November's meeting: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

This meeting was held on 1 November in The Library at The Vic, where we discussed Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Eight of us were in the library, celebrating the anniversary of the book club. Fabulous spread laid on by us, for us. Loved the pina colada cake!

The book created a lot of different emotions across the group.  I found, once I was in it, I didn’t want to put it down, and I read the last 300 pages in one sitting.  However, others found it easier to put down!  We weren’t sure what to expect with the blurb on the back of the book – would middle class America be relevant to us?  It was a bit like American Beauty, the focus on the microcosm of the family.  But would anything really change?

We had a general discussion about the themes of motherhood that were raised in the book, from the point of view of the mothers (and adoptive mothers) and the daughters.  Whether leaving the baby at the fire station was really passing responsibility to the state, or should have been seen as a cry for help.  There were some thoughts that the outcome of the court case left us feeling a bit ‘meh’ – whichever side were named as winners, we’d have nodded and said ‘OK’.  Was that because the feelings of both sides were explained so well?  Or because we hadn’t really engaged with Bebe and Linda?

There were many questions raised:

·         Why did Mia never go back to her parents?

·         How seriously should we take Linda’s plans for reintroducing Mirabelle to her Chinese roots?

·         Why was Elena so hard on Izzy, and less so on Lexie?

We felt Mia had been the catalyst for so much – if she and Pearl hadn’t arrived in Shaker Heights then the toothpick incident wouldn’t have happened, the adoption wouldn’t have been challenged, the abortion wouldn’t have been misaligned, and it was Mia who spoke about the prairie fires.  “Remember what I said the other day? About the prairie fires? About how sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground and start over?” This is presumably what prompted Izzy to take action.

We had mixed emotions about Mia’s photography – did we want to see it because it was interesting, or did we not want to see it, because it sounded like a mess?!  The photos she left for the Richardsons – when had she been planning to gift them?  Mia and Pearl’s departure wasn’t a planned action.  Or was it pure luck that there was something for each of them?

Positives: intimacy of the various relationships; getting both sides of the story

Negatives: possibly needed a couple more rounds of editing; everything was wrapped up too quickly – “one paragraph changed everything” – had she met a deadline?

Scores on the doors? Seven voted (one of us hadn’t finished, quite). The range was from 2.5 to 4 (out of five). The average was 3.36. Some of us said we’d recommend it, others said straight to the charity shop!

Next meeting: 6 December – Venue to be advised. Discussing Unlucky for Some by Jill McGown.

NB – Also SECRET SANTA FOR BOOKLOVERS at this meeting.  Please bring a book, wrapped up for a lucky dip.  The books will be discussed at the January meeting.

October's meeting: Heartburn by Nora Ephron

The group was a little depleted when we met in the library at The Victoria but opinions were sent in from absentees. The reaction to Heartburn was clearly split down the middle; one half loving it and the other not very much.

When the novel was first published it was received with mixed and sometimes derisory criticism as a thinly disguised fictionalisation of the breakup of  Ephron’s marriage to the Watergate journalist, Carl Bernstein. It was regarded as a revenge novel by some.

The narrator of the novel is Rachel, who writes cookbooks for a living. She is trying to win back Mark who is having an affair with Thelma with a “neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb and you should see her legs….”  Mark is short. Rachel blames her love of cooking for the affair as her cooking became a way of saying I love you: “I was so busy preparing the perfect peach pie that I wasn’t paying attention”

Some members saw the recipes as intrusive and often insensitive but others found them comfortable and “satisfying as mashed potatoes and as airy as a perfect soufflé” 

However, it was agreed by many, that Ephron’s dry wit and humour showed her talent for spinning comedy from grievous pain, for example, when Rachel’s therapy group gets mugged in the middle of a session, after which one male and one female member admit they were attracted to the mugger! 

Also when Rachel recalls her mother running away with Mel who “honestly believed he was God… but one thing you know about God is that he isn’t called Mel”

There is also the scene where Rachel and Jonathan discuss Mark and Thelma’s choice of couch to feather their love nest, which is both touching and funny. Comedy depends on anguish like “good gravy surely depends on butter and flour”

Some of us felt that they were excluded by the socialite/celebrity name-dropping and they would also have had more belief in Rachel had Ephron distanced herself further from the character. Some also begged the question as to why anyone, seven months pregnant, would repeatedly take back a man who was a compulsive cheat. It was also felt that the jokes began to pall half way through the book with the plot becoming far-fetched.

One member re-read the book. She hated it at first and loved it the second time around! Perhaps the star rating of 3 might have been higher had we all done that. 

Ephron directed Silkwood, and was screenwriter for Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally. She once said that “the benefit of directing rather than writing is that no-one can be held responsible other than you” 

Her mantra was “Be a heroine of your life and not a victim”

Our next meeting will be Thursday, November 1st when we will discuss Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. This meeting will be celebrating Low Fell Book Club’s third anniversary. (Those attending are requested to bring a dish, preferably with something in it! …and some Ephron vinaigrette?)

