Early One Morning by Virginia Baily

A lovely turn out for the start of the year with nine of us sat around the big table in our local pub, enjoying a drink and chatting about our latest reading experience.

Our discussion started like this: "I LOVED IT".

That was almost, but not quite, unanimous and those that didn't 'Love It' were just a tiny, tiny bit less enthusiastic. We all agreed it's a lovely story and a very enjoyable read.

Some of us know Rome well enough to visualise the area where much of the story takes place. One of our group even has a cousin who was brought up in Rome during WW2 and who had her own stories to tell. Others, having never been to Rome (or Italy), didn't feel at a disadvantage because the descriptions were so good - one of our group said she felt as if she had already been!

So was there anything not to like? just that it wrapped up too quickly and we wanted more detail. Let's hope Virginia decides to write a sequel, as there is so much more story to tell.

When we chose this book there was some concern that it could be a gruesome story of WW2 horrors in Rome. But that worry did not bear out. This book is mostly about relationships, and offers a very different take on the war. The story evolves around 3 key characters (Chiara, Daniele and Maria), each bringing their own relationships, and issues. It begins with a incident - early one morning - during 1943 and we left them at sometime in the 1970's.

Our favourite characters:

• Gabriel - a silent gentle hero
• Assunta - brings an element of comedy
• Nonna - a lovely old lady - just how a grandmother should be
• Simone - a rock 

The many underpinning themes such as: 'sense of duty', 'gut feeling', 'morals', 'mothers', 'faith' 'trust' and 'love' all make for great group discussions.

Would we read another Virginia Baily? most of us would, and especially a sequel to this book. We think the book would make a brilliant film too.

Would we recommend this book - definitely.

Our next read is Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall which we will discuss at 8pm on Thursday 26th March at The Hundred of Ashendon.

Reading Choices to Kick Start the New Decade

Happy New Year and Happy New Decade - here's to a continuation of friendship, convivial chatter and our reading adventures. We will meet at 8pm on Thursday 16th January in The Hundred of Ashendon to discuss Early One Morning by Virginia Baily and then choose our next book from the below.

At Home by Bill Bryson

In At Home, Bill Bryson applies the same irrepressible curiosity, irresistible wit, stylish prose and masterful storytelling that made A Short History of Nearly Everything one of the most lauded books of the last decade, and delivers one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live.

Bill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote a lot more time to studying the battles and wars of history than to considering what history really consists of: centuries of people quietly going about their daily business - eating, sleeping and merely endeavouring to get more comfortable. And that most of the key discoveries for humankind can be found in the very fabric of the houses in which we live.This inspired him to start a journey around his own house, an old rectory in Norfolk, wandering from room to room considering how the ordinary things in life came to be.

Along the way he did a prodigious amount of research on the history of anything and everything, from architecture to electricity, from food preservation to epidemics, from the spice trade to the Eiffel Tower, from crinolines to toilets; and on the brilliant, creative and often eccentric minds behind them. And he discovered that, although there may seem to be nothing as unremarkable as our domestic lives, there is a huge amount of history, interest and excitement - and even a little danger - lurking in the corners of every home.

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall 

All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to follow world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements - but if you don't know geography, you'll never have the full picture.

If you've ever wondered why Putin is so obsessed with Crimea, why the USA was destined to become a global superpower, or why China's power base continues to expand ever outwards, the answers are all here.

In ten chapters (covering Russia; China; the USA; Latin America; the Middle East; Africa; India and Pakistan; Europe; Japan and Korea; and the Arctic), using maps, essays and occasionally the personal experiences of the widely travelled author, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer an essential insight into one of the major factors that determines world history.

It's time to put the 'geo' back into geopolitics.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Intuition is not some magical property that arises unbidden from the depths of our mind. It is a product of long hours and intelligent design, of meaningful work environments and particular rules and principles. This book shows us how we can hone our instinctive ability to know in an instant, helping us to bring out the best in our thinking and become better decision-makers in our homes, offices and in everyday life. Just as he did with his revolutionary theory of the tipping point, Gladwell reveals how the power of ‘blink’ could fundamentally transform our relationships, the way we consume, create and communicate, how we run our businesses and even our societies. You’ll never think about thinking in the same way again.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Just 4 of our group met to discuss this book.

