was commented that a number of ‘twists and turns’ in the plot line were set up at the beginning of the book, which either were resolved very quickly at the end, or simply disappeared. A brief discussion took place around ‘who is Rosie’s father then?’, but this seemed to be in a mood of mild curiosity rather than heartfelt interest.

A number of the group expressed the opinion that perhaps following the success of ‘The Dog in the Night Time’ the author had decided that having a lead character with Asperger’s Syndrome would be an interesting plot device. The difference with this lead character, however, was that readers felt no sympathy for him. For the members of the group with significant experience of meeting people on the autistic spectrum, in work or family life, the portrayal of the lead character was described as ‘representative’ rather than ‘realistic’. Personally, I found the book quite offensive and disrespectful (hence giving up on it so quickly).

Sue noted that Rosie’s comment at the ending of the book that she would like to marry the lead character as long as ‘things are still crazy’ was inappropriate. We are living in a culture where many organisations are addressing the detrimental use of derogatory language historically linked to mental health presentations. We are all well advised to consider our personal vocabulary.

The group felt that the characters were not well written, and little empathy or sympathy was felt for either of the couple. “I didn’t like him, I didn’t like her!” It was noted “I like the premise of the book, but not the execution”. Responses were on a spectrum from ‘iconic and funny’ to ‘disappointing’.

New member of the group Debb noted how much she had enjoyed the process of taking the time to curl up and read a book written for adults. This was ‘a treat’. For many years her reading has been dominated by the demands of reading to children both at home and work.

Score out of 5 for the book, 3. (But I am directed to note that some felt it deserved a 4).

Following the feedback on the book, the group very much enjoyed a ‘pass the parcel’ game, although having not played it for a long time there was some confusion at times. At one point there was a break in the flow of proceedings with three or four women shouting “take something off, take something off”.

How this all was being perceived by the clientele of the pub beyond the curtains shielding us from public view was open to question. The Book Club Christmas meeting entertainment was a stripper? The Book Club were having a strip poker game? The Book Club were experimenting with a naturist theme? Some ideas for next Christmas perhaps? Winner of the scented candle was Pauline W. (Thanks to Joan for the game.)

The buffet was a great success. As a group we’re not precious about ‘homemade’ and anything goes. Katie’s homemade salted caramel shortcakes do deserve a special mention, however.
Following the success of last year’s book exchange we all contributed to this once again, bringing a wrapped book each to pass on to someone else, ‘bran tub’ style.

The Christmas Book Exchange results: for December reading:

Jeanette, The Red House by Mark Haddon

Lynda, The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Joanne, The Underground Railway by Colson Whitehead

Joan H, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Alborn

Sheila, And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Debb, The Killer on the Wall by Emma Kavanagh

Joan A, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Katie, After You’d Gone, Maggie O’Farrell

Sue C, Bittersweet, Colleen McCullough

Pauline W, A Year of Marvellous Ways, Sarah Winman

Viki, The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters

Pauline S, Precious Bane, Mary Webb

Anne-Marie, A Reliable Wife, Robert Goolrick (which caused much amusement on the evening as A-
M wasn’t feeling in a particularly reliable mood at home!)

After the opening of our wrapped book gift we each shared with the group which book we had brought along, and why we had chosen it.

The evening ended with a couple of rounds of ‘The World Cup of Everything’, a game from the Richard Osman book of the same name. (Again, the book and the score sheets were provided by the hostess with the mostess, the lovely Joan A)

The group debated the best Christmas film with the final being between ‘White Christmas’ and ‘Love Actually’. The winner: Love Actually.

The decision on the best Disney Film ended with a final between ‘Lady and the Tramp’ and ‘The Jungle Book’. The Winner: The Jungle Book.

Joanne amused the group by voting against the trend on pretty much every round.  But we didn’t come to blows!

Thanks to everyone for a lovely evening. I stayed out well beyond what is sensible for a ‘school night’ and for someone as socially anxious as me this is very unusual.  What a great group!

Much love to Emma who sadly missed out on the evening as she was poorly.

The book for January reading 2018 is ‘A Dangerous Crossing’ by Rachel Rhys (for discussion in February 2018). At our next group we’ll be sharing our thoughts on our individual book exchange Christmas book. Following the success of last year’s decision to do this in the form of a self-penned poem this time we’ll be presenting in the form of interpretive contemporary dance (not!). Further instructions to follow!

Season’s Greetings to all and see everyone again in 2018.

November Meeting - Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee

We met in Rosa 12 for our November book club meeting. It was lovely to see Joan back from her adventures in China and hearing all about her amazing experience and achievements.

We welcomed new members Deb and Katie. We started to discuss our book Cider with Rosie. It seemed we had a variety of different copies of the book! Joan had not read the book this time but had read it many years ago and loved it. Having lived in Gloucester she knows the area well. Emma loved the descriptions in the book. Katie had listened to it being read on Radio 4 and said it was a good book to listen to. We talked about there being a TV series which aired a few years ago and some of us had watched it.

The general view was that it was a story but with no plot. It was a book of extracts from Lee's childhood growing up in rural Gloucestershire. Jeanette liked the chapter about his mum. Emma said the ending was poignant.

We decided to give the book a score of 4/5.

We discussed the next meeting being a Christmas gathering and Joan kindly offered to host an evening at hers. This will now be held in The Victoria as numbers were growing! As last year's book swap was a success we decided to carry on this tradition this year. Each member will give a gift of a book which they recommend and these will be swapped at our December gathering.

October meeting - Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

In October we decided to have a special meeting to send our very brave member Joan off to China with all of our best wishes. She completed a trek of the Great Wall of China for the Alzheimer's Society and did incredibly well, raising £5,250.32 (and counting) for this brilliant cause.

A few members met Joan at the Bank and the rest of us convened at The Imperial. There were a few small gifts, a good luck balloon and a bottle of fizz, complete with a sparkler, to help send her on her way.

The book to be discussed was Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons, which only a select few of the group had finished. Others had managed to get part of the way through, while a couple had given up entirely.

It was generally agreed that it was a book very much of its time and very different to the children's literature of today. Jeanette pointed out that her daughter would have asked for a return to Harry Potter should she have tried to read it to her when she was growing up.

While the language was quite outdated, there were some nice descriptions and it seemed like a very pleasant way to spend a summer. Some of the younger members of the group (ahem, Emma) had to have the term 'duffer' explained to them.

The parents seemed quite lax in letting the children go off and have such adventures, but then finding a way to take adults out of the equation is always a challenge for children's authors. It was agreed that it was really nice to see the character of Captain Flint aka Uncle Jim getting involved and playing along with the kids' hijinx.

Overall, it was decided that the book should be awarded three stars out of five.

Member Joanne with the real-life Amazon in The Lakes

On November 2nd, the group will be discussing Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee at Rosa 12.