A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is the coming-of-age story of young, sensitive and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the turn-of-the century Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn. This poignant and moving tale is filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident.

From the moment she entered the world, Francie needed to be made of stern stuff, for the often harsh life of Williamsburg demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Betty Smith has artfully caught this sense of exciting life in a novel of childhood, replete with incredibly rich moments of universal experiences.

As a book group, we are no strangers to American classics. We’ve delved into more than a few over the 10 years we have been meeting, and on no occasion have they been described as ‘saccharine’. But there is a first time for everything, and this is exactly what approximately half of our group thought of Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Francie was too good to be true and many of the outcomes in the story lacked in the reality stakes. Others believed the story was devoid of intensity and some of the more interesting issues were glossed over.

There were of course references made to McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes (which everyone had read), but as A Tree was written in the early 1940s, it was accepted that Smith had obviously written a book of her time, which we generally agreed was to some extent biographical.

On the positive side, others believed it to be a wonderful read and historically correct. There was a strong sense of place and Francie’s character was exactly what the book’s protagonist needed to be. We then proceeded to have a great discussion on the book’s many characters and it was mentioned that there was a clear depiction of pride written into them. Something that everyone felt and agreed was common among Smith’s social class of the time.

It was about here that we began some reminiscing, as several of us could recall similar childhood memories of a time when space and money was short. Growing up stories are always entertaining and a wonderful way of rounding off a great discussion. For, regardless of a book’s original intent, if it inspires thoughtful and enjoyable discourse, it is always a winner with us!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our readers. We look forward to another great year of reading and sharing with you!

The Alchemist by Paul Coelho

An Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest.

No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly good turns into a discovery of the treasures found within.

Lush, evocative and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.

How many self-help books does the world really need? This and other probing questions were inspired by this month’s book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

A few of us had read this before, some a few times before, and in true Tuesday Book Club tradition we had plenty to say of its content and what it all might possibly mean. Deep and meaningful? Not completely, there were plenty of laughs thrown in, mostly to do with the self-help market and its promotion strategies. Many thought it to be a well written fable/biblical telling of life’s lessons. Viti searched for symbolic meaning, such is her way, but came up with no ground breaking insight, just that she had enjoyed it more with each reading, which to date has been three, and that it was a metaphor for life. We all tended to agree, but not sure exactly what the metaphor was telling us other than the obvious; learning of life’s lessons through experience and travel; be true to yourself; grass is always greener; own backyard; life’s real treasures, the journey …. etc.

Anne was the biggest fan and found it to be a wonderful story full of beautiful language, innocence of youth and an uplifting coming-of-age tale.

On the negative side were comments such as under-whelming, repetitive, and lacked involvement. We discussed the time, place and setting aspects and also whether anything was lost in translation from its Spanish origins. This we thought could be a possibility.

Unanimously we decided this story had certainly been told before under the guise of new-age literature, which there is no shortage of, and that in all probability The Alchemist is more adhesive to the young, inexperienced mind. And as there is an unlimited supply of such, there will always be a place for this type of literature.

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Late on a hot summer night in 1965, Charlie Bucktin, a bookish boy of 13, is startled by an urgent knock on the window of his sleep-out. His visitor is Jasper Jones, an outcast in the regional mining town of Corrigan. Rebellious, mixed-race and solitary, Jasper is a distant figure of danger and intrigue for Charlie. So when Jasper begs for his help, Charlie eagerly steels into the night by his side, afraid but desperate to impress.

Jasper takes him through town and to his secret glade in the bush, and it's here that Charlie bears witness to Jasper's horrible discovery. With this secret like a brick in his belly, Charlie is pushed and pulled by a town closing in on itself in fear and suspicion. In the simmering summer where everything changes, Charlie learns to discern truth from myth and why the truth of things is so hard to know, and even harder to hold in his heart.