One of our 4 had been unable to get a copy of the book from the local library service and had not read it. So the other 3 of us had a lovely time recounting the story and reading short extracts to illustrate our commentary and to highlight the superb way in which Toni Morrison writes.

The story focuses on the lives of black Americans living in Ohio in the 1940's. The story of each character is told and then pieced together, with the other stories, into a haunting tale of lives in a time, and place, where prejudice and poverty led to tragedy and guilt. Indeed one of our absent members declared her own feelings of guilt for "something our own country is partly responsible for".

The characters (white, black, mixed race, poor, comfortable, rich) were all, in some way, part of the life of a young black girl, Percola, who lives in the poorest of circumstances. Despite her grim life, all Percola wants is to have blue eyes.

It is hard to say whether our discussion is really representative of our group. I came home to an email from a member of our group who said: I started but got bored, disliked the style of writing and generally felt that life was too short to persevere with a book I’m not enjoying! So, not everyone enjoyed it and I suspect some other members of our group didn't come along because it was dismal weather and the enthusiasm to discuss this book was just not there.

So, would we recommend it? I don't really know. It's quite a personal read. I think it's one to try and probably not an ideal book for group discussion.

Here's hoping for a more invigorating discussion when we all meet again after Christmas having read our next choice, and final book of the decade: Early one Morning by Virginia Baily which we will discuss at 8pm in The Hundred of Ashendon on Thursday 16th January 2020.

Reading Choices for the Festive Season

So, we need a good read for the Christmas period, in readiness for a nice long session at our local pub in cold and Frosty January.  The choices are here.

We will meet at 8pm on Thursday 21st November in The Hundred of Ashendon to discuss The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and then choose our next book from the below.

I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

"Pilgrim" is an American former intelligence agent known as the "Rider of the Blue" who later writes a book on forensic pathology. Pilgrim becomes involved in a case in New York City where a mysterious woman uses his book to commit untraceable murders in the aftermath of 9/11.

The "Saracen" is a Saudi who becomes radicalised by watching his father's beheading. He later trains as a doctor and fights in the Soviet–Afghan War. Pilgrim is recalled to the intelligence community who have detected a threat involving the Saracen, who has created a vaccine-resistant strain of the variola major virus.

Early One Morning by Virginia Baily

Two women's decision to save a child during WWII will have powerful reverberations over the years.

Chiara Ravello is about to flee occupied Rome when she locks eyes with a woman being herded on to a truck with her family.

Claiming the woman's son, Daniele, as her own nephew, Chiara demands his return; only as the trucks depart does she realize what she has done. She is twenty-seven, with a sister who needs her constant care, a hazardous journey ahead, and now a child in her charge.

Several decades later, Chiara lives alone in Rome, a self-contained woman working as a translator. Always in the background is the shadow of Daniele, whose absence and the havoc he wrought on Chiara's world haunt her. Then she receives a phone call from a teenager claiming to be his daughter, and Chiara knows it is time to face up to the past.

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

When Adela Quested and her elderly companion Mrs Moore arrive in the Indian town of Chandrapore, they quickly feel trapped by its insular and prejudiced 'Anglo-Indian' community. Determined to escape the parochial English enclave and explore the 'real India', they seek the guidance of the charming and mercurial Dr Aziz, a cultivated Indian Muslim. But a mysterious incident occurs while they are exploring the Marabar caves with Aziz, and the well-respected doctor soon finds himself at the centre of a scandal that rouses violent passions among both the British and their Indian subjects. A masterful portrait of a society in the grip of imperialism, A Passage to India compellingly depicts the fate of individuals caught between the great political and cultural conflicts of the modern world.

Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner

6 of our group met to discuss this book, 3 others who could not make the meeting had sent input for the discussion.

We had a wonderful discussion exploring a book we had all enjoyed reading.

First up let's mention the introduction. It is all too easy in the excitement of a new read to skip the intro and get stuck in. For this book the introduction by Sarah Walters adds real understanding of the author and the story of Lolly Willowes. So, those who took the time to read it encouraged those who did not to give it a go.

The story was written in 1926, and of its time. Lolly is a girl growing up in a quiet household, the sister of two brothers who transitions through being an eligible young lady, a 'spinster' aunt and eventually an 'almost' independent woman/witch.

We felt sad for Lolly but also for Edwardian society that allowed women, like Lolly, who found themselves single and, therefore, in need of family support.

Lolly's situation raises so many questions: Why could Lolly not have continued to live in the family home? Why did her brothers feel it was their responsibility to take Lolly on? Why did Lolly accept that?

Society decreed that the large family home be mothballed and Lolly must leave the house and gardens she loved and move to a poky room in the London home of her brother and his family. This was the social norm, this is what families did with their single sisters. Initially the plan is to introduce the eligible lady to eligible gentlemen. When that fails the spinster sister becomes the beloved spinster aunt and takes on the role of being useful to the lady of the household and unpaid childminder to the children. This was the case even for intelligent and well educated women of independent means. Worse still, for Lolly, her independent means are managed by her brother. The situation, with its controls and lack of privacy, is cruel. Lolly doesn't forgive this cruelty but she does move on.

The writing is beautifully vivid - the reader can picture where Lolly is and what she is thinking. In our discussion we delved into the book and reminded ourselves of favourite lines such as:

 "London life was very full and exciting. There were the shops, processions of the Royal Family and of the unemployed...".

"He observed gloomily that daughters could be very expensive now that so much fuss was being made about the education of women."

"Herb gathering .... too useful .... she didn't want to be a white witch."

(Of cowslips)"She knelt down among them and laid her face close to their fragrance. The weight of all her unhappy years seemed for a moment to weigh her bosom down to the earth; she trembled, understanding for the first time...."

Some of our group felt is should have ended with the cowslips but others felt we would have been left hanging in a state of sadness for Lolly. Certainly Part Three takes on a different tone and style that perhaps led to the second, alternative, title for the book "The Loving Huntsman". Some of our group felt it 'dragged on a bit'.

As village dwellers ourselves we chuckled over the Midsomer Murders/Hot Fuzz style parody of the Great Mop village community that became Lolly's escape. Great Mop is somewhere in the Chiltern Hills - just far enough away from London to be mysterious, but just close enough to get to and enjoy rural life.

The characters are really well described:

• Caroline - a rather spooky, uptight and orderly sister-in-law.
• Henry - a controlling wimp of a brother who accumulates (Lolly wanted to sell the furniture but Henry had it locked up - was Lolly's lively and inquisitive mind locked up too?).
• Titus - the clingy, caring, too well meaning nephew.

Would we recommend this book? Yes it's a must read. We would all like to read more of Sylvia Townsend Warner.

Our next read is The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and we will meet at 8pm in The Hundred of Ashendon on Thursday 21st November.

Reading Choices for Autumn

As the colder nights close in we will need a warm-hearted book to read, with that in mind here are our choices for Autumn. 

We will meet at 8pm on Thursday 26th September in The Hundred of Ashendon to discuss Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner and then choose our next book from the below.  

The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez 

The story of a remarkable coffee shop in the heart of Afghanistan, and the men and women who meet there — thrown together by circumstance, bonded by secrets, and united in an extraordinary friendship.

Sunny is a thirty-eight-year-old American whose pride and joy is the Kabul Coffee House where she brings hospitality to the expatriates, misfits, missionaries, and mercenaries who stroll through its doors.

Working alongside Sunny is the maternal Halajan, who vividly recalls the days before the Taliban. Their customers include Isabel, a British journalist; Jack, a consultant from Michegan; Candace, a wealthy and well-connected American; Yazmina, a young Afghan kidnapped from a remote village. 

As this group of men and women discover that there’s more to one another than meets the eye, they’ll form an unlikely friendship that will change not only their own lives but the lives of an entire country.

Dinner with Edward by Isabel Vincent

A memoir of the author’s friendship with an elderly gentleman who was the father of one of her long time friends. Isabel meets Edward shortly after the death of his beloved wife, Paula, who he was married to for sixty-nine years. 

Isabel is invited to dinner at Edwards apartment at the behest of his daughter who is afraid that her father is giving up on life despite his promise to Paula that he would make the effort to keep going for the sake of their two daughters, Valerie and Laura. Valerie tells Isabel, ‘He’s a great cook’. Perhaps it is this, or the fact that Isabel’s own marriage is unravelling. Whatever the reason, she agrees to the arrangement. It is the start of a mutually valued friendship.

Each chapter opens with the menu for dinner. Isabel and Edward usually meet, alone or with other friends of Edward, over a delicious meal that he has put much thought, time and effort into creating.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Unlovely and unloved, Pecola prays each night for blue eyes like those of her privileged white schoolfellows. At once intimate and expansive, unsparing in its truth-telling, The Bluest Eye shows how the past savagely defines the present.

A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison’s virtuosic first novel asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterised her writing.

(Toni Morrison, died aged 88, on 6th August 2019. She was the only African American writer and one of the few women to have received the Nobel prize for literature.)

Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney

We take the selection of books to choose from quite seriously and this was no exception. Sophie Law (BBC Radio Oxford) said she was enjoying reading it, so we checked the reviews: Sunday Times "an addictive debut ... A bright new talent", Observer: "It's a rare that a novel elicits such unmitigated awe from just about everyone you know, whether male, female, millennial or middle-aged". And then we checked the book store scores: Amazon 4.6 out of 5; Waterstones a whopping 5 out of 5.

This looked to be a great choice and a promising read.

So on a beautiful summers evening when 10 book group friends settled down in the pub garden, it felt a little awkward being one of the (at best) 0.4's. That is until we started the conversation!

The conversation started with round table first thoughts:

1. "Rubbish"
2. "I couldn't be interested in these people"
3. "Shallow - I couldn't engage with the characters"
4. "Not even the sex scenes were engaging!"
5. "Soul-less"
6. "Things got introduced then fizzled out"
7. "I couldn't care about the characters - nothing made me bother about them"
8. "I think the author may be self-obsessed'"
9. "NO SPEECHMARKS - how pretentious" 
10. "Phew - not just me then!"

That's about the long and short of it. Our entire book group, ranging from the highly intellectual to the (well) me, was not impressed. We were less than impressed. We were disappointed. We searched hard to try to see things from the reviewers points of view.

"She's prize winning" - "well she got a Booker Prize nomination"#  

"Marian Keyes review is: "Fecken Brilliant" - "that's it?" - "she is Irish" (and then we got onto the subject of Marian Keyes) - "we read one of hers, we didn't like it much either" *

*STOP PRESS: the author of that one was Tracy Chevalier - let's put a Marian Keyes book on our Autumn choice! I expect it will F***ing Brilliant (well I am Kentish!). 

"It's easy to read - quickly" "At least it wasn't a difficult to read bad book"

I quite liked the lack of speech marks, it was freer flowing, a stream of consciousness. (This is a comment and it's from our 'reader most positive' who scores the book 5.....out of 10.) 

"My Grandmother was from Ballina" - BINGO! let's stop right here. 

FOOTNOTE: We are not alone. Adam Mars-Jones review for The London Review of Books: "The blandness of Sally Rooney’s novels, last year’s Conversations with Friends and her new one, Normal People, begins and ends with those oddly non-committal titles." Sign-up to the website is required to continue reading the review - enough now I thought, and clicked X!

Oh and Goodreads 3954 reviewers average score is 3.8 of of 5.

# The Awards Facts:

British Book Award SUBMITTED 2018

Desmond Elliott Prize LONGLIST 2018

Folio Fiction/Poetry Awards SHORTLIST 2018

Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award SHORTLIST 2018

Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2017

The Dylan Thomas Prize SHORTLIST 2018

We will meet at 8pm on Thursday 26th September in The Hundred of Ashendon to discuss Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner and then choose our next book. Looking forward to more enjoyable conversations with friends.