September's meeting: Tin Man by Sarah Winman

The meeting of Book Club took place on Thursday September 6th in the Library room at The Vic. As well as discussing Tin Man by Sarah WinMan the assembled members were celebrating Abbie and Viki’s birthdays. So as well as the usual lively conversation we were able to indulge in not one but two of Emma’s sumptuous cakes washed down with Prosecco from Phillip, Abbie’s partner who had wanted to surprise her on her special day. Thank you from all the members who were able to make the meeting.

We also agreed that we intended to do the usual Book Swap for our December meeting and that the list of books to choose from next time would be compiled by Jeanette.

This was the third novel by this author and we had recently read “When God Was a Rabbit” which had received very favourable reviews but one of the group felt that it was perhaps a bit too soon to read another one. On reflection she might have had a point but that did not seem to be the view of the rest of the group who all were positive about the book, even Emma who was still reading it, haven taken time out to perform her Domestic Goddess cake making activities.

The novel is a beautifully crafted story of a love triangle of two boys and a girl, with interwoven themes of loss, loneliness, grief and lives that could have turned out differently.  Sarah Winman has a style that splits her novels into different parts. Often focusing on one particular character. In this story we see Dora---- Ellis’s mother who   makes a very public display of going against her husband’s wishes and claiming the prize of a print of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers instead of a bottle of whiskey at the local community centre.

“It was her first ever act of defiance. Like cutting off an ear. And she made it public “

This sets the scene for an ongoing theme in the novel about the therapeutic qualities of art. I personally loved the references throughout the story. As with her other novel the story is narrated by two different characters. The first by middle aged widower Ellis who works the night shift in the paint shop of a car factory.  It was Ellis’s mother who won the painting and wanted her son to pursue his artistic talents. When we first find him he is working on an assembly line making perfection from car body work and in pain from the loss of his wife Annie. I thought the title Tin Man referred to the character in The Wizard of Oz who was without a heart, but in fact it refers to the nick name given to the work done to a high specification in the factory.

Sue was unable to join us but sent her comments, again echoing most of us about the skill of the writer Pauline commented that her  style and this book was “ effortless “ to read.  She also commented that Ellis’s part of the story told in the third person and Michaels in the first. We wondered if this changed the impact for the reader, some felt that Michael’s perspective was more powerful?

The second part switches to Michael’s perspective; it fills in some of the gaps left earlier and includes a beautifully described trip to the south of France and the memories of a more intimate relationship with Ellis. As with the other novel we read recently Winman includes a significant social event. This time it is the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. In her previous book events became centred on the tragedy of the Twin Towers attack of the eleventh of September. We seemed to be in agreement that these “real “events were woven in quite seamlessly. Emma had also commented on the similar techniques that Winman seems to employ in her writing style, splitting the narration up between different characters, which she felt was a positive strategy.

Her descriptions of the AIDs epidemic and its impact were told with compassion and care, and explained what had happened during Michael’s absence. Winmans writing is powerful but not overblown.  Debbi’s comment perhaps put this in perspective. She had also been reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz as part of her holiday reading and commented that Tin Man seemed like a breeze in comparison. Abbie had also read Tin Man while on holiday and loved it but was sad to come home where things were back to normal. I think this is because the descriptions of the south of France were so evocative. It made you actually feel like you too were enjoying the sun and smells of a first holiday abroad

To sum up most of the group had enjoyed this novel, and even though it is a slender tome, through the skill of the writer it seemed to contain a great deal in terms of a memorable and beautifully executed story.

We awarded it 4 stars.

The next meeting will be Thursday October 4th when we will discuss Heartburn by Nora Ephron. Venue TBC.

August meeting: Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey

The Library Room – Victoria Bar and Kitchen, 2nd August 2018

Book Reviewed - Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey

Our August meeting was a small select group as a lot of the regular members were away enjoying themselves on holiday. I had chosen Whistle in the Dark on my list because I had read Elizabeth Is Missing by the same author, and I really enjoyed it.

During our discussion we wondered if Emma Healey had a background in sociology or counselling, as she seems very good at writing about people and relationships (I have since found out this is not the case; she has spent most of her working life around books. Then she studied an MA in creative writing in 2010, and published her first book in 2014).

Whistle in the Dark concentrated on a difficult mother and daughter relationship. Lana, the fifteen year old daughter disappeared from an art holiday with her mother, and after four days she was found but said she had no memory of what had happened or where she had been. Jen became obsessed with trying to find out what had happened to her daughter.

Most of our group felt it was well written; Anne Marie could relate to Jen’s intrusive and compulsive behaviour, trying to discover the truth of her daughter’s disappearance. Jeanette also liked the mother-daughter relationship and found it funny in parts, but was disturbed by the descriptions in the cave, as the real life drama of the young boys being trapped in a cave in Thailand was on the news at the same time as she was reading it.

Pauline worried that Jen had mental health problems of her own and didn’t enjoy the ending of the book, but was pleased she found out what had happened to Lana. Abbie, thought from the book's description it was going to be a thriller so was a little disappointed.

After reading the first half, which concentrated on all the different characters and erratically jumped from one situation to another, I was about to give up on it, but I persevered and was rewarded by a story with true to life complexities of the parent-child relationship. I also then realised that Emma Healey’s clever writing style showed the worry and desperation of the mother, Jen, I too didn’t enjoy the cave part, as I found it a bit unrealistic and unlikely.

