Do No Harm by Henry Marsh

"What could be finer, I thought, than to be a neurosurgeon?" writes Henry Marsh after seeing his first brain surgery. "The operation involved the brain, the mysterious substrate of all thought and feeling, of all that was important in human life – a mystery, it seemed to me, as great as the stars at night and the universe around us."  

In this clinical and terse memoir Mr Marsh writes about the single mindedness required to be an excellent technician/brain surgeon - his obvious entrancement with the brain, its beautiful construction, the mystery of many of its functions and its inherent softness and fragility, with only the cocoon of the skull to keep safe.  He brilliant describes the craft and beauty of the brain, the surgery and the implications of various treatments.   Mr Marsh takes us through his career, from the heady early days,  various operations, his dilemmas with and sometimes not treating people, his failures and the guilt he still bears and his recent issues with the various restructuring that has gone on in the NHS and the consequences for those doing the 'work'.  

For those of us with an interest in medical matters we loved this side of the book.  What many of us took issue with was the more 'me' side, the personal, the man which we felt could have done with some good editing - less of the person came through or maybe too much of the clinician? 
Very mixed reviews for this book. some liked it but on the whole, many found it too dry and un-engaging.

Words used to describe it:
enlightening, fascinating, clinical, instructive (twice), dry memoir

Marks out of 10:  between 4 and 8

Next Book

The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

Next Meeting

Thursday 2 June at 72 Kingwood Road

The other books we briefly discussed that Cindy had recommended - not all of us had read them were:

Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift

Comment from Carolyn - Not enough sex

and 

The Body Keeps Score

 

Fat Chance by Simon Gray

I know you shouldn't copy and paste whole reviews, but I saw this one from 'Ian' on Goodreads and I thought this is the best review - I won't expand on his:

"'What the fuck is he doing in Bruges`"

In 1995 Simon Gray wrote and directed "Cell Mates". The play is essentially a two hander and he seemed to have landed the dream team of Rik Mayall and Stephen Fry for the main parts. Alas, after reading the first reviews (to the consternation of colleagues, friends and family who feared the worst) Stephen Fry left the production (and indeed the country) without warning. The play closed soon after.

Fans of Simon Grays play diaries (and there should be many) will know that Gray worked on the verge of a nervous breakdown at the best of times and so his anguish, so perfectly expressed here, is hardly surprising. Fortunately for us all, for expiation and (I assume) revenge Gray dipped his pen in acid and wrote this account.

This particular dish is not always served cold (see quote above) but it is delicious (did someone say "schadenfreude"?) and there is some wonderfully cool writing; in answer to his own question set out above Gray writes;

"a beautiful city, fine restaurants. And a lot of Belgians who share Stephen's appetites, which would make him feel that he was in congenial company, I suppose. Dining in his gastric peer group. I made an enraged peroration along these lines......possibly unfair to Stephen, who might, for all I knew, have gone to Bruge for its spiritual sustenance - its cathedral, say, its small religious sanctuaries."

Ouch.

Simon Gray died earlier this year. As Stephen Fry might say "Bless you. God Bless you."
 
Link to Goodreads review

Words used to describe the book:  
revenge, self absorbed rant, vituperative, intense, excruciating, bitter 

Marks out of 10 - between 6 - 9

Next Book

Do No Harm by Henry Marsh

Next Meeting

115 Harbord St

5th May

Old Filth by Jane Graham

Old Filth, Master of the Inner Temple, skilled exponent? of the law, Sir Edward Feathers a child of 'The Raj' or the British institution of sending your child back to be educated.  The brutalizing effect of separation of child from family for years at a time.  This disconnect from family makes a child self-reliant, self contained and reserved - all characteristics of Sir Edward and other protagonists in this engrossing story.  The story slowly revealed what made these characters tick.  The 'murder' of an abusive foster parent, the resignation and acceptance of his lack of emotional life, little pieces of his wife, her character and her alternate life that he barely comprehended.  
A different age and different sensibilities, this treatment of a child would certainly constitute abandonment and child abuse now-a-days.  A study in the aging process.  A quiet novel of perception and or lack of it!  The story is slowly revealed with tragicomic timing.

Another book that created a good discussion on the character of begin British - was it the schools, or the lack of family.  Is a stiff upper lip a result of neglect.  Boarding school - friends for life or a hell to be endured.  