More often than not, small town fiction seems to work. There is something about the dynamics of a small community that rattles our literary cage; that is certainly true with our group anyway! Jasper Jones was generally enjoyed by everyone, finding it more or less realistic and probable, particularly the relationship between Charlie and Jasper. A few of us brought up the issue of Charlie's mature views and articulation skills, but we were willing to forgive this small point for the well manufactured plot's sake.

Our discussion took a few turns, but basically centred on small town prejudice, injustices and hidden abuse; were they really so prevalent in small isolated communities and are they still? These issues do seem to come up often in fiction, which we do not find surprising nor unrealistic (I think we are all realists at heart). But we did detect a small amount of superficial Hollywoodifying in Jasper's case and some of us went so far as to say the story as a whole was a little far-fetched.

We did agree that this did not lessen the story's impact for our club's purposes though, and the well written visual descriptions, character development and conclusion made the reading journey more than satisfactory. Mockingbird it is not ... but then we don't believe the author ever intended it to be.

Jack is five and excited about his birthday. He lives with his Ma in Room, which has a locked door and a skylight and measures eleven feet by eleven feet. He loves watching TV and the cartoon characters he calls friends, but he knows that nothing he sees on screen is truly real - only him, Ma and the things in Room. Until the day Ma admits that there's a world outside ...

Told in Jack's voice, Room is the story of a a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible. Unsentimental and sometimes funny, devastating yet uplifting.

This prize-nominated novel created a bit of a challenge to some of our readers. Not because of its level of literary complexity ... more due to the narrative style. I believe we heard more comments relating to this than ever before. Telling such a confronting and thought provoking story through the eyes of a five year old is not just difficult, it is extremely courageous!

There were those of us that believed Donoghue had done a brilliant job on the narration, others believed not so well and frankly found it tedious, implausible, tiresome and inconsistent.
Everyone found the plot well developed though, and there were some comparisons to The Road, but it was agreed that it did not hold up well beside McCarthy's brilliance, and this is where most of us felt that the writing lacked something instrumental in making this story truly enthralling.

However, there is no doubt that this book left us with enough material for a great discussion. Particularly on childhood development and this story's real-life counterparts; some recently reported abductions. But generally the view was that Room was missing something very important ... that special something that demands and gets total involvement from the reader.

D.H. Lawrence's controversial novel written in 1928, which tells the story of an aristocratic woman, Constance (Lady Chatterley) who has an affair with the estate's gamekeeper when her husband is paralyzed and rendered impotent. Central to the theme of the novel is the need for physical as well as mental stimulation in order to feel complete as a human being.

Due to the offensive language and subject matter of the book, a charge of obscenity was brought against it in a famous 1960 trial in the UK. The novel and Lawrence were cleared of the charges and for the first time the book was allowed to be published without restriction.

This month our group was to acknowledge yet another positive for book clubs; they can force your hand and get you reading that one book you know you should read, but have never got around to.
After 10 years, our club now purposely works on rounding out our reading experiences and includes many of the classics that we know should be read. Hence last month's book Lady Chatterley's Lover, the controversial classic that spent many years underground and banned from library and bookstore shelves.

Our views were on the conservative side with the term 'over-rated' being mentioned, but that seemed to be more of a comment on the years of hype that the book enjoyed than anything else.

Many found the descriptive passages wonderfully written and Lawrence's social comment within the book brilliantly done. We believe the theme of 'class' was sorely missing from the film versions and felt the explicit sexual references stole much of this book's main subject matter.

Regardless, our entire group felt it was worth the reading and enjoyed a lively discussion of D.H. Lawrence and his times. And we got to tick off another classic from our list!

A Mercy by Toni Morrison

Jacob is an Anglo-Dutch trader and adventurer, with a smallholding in the harsh North. Despite his distaste for dealing in 'flesh', he takes a small slave girl in part payment for a bad debt.
This is Florens, 'with the hands of a slave and the feet of a Portuguese lady', who can read and write and might be useful on his farm. Florens is hungry for love, at first from the older servant woman at her new master's house; but later, when she's 16 from the handsome blacksmith, an African, never enslaved who comes riding into their lives.
A Mercy reveals what lies under the surface of slavery, but at its heart, it is the disturbing story of a mother and a daughter in a violent ad-hoc world - a world where acts of mercy, like everything else, have unforeseen consequences.

