Firstly, welcome to our newest recruit: Gilly, I hope she enjoys this relaxed and voluble Book Club....As she will find out we take ourselves very seriously...no wine, all talk!
A gem of a book! Babette Hersant arrives at the door of two faded spinsters, Martine and Phillppa, who have forsaken their chances of fame and romance for a life of piety and chastity, caring for their dogmatic father, a pastor of a proscribing Lutheran sect in a distant Danish coastal town. Babette, a refuge from the turbulent times in revolutionary France, carries a letter of introduction from an old suitor of one of the sisters. The letter is brief in introduction - only saying that she is of good character, down on her luck, in need of a place to shelter and that she (Babette) can cook.
A gem of a book! Babette Hersant arrives at the door of two faded spinsters, Martine and Phillppa, who have forsaken their chances of fame and romance for a life of piety and chastity, caring for their dogmatic father, a pastor of a proscribing Lutheran sect in a distant Danish coastal town. Babette, a refuge from the turbulent times in revolutionary France, carries a letter of introduction from an old suitor of one of the sisters. The letter is brief in introduction - only saying that she is of good character, down on her luck, in need of a place to shelter and that she (Babette) can cook.
The sisters asking no questions take her in, and for 14 years Babette serves, cooks and aids the sisters without recompense or discourse. The story hinges on the sumptuous feast that Babette serves, using all the money she wins on the French lottery 10,000F. Every penny is spent. Babette's labour of love, cooking a meal fit for the aristocracy, for people who wouldn't know what they ate, or even acknowledge that they are eating the best food in the world. The question is why did Babette do this?
We all liked the book, some more than others, the discussion centred around the why, and our all very different interpretations of this. The elegant prose - without a superfluous word, brilliantly drew the world the women inhabited, the uptight characters and unexpressed love that Babette had for the two women who had taken her in. This meal was her way of saying thank you.
Words used to describe it: folksy, haunting, deliciously satisfying, evocative, multi layered, a feast of a parable, lyrical.
Marks out of 10 - between 7.5 and 9 so it rates highly on the HSBC book club rating!
Next Book
The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth
Next Meeting
Wednesday 14th November
at
115 Harbord Street
Dates for the Diary
Christmas Party - Venue TBC
Thursday 6th December
Chiswick Second Hand Book Sale 1st Sunday of the month
at Chiswick Community School
Car Boot Sale at Kempton
Sunday 4th November
Dates for the Diary
Christmas Party - Venue TBC
Thursday 6th December
Chiswick Second Hand Book Sale 1st Sunday of the month
at Chiswick Community School
Car Boot Sale at Kempton
Sunday 4th November