Words used to describe it:   damaged, stiff-upper-lipped, want more, thought provoking, lots of loose ends.

Marks out of 10:   all 8 except 1 who marked it 7!

Next book 

Fat Chance by Simon Gray

Next Meeting

Thursday April 7th

at 130 Harbord St

The Door by Magda Szabo

A busy writer and her academic husband, neither of whom is interested in house work, look for a housekeeper to help them out.  Emerence is recommended to them - with the cryptic warning 'She doesn't just take anyone on'.  After being duly interviewed by the formidable Emerence the author and her husband are taken on.  In this slowly eeked out story, small crumbs of information are carefully woven into the fabric of the story.  Emerence, her strange attitudes to people, why no-one can enter her home, animals and the way she dresses are all intertwined with her life.  A difficult book to precis and review.  
This book  generated an interesting discussion on war, PTS, spinsterhood and life in a Communist state, we did wonder if it actually was more of a political allegory than story?. 

Words used:  mystical, symbolic, dispassionate, dry, engrossing, intriguing, difficult, challenging
Marks out of 10 - between 6 - 8

Next Book

Old Filth by Jane Gardam

Next Meeting

10 March at hosted by Maire at 117 Harbord St

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

This iconic book deserves reading.  Knowing that it was written by the then youthful author in the space of 9 days on a rented typewriter makes the prose and construction of the novel much more impressive.  As a commentary on the 'Macarthy era' of the early 1950's where what you wrote could land you in prison if it was considered to be 'unAmerican'.  The premise of the novel that books are dangerous and must now be burnt.  Firemen now burn houses that have books.  The ideas in books are deemed to be dangerous - to distract   people there is wall to wall interactive entertainment TV's, music entertainment direct to the ears, fast cars and dumbed down culture, keeping the population happy.  The on going war in the back ground carries on, with little or no interest by the population for whom it is supposedly being carried out in the name of.  

Guy Montag the 'hero' of the novel starts to think about things, books, life and ideas after meeting a young girl Clarisse who talks about everything. Montag meets an old English teacher Faber who encourages him to read some of the books he burns.  This of course leads to detection and the burning of his home.  Montag goes on the run, encouraged by Faber to reach a group of people who live outside the city where they memorize books waiting for the time when they can be printed again.  The end of the city with nuclear bombs where all that Montag knew is gone, and society has to start again - hopefully learning from it's own mistakes.  But do we?

We had a great discussion around this book and the interesting concepts that it illustrates.  Are books that important - are ideas that important, does society need to keep a record of its events and thoughts so that we don't make the same mistakes. Having said that if you look at history - it doesn't seem to be working! What about societies, cultures and religions that don't encourage independent thought, how should we consider those.

Words used to describe it: incendiary, inflammatory, prophetic, depressing, disruptive, thought provoking.
Marks out of 10:  between 8 - 9 so well liked.

Next Book

The Door by Magda Szabo

Next Meeting

Thursday 4th February

Ground Floor, 55 Harbord St

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Ummm, a difficult book to review, it's slow, restrained and vast - covering a startling period of recent American history - the McCarthy era.  Slowly through the recovered notebooks and snippets of newspapers horded in a bank depositary, Violet Brown,  Harrison William Shepherd's personal assistant pieces together his life. The book we read today, Brown reveals, was assembled by herself in 1959 from Shepherd’s junked notebooks and sealed for 50 years, to be opened in 2009 :  from his early years on the island of Isla Pixol with his flighty Mexican mother.  Through serendipitous happenings Will,  finds his way into the life and happenings of the Khalo/Rivera household, viewing and possibly involved in Trotsky's death.  Will moves to the US, where he keeps to the background, writing observing and commentating while slowly the omnipresent feeling of surveillance, how a word or writing perceived to be 'Un-American' could land you in trouble, despite being so careful the unassuming and quiet Will finds himself at the wrong end of the FBI/McCarthy inquisition.  

An interesting book that easily takes you through the recent history of Mexico and America, mixing fact with fiction.  Not a book to flick through it needed concentration.

