The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the sole inhabitant of Eel Marsh House, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. The house stands at the end of a causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but it is not until Arthur glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to speak of the woman in black –

and her terrible purpose.

 

The ghost story genre has not been a frequent visitor to our club, in fact the only others in ten years are The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters and Beloved by Toni Morrison. Both of these of course are much more than mere ghostly tales, but you see where we’re coming from. The Woman in Black impressed a few of us with the imagery and sparse Victorian/Gothic style writing. Hill was praised for her visual descriptions that created an atmosphere of intrigue so subtle that the reader was never sure whether the main character, Arthur Kipps, was experiencing a supernatural phenomena, subliminal suggestion or simply an over active imagination.

 

There was an overwhelming opinion that this was ‘not really my sort of book’ and that it was simply a yarn told for the purpose of entertaining. In fact, Ann believes Cripps himself was just spinning a tale.

 

Regardless, we did find ourselves entertained, both by the book and the movie starring Daniel Radcliffe as Cripps. The more than minor changes made in the screenplay gave us good material for discussion. Why the changes (particularly in the closing chapter)? Well, the cinema does like a nice tidy ending, and we believe they found it!

The Absolutist by John Boyne

September 1919: twenty-one year old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver some letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian’s brother Will during the Great War, but in 1917 Will laid down his guns on the battlefield, declared himself a conscientious objector and was shot as a traitor, an act which has brought shame and dishonour on the Bancroft family.

 

But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan’s visit. He holds a secret deep in his soul. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage.

We had our full complement of twelve this month, so there were many voices with many opinions to get through. To start, there was a general consensus that the opening few chapters were a little slow and uneventful. At first, young Tristan’s plight found some empathy with us, but this was short lived. It was not long before the majority of us found him whiny, self- absorbed and intolerably needy.  

Will on the other hand, although not necessarily likable, tested our favour with his views and actions to a point that had most of us veering from extreme dislike to affable tolerance. This we decided was a clear indication of good writing and although the subject of war is not one of our favourites, we found the stark subject matter realistically portrayed with a vivid intensity that was emotionally moving.

It was no surprise that our discussion moved towards the futility and horror of war, both then and now, and what it does to not only those involved but to our society as a whole.

But the underlying themes present; homosexuality, absolutism, suppression and redemption all played a large role in bringing this story to its close.

 

The comment was made that Boyne, as a modern writer, was not able to inject a sense of realism to something as potent as World War One. True or not, Boyne’s story is more likely to be read by a young generation, bringing with it greater knowledge of the tragic suffering and hopefully, a distain for war.

And that, in our view can’t be a bad thing.

 

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

 

When sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste is orphaned at nineteen, she decides her only choice is to descend upon relatives in deepest Sussex. At the aptly named Cold Comfort Farm, she meets the doomed Starkadders, an eccentric group of relatives suffering from a wide variety of ailments. But Flora loves nothing better than to organise other people.

Armed with common sense and a strong will, she resolves to take each of the family in hand. A hilarious and merciless parody of rural melodramas, Cold Comfort Farm is one of the best-loved comic novels of all time.

Comedy is hard work. Any comedian can tell you that. But comedy fiction writing is an art only the truly talented should attempt.

And from the majority reaction of our group, Stella Gibbons falls within this talent pool.

 

There were some real belly laughs coming from some of us. In fact, Ann believes that everyone should have a copy of this book to just open up and read any page simply to lighten up your life.

 

The imagery and language we found brilliant. It was mentioned that quite often, the language used in classic fiction can be difficult to read and take in. Not so here, Gibbons did a masterful job of personification and those of us who took the most delight in this parody of the classic English novel felt her characters to be the real gems of this book.

All the Stackadders on Cold Comfort Farm often fell into madness of the most hilarious kind, but thanks to Flora and her Mary Poppins’ style ability, jollied them out of it and soon set everything straight with a toss of her pretty little head.

 

Light hearted fun at its best, although there were a few of us who found little to laugh at. Both Denise and Cathy doubted the brilliance of this novel. Found Flora a too good, control freak with many other characters coming and going from what seemed nowhere.

Elenor was not sure what to make of this novel and even unsure that it was meant as a parody.

Taken seriously or not, this little novel scored high with us. The only consensual negative by its fans was the extreme disappointment of never knowing what Mrs Stackadder saw in the woodshed … how to live with such ‘cold comfort’?

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

 

Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are electric with hope. Abdul, a reflective and enterprising Muslim teenager, sees “a fortune beyond counting” in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Asha, a woman of formidable wit and deep scars from a childhood in rural poverty, has identified an alternate route to the middle class: political corruption. With a little luck, her sensitive, beautiful daughter will soon become its first female college graduate. And even the poorest Annawadians, like Kalu, a fifteen-year-old scrap-metal thief, believe themselves inching closer to the good lives and good times they call “the full enjoy.”

 

But then Abdul the garbage sorter is falsely accused in a shocking tragedy; terror and a global recession rock the city; and suppressed tensions over religion, caste, sex, power and economic envy turn brutal. As the tenderest individual hopes intersect with the greatest global truths, the true contours of a competitive age are revealed.

 

This documentary style story of the Mumbai slum Annawadi was a great catalyst for our club’s thoughts on everything to do with poverty, corruption, cultural diversity and India’s caste system. Everyone was appalled by the life these people were forced to live, but a few commented on the lack of passion invoked by the writing style. This we all put down to the author’s documentary experience and believe she was able to give an honest, thought provoking account that was not swayed by, or biased with, personal emotion.

Ours is a well read group but we were all still amazed by the degree of corruption within India’s official systems. And although we are all aware, to a certain degree that this went on, Boo was able to give us a clear and heart-wrenching picture of what such fraud does to these poor communities.

Through our discussion we were able to come to some realisations though. The cultural and religious boundaries are deeply set and the complex caste system quite outside of our own understanding. So taking these and our own country’s faux pas in certain cultural areas into consideration, we felt that the book was an educational, informative and at times humorous  look at a society replete with desperation but also hope.

 

Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver

Dellarobia Turnbow is a restless farm wife who gave up her own plans when she accidentally became pregnant at seventeen. Now, after a decade of domestic disharmony on a failing farm, she has settled for permanent disappointment but seeks momentary escape through an obsessive flirtation with a younger man. She hikes up a mountain road behind her house towards a secret tryst, but instead encounters a shocking sight: a silent, forested valley filled with what looks like a lake of fire. She can only understand it as a cautionary miracle, but it sparks a raft of other explanations from scientists, religious leaders and the media.

As the community lines up to judge the woman and her miracle, Dellarobia confronts her family, her church, her town and a larger world, in a flight towards truth that could undo all she has ever believed.

It has been quite a few years since our last reading of a Kingsolver novel (Poisonwood Bible in 2002) so it was always going to be interesting to see where we placed her after so long. From the majority of responses the enjoyment level is still up there with many of our favourites.

 Everyone enjoyed the journey into the natural science world and found the migration and environmental plight of the Monarch butterfly fascinating. As a group we are all concerned about global warming and its effects, so Kingsolver’s eco-theme was of great interest to us all.

 In the matter of character relations, we had differing opinions as to whether Dellarobia was worth our concern. Ann took a dislike to her from the beginning and Tera found her character lacking backbone, maturity and simply frustrating to the extreme.

 Others sympathized with Del’s trapped circumstances, and knew where she was coming from. The fact that she had out grown her home town and family was evident, but there was also empathy for Cub. His simple, yet loyal personality struck a chord with some of us and believed his character to be well written and convincing.

The many social issues addressed in this novel is impressive. Most of us thought the story and characters all tied in well and that Kingsolver was successful in what she was trying for in this narrative. The humour was appreciated by all, particularly in Del’s relationship with her children and girlfriend.

The only other criticism was the novel’s length. Most thought it could have been edited down somewhat, but generally our group found Flight Behaviour a worthwhile read that will no doubt satisfy all but the pickiest of fiction readers.

 

Postscript: Tera took this beautiful photo during a walk through a local track just a few weeks ago. A very serendipitous find considering the subject matter of this month’s book. Let’s all hope we never loose these wonderful creatures!

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life.

Now Tony is retired. He’s had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He’s certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer’s letter is about to prove.

What does the passage of time do to history (in particular, the memory of personal history). And how does reflection compare with the true history of your past?


Pondering questions such as these was the main driving force of this month’s discussion on Julian Barnes’ The Sense of an Ending.

There were mixed opinions … mostly concerning the characters and the plot. The majority found Tony pompous, self-indulgent, and weak. Others, although in general agreement with these traits, found him extremely well written with an ability to draw the reader in with his contemplative dialogue. The perplexing Veronica and philosophical Adrian round out the drama played out in Tony’s memory and slowly lead us down the road to the novel’s closing stages, without a real conclusion.

This small book on the concept of time, history and memory gave us all reason to reflect on these intangibles and it turned into a very satisfying discourse. We all agreed that our memories, such as they are, tend to warp our histories into a story that generally suits our perception of ourselves. Barnes does not give us enough information on the main characters for us to challenge Tony’s version of the past, but there in lies the beauty of this well written novel.

The author gives us plenty of room to contemplate … and we felt this novel was not about the characters, or even the plot … but says more about the passing of time, how it becomes history and how we deal with our past.

In the end, Tony never really understands why things played out they way they did and what his role was in it all, but as readers we came away feeling we had at least some answers and a little insight into what makes this novel work.

The Cartographer by Peter Twohig

Melbourne, 1959. An eleven year old boy witnesses a murder as he spies through the window of a strange house. God, whom he no longer counts as a friend, obviously has a pretty screwed-up sense of humour: just one year before, the boy had looked on helplessly as his twin brother suffered

a violent death.

A bold, captivating and outrageously funny novel about a boy who refuses to give in and the numerous shifty, dodgy and downright malicious bastards he has to contend with on his grand adventure of loss and is discovery.

Digging beneath the surface of a story can unearth some interesting finds … so we found in our June book The Cartographer by Peter Twohig. At first look, this boy’s own adventure had our group ho-humming and predicting a tedious read with little to interest us. But in true book club style we persisted and most of us found a clever, original voice in the narration, wonderfully humorous moments, likable, believable characters, yet something dark and sinister lurking just below it all.

The vague references to the darker side of 1950s Melbourne; police corruption, bookies, betting even murder was well balanced within the story line, although making the many connections was not always easy. We also picked up on the main character’s (we never were given his name) anguish over his twin’s death and considered this whole adventure a way of dealing with and coming to terms with his loss.

To begin with, both Lorna and Anne thought they had another Jasper Jones in their clutches, but it never quite got there. Lorna found the style and pace did not give her time to get emotionally involved as she did with Jasper, but she enjoyed it all the same. We all felt the freedom and joy of childhood imagination taking flight and throughout our discussion there was much laughter and nostalgic reminiscing.

So although it may not make our ‘must read’ list, The Cartographer gave us an immensely delightful hour of imaginable fun and we were happy to suspend belief for this rollicking ride through a child’s fantasy world. We all hope never to be too old for that!

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining fertility, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...



Our first ever Margaret Atwood novel had our heads spinning in all directions … from uncomfortable and creepy to clever and interesting with a certain respectful awe in what the author has been able to create.

No one was exactly comfortable with this book’s theme, but then, we were never really meant to be, were we? The fact that every shocking event Atwood has included has happened somewhere in the world at some time, demands a certain amount of reverent appreciation. Her subject matter is deeply thought out and portrayed in a highly believable environment where human frailty is a constant escort.

Regardless of our unease, and the fact that speculative fiction is not necessarily a favoured genre, it was noted that the writing was of a high quality with an extremely prophetic concept, considering its time of publishing, the ‘80s.