Overall, Anne Marie liked it best, and the rest of us thought it was OK. It was only available in hardback, and we all liked the bookbinding, but not surprising as Emma Healey’s first degree was in bookbinding!

 We rewarded it a 3-star rating.

Next meeting: The Victoria Bar and Kitchen, 6th September, 6.30pm.

Book List: TBC

July meeting: The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

Our July meeting took place at Open House, Spare Room - a small venue that has opened up on Durham Road in Low Fell. It has a pleasant room where we were free to bring drinks and snacks to enjoy during the evening.

The book we discussed was The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan. The general feeling about the book was mediocre to completely negative, with the exception of Ruth. She quite liked it, finding it an easy read, particularly liking the characters of Sunshine and Laura, although she felt that Laura stayed far too long with her awful husband.

Anne Marie equated the book itself to "utter drivel", disliking the use of a special needs character as a device, and the portrayal of dementia. The writing style was criticised by many of the group, with its heavy-handed use of alliteration and malapropisms. There is an extra chapter in some editions of the novel, which Emma felt to be pointless.

Jeanette could not warm to or relate to any of the characters; Joanne thought there was too much going on; and Sue felt it was "turgid". Several of the group accepted that the basic idea was one with possibilities, but poorly executed and the resulting book was bitty. Jeanette summed it up by saying: "The nicest thing about the book was the design of the cover"!

We achieved a score of two out of five for the book (mostly from votes ranging from one to five, but with one score of five.)

June meeting: When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

June's meeting was held in the library at the Victoria and was fairly thin on the ground in terms of members. This is not too surprising as it's the beginning of holiday season and we often see depleted numbers in the summer months. Undeterred, we discussed this month's choice: When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman.

The novel was enjoyed by most of the group, with Sue particularly passionate about many of the descriptions. "My mother lay down with me on my bed, her perfume tumbling over my face like breath, her words smelling of Dubonnet and lemonade," was among her favourites. Jeanette also liked the observations, describing them as "beautiful".

We all decided that the contrasting voices of Elly as a child and again as an adult worked well, although some felt that it was almost like two different books. Having said that, the novel does begin: "I divide my life into two parts", so perhaps this is to be expected.

Most of the references to moments in social history worked well, although perhaps the use of the 9/11 attack was slightly heavy handed. Emma felt that (spoiler alert!) Joe having survived - although with memory loss - was somewhat far fetched when so many people died. Jeanette thought the same exploration of themes could have been achieved with a different catalyst to trigger them. Perhaps being knocked off his bike instead?

Winman draws her characters beautifully and fleshes out some real off-beat people who enter the tale. These include Nancy, Arthur and Ginger. They all add to the dry humour that pervades the pages. Jeanette described them as bringing "real colour to the book".

Joan and Katherine (the latter couldn't make the meeting) both listened to the book on Audible and didn't rate it particularly highly. We found this quite interesting since everyone who had read it themselves enjoyed it. General consensus was that this could be down to the way that it was read.

We missed Abbie at the meeting, as she had only just returned from a work trip in London and was justifiably tired. She did share her thoughts with us on Facebook however. She said: "I really enjoyed this month’s book (although I am still about 80 pages from the end!). I thought it was quirky and funny and I liked the narrator. Though at times I’ve found all the characters' names hard to follow - maybe my own fault for leaving big gaps between reading."

Debbie was away at the grand final of the BBC 500 Words competition with her daughter. Seeing as it was a book-related excuse that was allowed! We hope she and Violet had a lovely time at Hampton Court.

It was also especially good to see Vikki and Chris, who dropped by with their two dogs to say hello. We're really pleased you popped in, especially at this difficult time.

We gave When God Was a Rabbit a whopping 4.5 stars.

May read - The Zanzibar Wife by Deborah Rodriguez

This month's book was on the whole not liked at all! Lynda and Joanne have been to Oman and Dubai and thought the descriptions of the setting were spot on. Anne Marie thought it was like a travel guide. Most people in our group did not enjoy the book. However Lynda, Joanne, Deb and Pauline quite liked it. Sue had not finished the book but was enjoying it - she wants it to go somewhere.

A few parts of the book irritated some of us. Jeanette did not like the first sentence of chapter 2! Emma did not like the fact that she was ‘pecking’ at her phone. Emma also thought that the book was lazily written and lazily researched.

Joan had read two previous books by the same author and had especially enjoyed The Beauty School of Kabul. This book had seemed real as the author had experienced this. Joan thought our book did not seem real at all.

Some agreed that the book was an easy read but more of a chick lit holiday read. Shiela wanted something to happen and was disappointed by the book. Deb liked the descriptions of the different nationalities in the book. Pauline said that it was unmemorable but an easy read. Many would not recommend the book. Abbie did not like it and thought it was too predictable. She prefers a more hard hitting read.

Overall we rated the book 2 stars.

We also discussed having a second choice for our next read as Joan has read the next two books. We decided that this would not work. Our next book for discussion is When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman.