Our March meeting

Thank you to Lucy for the following summary of the fabulous meeting held at her house. Good discussion, great puddings and a lot of fun. We are getting pretty good at this book club thing! 

Lucy's review

I just love book club- everything about it. From receiving the next book selections, the wine, the book discussion, the puddings, the voting – I just love it all. It has really opened my mind to think and feel more about my beloved books, which is exactly what this month’s book demonstrated for me – because for the second time ever, a book made me cry.  I’m even more impressed that I cried at the beginning of the book (not just at the sad ending like “Me Before You”). 

Hosting book club makes it all the more special - I was really pleased that I liked my book choice (I’m sure we all secretly fear not enjoying our own book choice) but the fear is always present that your puddings will be a disaster. Despite worrying about them, I think they all turned out ok. We had a slight 70’s throwback to the theme this week (just call me Brendan from GBBO.)

For pudding we had:

-        Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake.

-        Summer fruit Jelly’s (with a little liqueur).

-        Chocolate Layer Trifle (with a little Kahlua). 

The absence of the 2 Sally’s was mainly noticeable by the lack of wine consumed during the evening. (Plus we missed Sally S’s infamous book quotes and insights.) 

Our book this month was “The Last Summer” by Judith Kinghorn. The beginning was set just before the 1^st world war started with the main character Clarissa enjoying an idyllic summer at her country house. During this time she fell in love with the servant’s son - who was then sent to war alongside her brothers and family friends. The book then follows the war and post war period, during which Clarissa tries, but fails, to live happily ever after with her true love. I won’t say much more in case anyone reading this has not read the book – no spoilers allowed! 

Although this book is primarily a love story spanning decades, it did bring home to us many aspects of life during and after the war and also how it affected the upper classes (and especially the women who were left behind) We discussed how it must have felt to be a young woman during and after the war, especially when the men who were lucky enough to return from war had suffered injuries and psychological issues. Many of these men wished they had died with their fellow countrymen and suicides were not uncommon. Most of us were shocked by the revelation that recreational drugs were a problem - just a different kind of drug to those we get now.  

The main criticism the book received from the group was that some felt a little frustrated by Clarissa’s character and the choices she made. However all agreed that these choices were just a reflection of how different life was back then and the expectations put upon on a young lady. A few also felt the ending was a little predictable – although the presence of some encrypted letters at the beginning of each chapter led to a rather surprising revelation at the end that none of us really saw coming.   

Overall we enjoyed this book, many of us felt gripped by it and couldn’t put it down (Susie finished it 7 days early!). We were left thinking about the characters afterwards, we loved the descriptions- especially of the spring time (we felt we were there!), and enjoyed the educational setting of the 1^st WW.  A final score of 8/10 was awarded.  

Our next book was voted in – The Vintage Teacup Club by Vanessa Greene. (Thanks Chantel for a great choice of books) I’m hoping this one does not reduce me to tears – (there’s only room for one blubber in our family.) 

PS - This book was compared to the Twilight love story about 9.38 ish! It’s always got to have a mention. No book club night is complete without it.

 

Lucy x