Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Redolent and oozing the heat and sensuality of the Caribbean, this prequel to Jane Eyre illuminates the theme of women as property, as incubators, as valueless except for what they bring to a marriage.  The mad woman in tower of Jane Eyre, is fleshed out as a sensitive woman, traumatize by the death of her mother and sickly brother in a fire.  Her, unnamed husband, presumed to be Rochester of Jane Eyre fame, claims her for marriage and her dowery, uses her and is then ultimately disgusted by her sexuality.  He listens in Othellian ways to what other insinuate about her, believing them as a salve to his conscience after rejecting her.  A brilliant read.

This book conjured up some great discussions about Jane Eyre, women and marriage and insanity.

Words used to describe it:  multi layered, brave, atmospheric, introduction, fetid.

Marks out of 10:  We all gave it 8

Next Book

Frieda by Annabel Abs

Next Meeting 

5 November possibly by Zoom

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Raynor and Moth in the space of a few days, hear that Moth has a terminal illness, they have lost their home and livelihood - bailiffs are at the door.  Not knowing what to do they decide to walk the South West Costal Path, 630miles from Somerset to Dorset all round the peninsula of Devon and Cornwall.  Along the way they battle loneliness, hunger, destitution and illness. The harshness of the endeavour that they have set themselves seems to be their salvation.  The beauty of the landscape, the nature, sky, sea and sounds appear to cleanse them of their issues.  This seems trite but it does.   A poignant read, even if the protagonists aren't that likeable. 

This book generated a good talk about how easily we can lose everything.  How homelessness is a harsh and unforgiving state - we are all only one bad investment away from this. How people judge the homeless. 

Words used to describe it:  perceptive, harrowing, humbling, chilly, cold, sobering

Marks out of 10:  between 7 - 9

Next book

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Next meeting

7th October

Venue:  TBC

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Pat Barker has taken the story of the Iliad and given a voice to some of the women who are mentioned but not noticed in the stories.  History is written by the victors and that doesn't include women.  This retelling of the Trojan Wars,  in particular Achilles and Agamemnon, from the view point of Briseis, a teenage Queen, of ransacked Lyrnessus, given to Achilles as part of his 'spoils of war'.  Seen from the view point of a woman with no standing except that she is the 'trophy' of a powerful warrior, this book is a interesting discourse on the plight of women. Referred to as 'it', displayed, defiled and ignored the women's lives are precarious, and dependent on keeping their man 'happy'.  Somethings appears not to have changed much in thousands of years - to be given, traded, fucked and abused, women have to find their place where they can.  Brutal and uncomfortable reading, mixing the known stories from the Iliad with imagined scenarios, this brilliant book gives voice to the unheard bringing to life the dirt, blood and harshness of a battle camp. It also explores the psychology of the 'hero' Achilles inured to death, bored of battle and fixated on his goddess mother.

The discussion was broad, a number of us didn't know well the stories of the Iliad, and therefore had difficulty in understanding the relationships between the men and why they were fighting etc.  Having said that Achilles, was more man and less godlike in this story, a warrior who knows his business, but is plagued by PTSD. We generally thought the end was weak, but most of us loved the book. 

Words used to describe it:  sympathy for the girls, survival, co-modified, chattels, absorbing

Marks out of 10: we all gave it 8

If you want to listen there is an interesting podcast interview: Pat Barker with Eleanor Wachtel

Next Book

The Salt Path by Raynar Winn

Next Meeting

Friday 4th September

at Carolyn's

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernandine Everisto

This book follows the lives of 12 different women through their lives, loves and struggles. The mainly British and black women and girls give us a  Britain which challenges us with its glimpse into their lives.  Cleverly linking together various women through the last century. Each of the 12 characters is given a chapter, occasionally other characters appear and overlap, but essentially each character has a different life, choices and background.  From gender identity,  a career woman, a young bride from Barbados in an unhappy marriage, an abusive lesbian relationship  All very diverse lives but eloquently written.  These characters are elegant vessels to discuss and illustrate the many and varied lives of British black women.

The book generated a good discussion about identity, colour, race and being a woman.  

Words used to describe it:  marvelous, rich storytelling, better on the second reading, too many characters, irritating, humanity

Marks out of 10: between 5 - 9

 

Next Book

Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Next meeting 

Friday 14th August at 126

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

8 years following many women, results in a book of three women and their sex lives, general lives and loves.

I think that this reveiw on Goodreads explains it best:

 

May 24, 2019 Roman Clodia 

This is quite a perplexing book as I'm not sure what Taddeo's intentions were. She takes three American women and tells their stories of failed love, disappointing marriages, unmet or unfulfilled sexual and emotional needs.

In some ways, the stories are different and, almost deliberately (?) echo themes covered in recent fiction: Lina, in a sexless marriage falls into an affair with her high-school boyfriend; Maggie is 'groomed' into a sexual relationship with her high-school teacher; Sloane finds herself introduced to open marriage built around a ménage theme, and recognises herself as a submissive after reading 'Fifty Shades of Grey'.

And yet, all three have commonalities: all three women are essentially unfulfilled; all are, to greater or lesser extents, exploited by men. Lina and Maggie are desperately pleading for love from married men who call them up when they choose. Sloane has a troubled history of anorexia/bulimia and despite her seeming assurance, traces early examples of male familial disapproval which affected her adolescence.

What I found disturbing about the book is a seeming gender essentialism which shows us, abject women, in thrall to powerful men who control their relationships whether through being unavailable emotionally and physically, sometimes because they're married, or, in the case of Sloane, by a voyeurism which makes her the sexualised object beneath a dual male gaze. The overall tone is one of dysfunctional masochism, especially in the cases of Lina and Maggie.

It's fascinating to see other women's inner lives but it's also frustrating to see how much pain, misery and lack of agency inhabit these (love) lives. The implication seems to be that whatever happens to level the playing field for women publicly and professionally, there's still an underground struggle for some women who want to be loved in ways that their men and their own choices seem to preclude.

Words used to describe it: (not given yet)

Marks out of 10: (not given yet)

Next book

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

 

Next Meeting

In the garden of 117

17 July 2020

after Gin by the Bins

Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Read during lock down - in a time of corona virus, most of us found this a difficult book to get our heads around.  The many names of the characters, the flitting around in time and style was discombobulating.  The allegorical, dreamlike narrative where the Devil, 'Professor Woland' battle with the bureaucracy of Soviet Russia as a character, then slipping to another narrative of a embittered writer, the Major who battles to create and publish his novel on Pontius Pilate and Jesus. While Margarita lover and muse of the Major, leaves him to live a life of the comfortable bourgeois, only to give it up when given the chance - to ride naked on a broomstick over Moscow before arriving in the middle of an event with all the other various characters and metaphysical beings made it essential to concentrate when reading. 

This dense and difficult book requires time and an understanding of the Russian character, especially of the tense and difficult time under Stalin, where anything could mean your removal to the gulags, or death.  I don't think that we quite understood the depths of this novel. Also we think that the different editions/translations make a huge difference to the ease of reading. 

Most of us failed to read it, finding the metaphysical aspect too difficult at this time of uncertainty.  However those (2 of us) who did finish it found the book a fascinating but problematic read.

Words used to describe it:  difficult read, watching paint dry, sympathy for the Devil, confusing

Marks out of 10:  between 1- 6

Next Meeting

Sunday 14th June by Zoom (probably)

Next Book

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

Olive Kettridge by Elizabeth Strout

Book Club meeting held via Zoom due to Lockdown.  Not totally successful technology wise - but at least we had our book club meeting.

Olive Kitteridge (2008) is a novel by American author Elizabeth Strout. It presents a portrait of the title character and a number of recurring characters in the coastal town of Crosby, Maine. It takes the form of 13 short stories that are interrelated but discontinuous in terms of narrative. (Wikipedia)  Using the stories within a novel concite, we are introduced to the people that Olive as school teacher, wife, mother has touched upon in her life.  She is not a likeable character, abrasive, harsh, kind, intuitive, blunt and many other contradictory words.  

Most in the book club loved this book, found the character of Olive, difficult though she is, resonated with them.  The short stories within the novel was an interesting way to introduce the complex characters that lived in the Maine town.  A few of us did not like the chop and change of the short stories and found the inconsidtent time line difficult.  

Words used to describe it:  resonates, human nature, vivid description of character, unforgiving, 

Marks out of 10:  between 5 - 9 (mostly between 7 -9)

Next Book

The Master and Margarita by Mikahel Bulgahov

Next Meeting by Zoom

Friday 8th May

Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner

Wow, well that book generated an excellent discussion at book club, from the mores of the aristocracy, bad parenting, feminism (or not), up bringing, boarding school, and much much more.  Anne Glenconner's biography was a thoroughly entertaining read.  Her life fairly rips along at a pace that would have left most of us behind.  Her life with Colin Glenconner was unconventional and difficult and yet ultimately extremely privileged.  Colin Glenconner's disregard for his family, his spoilt child attitude to life was extremely hard to bear.  Without the money behind him, his behavior would not have been supported by anyone.

Words used to describe it:  loved it, a romp, fascinating, fawning sycophantic, engaging, rip-roaring read.

Marks out of 10:  between 5 - 9 

Next Book

Olive Ketteridge by Elizabeth Stroud

Next Meeting

9th April

Venue

TBC

If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino

Very hard to review a book that you didn't complete - none of us completed and that is a first for this book club.  This book was (well the 150 pages that I did read) a mess, a confusing mess.  Why the reviewers fuss we couldn't understand.  Sorry people, we did not like this book.  

So no words and no marks out of 10.

Next book - a bit lighter

Next book

Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner

 

Next Meeting

Thursday 5th March

Venue TBC