We had a truly enjoyable gathering of booklovers in early February. Not the best month for getting about but the perfect time to settle down with a good book without feeling guilty of time wasting. It’s the time to hibernate if you can! We did, and had a happy time reviewing our two books of the month. We welcomed a new reader, Alan, and we enjoyed his contribution to our conversations.

Books One: ‘Time of the Child’ by Niall Williams

Mark read ‘Time of the Child’ and gave a really good review of it. Set in the west of Ireland, it’s the story of a doctor and his eldest daughter living at home. A small boy baby was resuscitated by the doctor. The setting and the circumstances of the time in Ireland were described very well. In some places, a little editing would have been welcome.

Ruth also read this book. Its strengths were the wonderful description of the village – a good creation. There was marvellous humour giving hilarious moments with the twins, Tim and Tom. It had the power to move the reader. Small boy, Jude, a moving portrait of character. Its weaknesses were that it was very wordy in places. At times it felt the writer obviously enjoyed writing scenes.

Faye listened to it on Audible saying the Irish voice of the reader was wonderful. She enjoyed a happy ending after an enduring start.

This novel is well worth reading as a good conversation on Irish literature ensued. William Trevor, the Irish writer, was recommended, especially his short stories.

Liz still has to read this book but as it came highly commended she will settle down with it this month.

Book Two: ‘The Nightingale’ by Kristin Hannah

Mark gave a superb overview of this book. It opens with an invitation to a lady in the USA to return to Paris for a reunion. It’s the story of a father whose wife dies leaving him with two daughters. He served in WW1 and was still suffering. His youngest daughter kept running away and the elder daughter married young. War arrives. The rebellious younger one becomes the Nightingale and helps airmen escape over the Pyrenes. The second daughter has her daughter, her husband is a prisoner, and her house. A reasonable German soldier is billeted in her home but later an SS Officer who is definitely not reasonable is based there. Hardship is endured.

We felt the writing described the horror of war and the harrowing circumstances in a way that really left the reader stunned for a while after finishing it. Mark highly recommended this novel, as did Liz. She said the final act of love was shown brilliantly. Liz felt she could not start another novel for a while as this left such an impact.

What Else have We Read Recently?

Our new reader Alan had read ‘The Goldfinch’ by Donna Tartt. He found this novel fascinating but sometimes irritating, a good book teasing the reader into wanting a resolution. It features an artist and picture in 1654 in Delft. The main character experiences tragedy, ups and down, drinking and drugs, then meets a Russian boy. The ending felt bizarre. Alan found this book in St Margaret’s Hospice bookshelves in the Old Odeon Cinema.

Ruth read this sometime ago and enjoyed it. It is a substantial read and Liz had it on her ‘to be read’ pile for so long without reading it and donated it to a charity.

Alan is also reading ‘Glorious Exploits’ by Ferdia Lennon. Set in Athenaeum, it features a Greek play. Some humour but some unpleasant language. He will finish it for next time.

Eddie is enjoying Douglas Hofstadter’s ‘Gödel, Escher, Bach’ (GEB) as it’s a landmark exploration of logic, mathematics, and the nature of intelligence. The author is a famous professor in the USA. This is maths, philosophy and Bach’s music, exactly what Eddie finds fascinating. Alan said he had read it part way through but found it heavy going. It is a huge book!

Mark recommended ‘Clear’ by Carys Davies. Set in either the Hebrides or Shetland 1700s, it features a clergy man during the times of ‘the clearances’. A good dilemma and really recommended.

Chip read ‘The Bookseller of Inverness’ (as recommended by Sandra last month). Having an interest in Scottish history, Chip explained that the Duke of Cumberland and the Jacobites took part in Culloden. A bookshop near to where the battle took place is central and the key elements were the Prince and informants. Many characters to get to know and he enjoyed this read.

Ruth read several books by Joseph O’Connor. Star of these was his latest one, ‘My Father’s House’, set in 1943 in occupied Rome. An Irish priest, Hugh O’Flaherty, living in the Vatican, also on the German Command. An escape route to smuggle people out. This book was described as a heart-breaking thriller.

Ruth also enjoys Benjamin Myers. She recommended ‘Pig Iron’, but generally highly recommends his books. She also read Amy Jeff’s ‘Saints’ which she found fascinating and informative. Ruth also read the second novel in a trilogy and found it really entertaining. It is set during the Opium Wars of the 19th century. The first in the trilogy is ‘The Sea of Poppies’ and she recommends starting with that one.

Carol read ‘The Glassmaker’ by Tracy Chevalier, which she enjoyed with its different eras of Venetian history. Starting in 1460 we followed a family through all the historic upheavals until between the First and Second World Wars. Carol found it really interesting but there was no humour. She followed that, but still staying in Venice, with Harriet Constable’s ‘The Instrumentalist’. She gave a super review of this book telling of an orphanage of girls with Vivaldi leading an orchestra. This Harriet Constable was rated within the top ten debut novels. Liz agreed with Carol as it was a brilliant read.

Carol also read and recommended the book we will all be reading, Emma Donoghue’s ‘The Pull of the Stars’. This will be our Romance book of the month to read during February. Carol called it ‘immersive’, set in Dublin in 1918 during the Flu epidemic after WW1. As a teaser; three women change others’ lives in a spectacular way to the expectant women.

Liz read two published books by authors both of which had started as entries in the Yeovil Literary Prize. The first was ‘The West in Her Eyes’ by Janet Hancock. This is Janet’s second novel. The setting opens in Baku, Azerbaijan, with a girl who had won a place to study piano in the Conservatoire, but the Russian Revolution changed many things. Her passion for the piano features throughout as she negotiates the following years. An outstanding novel as Janet knows how to place her readers right in the centre of the time and place. An excellent read.

Liz also read ‘Grapevine’ by Kate Kemp. This started as a winning entry in the Yeovil Prize and now we can help Kate celebrate her publication as she will be in Yeovil Waterstones on Tuesday 15th April at 7pm. Come along and help her launch her literary career. This novel had a different title when it won the competition, but the opening is memorable, with setting, time and peopled with strong characters. Another excellent read.

After Liz finished ‘The Nightingale’ by Kristin Hannah, she found it difficult to move onto another novel after being gripped by that book, so she went non-fiction. Last year at the Yeovil Literary Festival Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC, a now retired judge in the Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, launched her book ‘Rough Justice’. Liz really enjoyed this book bringing the legal jargon to life. The setting of the courtroom, the Judge, Counsels, witnesses, Jury, Witness Box and the Dock, all came to life by Wendy revealing modern cases and then researching past cases with similar precedents. A fascinating read and recommended.

Next Month

Our Books for March will be:

  • ‘The Heron’s Cry’ by Ann Cleeves – our crime thriller for the month.
  • ‘The Pull of the Stars’ by Emma Donoghue – our romance of the month.

For those of us who didn’t read ‘The Time of the Child’ by Niall Williams, then there will be time hopefully.

Note that due to unforseen circumstances our next meeting will be on the third Tuesday of the month instead of the usual second, so we will gather on TUESDAY 18TH MARCH at 12 noon in the Lounge at the Westlands Entertainment Venue.

You are welcome to join us!