Most of us found it challenging in many ways … as women (with a feminist slant), as readers and as human beings. The facts of the story are purposely left open to interpretation, which went a long way towards creating a most stimulating discussion and it was very interesting to hear everyone’s take on a variety of topics. Politics, religion, history and last but not least, what makes a brilliant novel. If you like to challenge yourself and are not adverse to speculation, give this one a go. Like us, you’ll be glad you did.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Renee is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building, home to members of the great and the good. Over the years she has maintained her carefully constructed persona as

someone reliable but totally uncultivated, in keeping, she feels, with society's expectations of

what a concierge should be. But beneath this facade lies the real Renee passionate about

culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their

outwardly successful but emotionally void lives.

Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Renee lives resigned

to her lonely lot with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma is determined to avoid the pampered and vacuous future laid out for her, and decides to end her life on her thirteenth birthday. But unknown to them both, the sudden

death of one of their privileged neighbours will dramatically alter their lives forever.

Everyone had something worthwhile to say about this month’s book. In fact, it took us a whole sixty minutes of discussion before we came to the mostly unanimous opinion that this is a great book and a most enjoyable read.

The story itself was not a new one … social misfit takes a chance and opens her life to others with positive outcomes. But the characters, and there are many … Renee, Paloma, Ozu and the many tenants, provide an extremely entertaining and profoundly relevant situation that struck a chord with our group.

We all found something of interest in this human web of relationships. Nancy picked out Renee’s reverse snobbery, Viti the conjuncture of old and young, and Lorna mentioned the pigeonholing of people which we all believed to be a pronounced theme throughout.

It was mentioned that as a translation this book may have lost something, but generally it was decided that the philosophical nature of the story came through and touched us with a good balance of what is needed for a worthwhile novel. Our group is not normally easy to please but Hedgehog draws on a poignant veneer of life that satisfied the discerning reader in all of us.

Ernest Hemingway Novel

Ernest Hemingway did much to change the style of English prose in the 20th century. He wrote in short, declarative sentences and was known for his tough, terse prose. For his efforts he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954. This month our bookclub will be reading their own choice of a Hemingway novel.

Our challenge this month was to explore Ernest Hemingway. Not just his books, but the author himself. There were a variety of Hemingway titles read including Fiesta, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Snows of Kilimanjaro, A Movable Feast and A Farewell to Arms.

This proved to be an interesting experiment; we were able to identify many common and recurring aspects of the Hemingway style. Firstly his sentence structure; short, clipped and economical language with dialogue that became muddled and confusing at times, often with the need to re-read.

Depth of character was also found wanting. We had no interest in Hemingway’s repeated insistence of mundane activities such as eating, drinking, smoking etc simply because we knew so little of the characters and unable to make any connection with them. This was particularly true with his female roles. These we found struggling at every turn, barely one dimensional and in some cases a complete void.

Judy toiled with Fiesta, finally giving up and reading a biography on Hemingway instead. She shared some interesting info with us and we were able to see a clearer picture of the man and his work. He obviously failed badly with relationships and we came to the conclusion that the only successful relationship he had was with himself. When it came to romance within his stories, we felt nothing rang true and that they failed on every level. Was his style more suited to the male reader? We tended to think so. And why is his writing so universally applauded? Viti seems to think that at the time he gave American readers a new style that was ready to be embraced.

The real conundrum with Hemingway is The Old Man and the Sea. Every one of us who have read it believes this to be one of the great literary masterpieces. So how can this be? A literary genius with one magnificent book and a whole swag of ordinary work.

Regardless of what you think of the man or his work, he has embedded himself in the world of classic literature with his style and his reputation.

So be it.

The Submission by Amy Waldman

A jury gathers in Manhattan to select a memorial for the victims of a devastating terrorist attack. Their fraught deliberations complete, the jurors open the envelope containing the anonymous winner’s name – and discover he is an American Muslim. Instantly they are cast into roiling debate about the claims of grief, the ambiguities of art, and the meaning of Islam. Their conflicted response is only a preamble to the country’s.

A striking portrait of a fractured city striving to make itself whole.

There were some big questions asked at this month’s meeting, which showed our group was up to the task of this slightly confronting book from Amy Waldman, an American journalist turned novelist.