First comment ... 'This should be renamed A Misery'.

That just about summed up our club's view of Toni Morrison's latest novel. There were few of us who found anything but heartache, despair and injustice in the lives of Morrison's characters, and felt that they had heard it all before, the wretchedness of slavery.

But several of us did try and struggle to the other side of this book and found a powerful vehicle for female relationships (particularly mother and daughter), and saw the place of pure vulnerability that all social levels found themselves. Then followed a discussion on choices and freedom, what they were, both within the book and in general. Very interesting and engaging talk that involved even those that decided not to read this book.

It was also mentioned that the prose lacked fluidity, was jerky and hard to read, but in contrast to this ... 'paints a vivid, powerful picture', 'interesting historically' and very believable, to the extend of being distressing.

We have read two other Morrison novels throughout the years and knew that she can present a challenge. She demands the readers' full attention, which is the only way to get the most of her stories.

So, looking for a challenge? A Mercy will give it to you!

The Road Home/Trespass by Rose Tremain

In a silent valley stands an isolated stone farmhouse, the Mas Lunel. Its owner is Aramond Lunel, an alcoholic so haunted by his violent past that he's become incapable of all meaningful action, letting his hunting dogs starve and his land go to ruin.
Meanwhile, his sister, Audrun, alone in her modern bungalow within sight of the Mas Lunel, dreams of exacting retribution for the unspoken betrayals that have blighted her life. Set among the hills and gorges of the Cevennes, the dark and beautiful heartland of southern France, this is a thrilling novel about disputed territory, sibling love and devastating revenge.

Like so many others, Lev is on his way from Eastern Europe to Britain, seeking work. He is a tiny part of a vast diaspora that is changing British society at this very moment. But Lev is also a singular man with a vivid outsider's vision of the place many call home. In his innocence, his courage and his ingenuity, he is perhaps Rose Tremain's contemporary version of Candide.
In front of Lev, lies the deep strangeness of the British; their hostile streets, their clannish pubs, their obsession with celebrity, their lonely flats. London holds out the alluring possibilities of friendship, sex, money and a new career - but, more than this, of human understanding and a sense of belonging.

We followed a slightly different format last month with the reading of two books by the same author. Members could read both or just one, depending on availability and personal time and taste.
As it turned out, Tremain scored high with our group, with most of us lamenting her well developed characters, insight and believable study of relationships, and life as an immigrant. The strength of the female characters in both stories was mentioned and applauded. No surprise there! And Eleanor summed up beautifully by saying that the author had the ability to take an ordinary story and turn it into something brilliant.

There were some negative comments however, Anne thought the writing not strong enough for the emotional issues tackled, Tera was surprised at the lack of communication problems immigrant Lev had in a new country. This did not feel realistic to her. And Carol thoroughly enjoyed The Road Home, but found Trespass and its characters completely unlikable, finding it hard to believe they were written by the same author.

There was also comment on a slightly slow section in the middle of The Road Home, and Viti was challenged by the moral dilemma in Trespass - 'an innocent person paying for the wrongs of others'.

So, a new author has certainly been brought to our attention through these two titles, and a few of us are interested in reading more of Tremain's work. Opening our reading experience that little bit more.

And that's why we belong to a book club!

An aging writer makes notes in his diary: he has opinions about everything from Guantanamo Bay to the creative truth of dreams, from democracy in Australia to the meaning of dishonour.
His mesmeric voice, deeply concerned with contemporary politics, is challenged by Anya, the smart, irreverent young woman whom he hires to type his diary notes.
Meanwhile Alan, Anya's money-making boyfriend, scorns everything the writer believes in, and schemes against him.
With its three dynamic and charged voices, this may be the most original work of fiction to appear for years.

Nobody likes a challenge more than a book club, and this month's book provided just that! J.M. Coetzee managed to take the simple task of reading a novel to new heights with his Diary of a Bad Year. But rather than be put off by a series of narrative tricks, our group embraced this book as a remarkable, intelligent and thoroughly satisfying read.