Foremost in everyone’s mind was simply … will we ever be a totally tolerant species, where all are considered equal regardless of race, culture or creed? Not a new topic by any means, but set in the context of 9/11, it gave us some interesting discussion points. One of them being the power of today’s media and the part it plays in the rise and fall of certain individuals, community groups and their agendas. This was thought to be well done by Waldman, whose knowledge of her characters and their environment earned her some high scores from us.

This is not to say everyone was sold. Individual taste matters in our group and some are not necessarily enamoured with American writing styles and found it a little superficial with stereotypical characters. But in saying that, we all agreed we were forced to think and maybe rethink the situation and conundrum the committee was faced with.

It was commented that this book would no doubt make a good movie and that it was a realistic snapshot of society. There was also comment about the illegal workers caught up in the 9/11 disaster, which again made us rethink and acknowledge the human catastrophe that unfolded on that day. Joan felt the author was to some extent exploiting the event, but generally the group was impressed with The Submission and is happy to recommend it as an intelligent read with plenty of questions and not many answers.

Homer & Langley by E. L. Doctorow

Brilliant brothers Langley and Homer Collyer are born into bourgeois New York comfort, their home a mansion on upper Fifth Avenue, their future rosy. But before he is out of his teens Homer begins to lose his sight, Langley returns from the war with his lungs seared by gas, and when both their parents die, they seem perilously ill-equipped to deal with the new era. As the brothers construct a life on the fringes of society, they hold fast to their principle of self-reliance. But they are mocked and spied on, and despite wanting nothing more than to shut out the world, the epic events of the century flow through their housebound lives as they struggle to survive and create meaning for themselves.

To have 12 readers agreeing to the pleasure of one book is no mean feat, but that is exactly what happened this month with Homer and Langley by E. L. Doctorow. Every one of us enjoyed the connectivity that the author created with the two Collyer brothers, even if he took some license with the facts. Denise felt we needed to put the real story of Homer and Langley Collyer away, and simply enjoy Doctorow’s brilliant characterisation of these two extraordinary souls.


The economic writing was a hit with the group, as was McCarthy’s a few years back, and the black humour, descriptive writing and astute observations made us all instant fans.

A few of us felt Doctorow used his characters as a platform for some of his own social and political views, but we are no strangers to this (Coetzee comes to mind) and were more than happy to absorb them within the context of the story.

Langley’s entertaining fight with the authorities was enjoyed by all and our empathy leaned strongly towards the brothers throughout the book. Ann questioned our acceptance of such eccentric individuals today, or if we found them actually living next door. Good point Ann, and it had us contemplating society’s tolerance to mental health.

There was so much to discuss in this small, unassuming book and we were all surprised by its scope and integrity. Should you read Homer and Langley? If you like a book packed with emotion that makes you laugh, cry and think, then yes, get a copy without delay!

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason

Tom’s friend Paul is similarly obsessed and when a long-lost diary surfaces they finally seem to make a breakthrough. But only hours later, a fellow researcher is murdered and the two friends suddenly find themselves in great danger. Working desperately to expose the book’s secret, they slowly uncover a Renaissance tale of passion and blood, a hidden crypt and a secret worth dying to protect.

This was a tricky one for the end of the year. Some of us were not up to the task of unraveling the puzzle of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili! It may well have been the time of year, or, as someone suggested, the self-indulgence of the two authors. Either way, it was a struggle for most of our group to get through this scholarly mystery.

Ann, who did enjoy the challenge, felt you needed a love of history and accumulating knowledge to get the most from this book, and she loved the ‘mystery within the mystery’ that ran throughout. Viti also found some value within its pages and she loved the historical tidbits that the story supplied.

But the overall opinion was that Rule of Four did not quite make the grade for a good novel. To much work required, tedious, and characters that did not connect were among the majority of views. Would it have been different if we read this book at the beginning of the year? Probably not. Our book club has a well developed sense of what they like, and are not easily convinced otherwise.

So it is on to a new year of reading, which gets everyone excited about what we will discover. Keep an eye on this blog for our latest reviews of 2013.