It was noted by more than a few of us that Coetzee did a brilliant job of creating an entertaining, yet thought provoking novel in a format that cleverly worked as a vehicle for some of his own beliefs and observations.

As the narrative jumps from character to character within each page, the decision on how to read this book is the first step ... all but a few of us went with a page by page approach, although there were times when reading ahead was near on impossible not to do. Multiple bookmarks were then called for! Even with these restrictions, it was agreed that this book literally screams out for a second reading.

Looking for something a little different? This is it!

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

In this ironically titled and exuberant first novel by Miles Franklin, originally published in 1901, Sybylla tells the story of growing up passionate and rebellious in rural New South Wales, where the most girls could hope for was to marry or to teach.
Sybylla will do neither, but that doesn't stop her from falling in love, and it doesn't make the choices any easier.

Our first classic for the year found us, unsurprisingly, in an interesting discussion on the role of women in the 1800s. Sybylla, it was agreed, was cut from a different cloth than most young girls of the time, so created a wonderful character with which to base this very Australian story around.
Most of us had read this book at least once during our youth and some found it just as entertaining and enjoyable as the first time, while others saw the story through more mature and even slightly cynical eyes. The melodramatic style surrounding Sybylla and Harry Beecham's relationship found a few of us rolling our eyes, but most of us could see the maturity in the writing style from Franklin, considering she was but 16 when she penned this classic.

The description of the Australian bush and lifestyle was appreciated by all and Jeanette commented on the wonderful colloquial language that we hear so little of in today's Australian fiction.

Research into Miles Franklin herself was just as interesting as the book for some of us. She was quite an enigma in her later life and some of us wondered if she struggled with her sexuality in an era when women rarely admitted to such a thing.

Regardless of Franklin's age or preferences, My Brilliant Career has been held in high esteem internationally for many years, and we as a group are happy to include it on our list of very enjoyable reads.

February Book Something Wicked This Way Comes

It was just after midnight when the carnival train bringing Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show to Green Town, Illinois announced its arrival, the engine's whistle shrieking, the show's steam organ playing.

For two young friends, Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway, the siren call of the carnival is irresistible. But these are no ordinary sideshows, no ordinary mazes and mirrors. In Ray Bradbury's incomparable masterpiece the Shadow Show has come to destroy every life it touches with its sinister mysteries.

We really went outside our square this month with our first ever fantasy title! Grant it Ray Bradbury is considered one of the masters, but it was still a stretch for some of us, and not all together an enjoyable experience.
As often happens with our group, we were divided in our praise and criticisms. Some found it disturbing, too negative, distasteful and simply unnerving. Although, interestingly enough, these same voices were quick to add that the writing was very good! Maybe a little too good one might think ... is this why they were so uncomfortable with the story?

The remaining views were of a more positive nature. The theme was intriguing, the writing style wonderfully imaginative, and a first line grabber that had even Anne reading on. Viti found the circus theme drew her in and brought back memories of the travelling shows of her youth. She also found much symbolism throughout the story which is to her liking (and ours, we can always depend on Viti for these references!).

Similarities to Stephen King's style was mentioned and many of us agreed that the popular fantasy author no doubt read Bradbury as a young, promising writer.

Some were inspired to read more Bradbury, in particular Fahrenheit 451 and to also do a little research on the author. It was remarked that his wonderfully imaginative works may be attributed to his lack of higher education and not having his creativity educated out of him.
Certainly food for thought. Maybe we need more writers with a freer style. Then again, maybe someone as unique as Bradbury would then fail to stand out.

Emmett Brown is as dark as Heathcliff, and as unpredictable. Sometimes he's an inspiration, but not often. Frequently he's a man of booze and obsessions and when the lottery numbers and horses fail him, so do love and reason and he becomes an ogre to his wife and children.
For the innocents - Louisa, Rob, Peter, Daniel and Jessie, the bonds formed hiding in hedges at the end of the street, waiting for the maelstroms to pass, are complex and unbreakable.
A powerful story of familial ties, where love - however imperfect - is the best defense against pain.

It is always interesting to see the emotion and passion a book can generate. It makes for a great meeting and wonderful discussion. So delivered the Deborah Forster novel The Book of Emmett with our group this month. We had a big turn out for this meeting, thirteen of us around the table, so there were plenty of opinions to get through. Generally this book was, for want of a better word, enjoyed, although most admitted to finding it disturbing and confronting. Domestic violence is not a pretty topic, ever, so the pain and abuse suffered within these pages was felt deeply by the majority of us. The atmosphere of dread and tension within the house was strong, written well enough to bring back memories of violence experienced by some of us in childhood. It was thought very Australian, relevant and believable. Tera commented that she had a love/hate relationship with this book; a human condition that ironically could be found throughout the story.

There were a few who were not impressed with Forster's writing. Anne and Carol felt it to be clearly journalism writing that ticked all the boxes needed for the 'complete' novel. There was no solid story foundation and they wanted more background on Emmett's history and why he became an abuser.

Regardless of the differing opinions, we still managed a wide ranging and rewarding discussion on many topics with an overall view that this was a worthwhile book addressing an all too real problem, both today and in the past. Looking for something that will pull at you heart-strings? This is it.

The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaver

It's 1946, and as Juliet Ashton sits at her desk in her Chelsea flat, she is stumped. A writer of witty newspaper columns during the war, she can't think of what to write next. Out of the blue, she receives a letter from one Dawsey Adams of Guernsey - by chance he's acquired a book Juliet once owned, and because of their mutual love of books, they begin a correspondence. Dawsey is a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and it's not long before the rest of the members start writing to Juliet.

As letters fly back and forth, Juliet comes to know the extraordinary personalities of the Society and their lives under the German occupation of the island. Entranced by their stories, Juliet decides to visit the island - and unwittingly turns her life upside down.

A moving and gloriously honest tale of post-war friendship, love and books.

The Christmas break can be a challenging time to get a book read. There always seems to be so much more to concentrate on. Thankfully, last month's book was perfectly placed in our reading list to give us all a nice light read for the inevitable end of year mayhem. Shaver's delightful Potato Peel Pie Society was enjoyed by our whole group, on varying levels. There were those of us who found it completely charming and engaging - the perfect holiday read; loved the letter writing as a way of telling the story. We even discussed the probability of being able to use the postal service as a dependable way of communicating. We came to the conclusion that there was a time when the post was considered a most satisfactory form of keeping in touch. My, how times change!

But alas, there were a few of us who found the Guernsey tale just a little too tedious for their liking. They lost track of the many characters and did not find themselves getting involved in the plot (or lack of) at any point. Some also wanted more descriptive passages of the island and its way of life. Most of us knew little of Guernsey before reading this novel, so as a group we do feel that something has been learned and a few members have already carried through with a little more research on this intriguing part of the world. It was also suggested that 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff would be a good book to follow this up with, as it is written in the same 'letter' format, and in some opinions, a better read.

Everything aside, this captivating, light-hearted tale is a must read for those times when all you want is simply an enjoyable book.

Favourites for 2010

What a reading year we had in 2010! We enjoyed some fantastic books during the last year and after a vote by our members the top three titles were separated by only one or two points. The top honours went to Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. We loved his writing style and subtlety of this story.



Next came the classic The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham. We love our classics and this one was popular with all of our group. It drew a few of us to read more of Maugham's books.

And number three, down the ladder by only a few points, was Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin. This contemporary novel challenged us in many ways. It is confronting and emotional to a point where our discussion became totally absorbing and raw, but certainly not to the point that we would shy away from it.

Lower down the scale foundered The Wanting by Richard Flanagan and Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra. Far from our favourites, these books helped to round off a great year of reading. We take pride in the variety of genres that we are willing to try and this year we will continue to challenge ourselves with a mix of classics and newer fiction. 2011 here we come!