Words used to describe it:  nicely crafted, little drama, good descriptions, fascinating
Marks out of 10:  between 6 & 8

Next Book

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Next Meeting

Wednesday 6th January

130 Harbord St

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

"After all, how often do we get to hear the inner voice of a fat, funny, literate, working-class teenager from Wolverhampton? Quite." Barbara Ellen - The Guardian

Caitlin Moran has written a humorous coming of age novel, loosely based on her own life of a clever girl who took the chances that her writing offered her to make a life writing about music.  Lose her virginity and transform her perception of herself. With panache and verve she slides through the 80's music scene, London a young girl finding out about herself.  It is crude, it is brash, it is fun.  Moran has a wonderful turn of phrase and use of language.

“Self-harm - the world will come at you with knives anyway. You do not need to beat them to it.”

 “Because I am still learning to walk and talk, and it is a million times easier to be cynical and wield a sword, than it is to be open-hearted and stand there, holding a balloon and a birthday cake, with the infinite potential to look foolish.” 

 “Here’s the amazing thing about sex: you get a whole person to yourself, for the first time since you were a baby. Someone who is looking at you—just you—and thinking about you, and wanting you, and you haven’t even had to lie at the bottom of the stairs and pretend you’re dead to get them to do it.” 

 “I speculate, briefly, on how different the world would be if it were run by women. In that world, if you were a lonely, horny woman - as I am. As I always am- you'd see Blu-tacked postcards by Soho doorways that read 'Nice man in cardigan, 24, will talk to you about The Smiths whilst making you cheese-on-toast+come to parties with you. Apply within'.”

This book generated quite disparate views, some loved its rawness, some disliked its aggressive language, its no nonsense - in your face - take it or leave it - fuck you attitude - and some loved that! 

Marks out of 10:  between 6 & 8

Words used to describe it:  
aggressively teenager, great wordsmith, rude, blatant, liberating.

Next book

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Next Meeting 

Tuesday 17th November

117 Harbord St

The Rosie Project: Don Tillman 1 by Graeme Simsion

Don Tillman, 39, tall, intelligent and employed: "Logically I should be attractive to a wide range of women" (His words) and is an undiagnosed Asperger's type who Simsion uses to explore how a grown autistic man might approach a romantic relationship.  The Wife Project comes out of his perceived need for a wife, and who might be appropriate, to do this he (Don) draws up a tick box questionnaire of necessary or desirable and, as far as he is concerned, undesirable traits (smoking, overweight, vegetarian etc).  This light book deftly illustrates the difficulties one can get into if you cannot see the 'grey' in the world.  If your life is run along dogmatic lines according to the society as you understand it, then trying to navigate friendship and love is obviously difficult.  Life is negotiation, compromise and full of grey areas, which if you don't see them, understand them or are unable to compromise makes for awkward and 'interesting' situations.  Rosie is obviously not appropriate and yet love happens.  Don's two friends Gene and Claudia humanise him and add texture to what could be a one dimensional character. 

Words used to describe it:
Scintillating, different, uplifting, charming, amusing, illuminating

Marks out of 10 between 6 - 8.5

Pauline has read the next book in the series The Rosie Effect and recommends it, thought it even more enjoyable than the first one!

Next Meeting

72 Kingwood Road

Date

Friday 16th October

Next Book 

I have arbitrarily changed the book, as I wanted to read

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge

An incisive and stiletto cruel look at a mundane life of a middle manger and his mistress's life, made absurd when robbers burst in on their oh so twee dinner party.  With clever dialogue and sharp observations, Ms Bainbridge manages to bring out the ridiculousness of people and their attitudes and and the social mores that mean so much to some.  Alma the drunk neighbour acts as the catalyst, bringing the other protaganists thoughts to the fore.  None of the charcaters were likeable although there was a harsh black humor in the writing.  There was a play like feel about the story, with well drawn characters, placed in their grey 1970's homes, with all the awfulness of class distinctions being laid bare.  

Words used to describe it:  suprisingly good ending, abrupt ending, good begining - muddled middle - frenetic end, rape scene shockingly graphic, vivid

Marks out of 10:  between 6 - 8

Next Book

The Rosie Project: Don Tilman 1 by Grahme Simison

Next Meeting

126 Harbord St

Friday 18th September

A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore

Another book I hadn't finished by the time of the meeting, but I have finished it now.  A Gothic novel if ever there was one!  The children Rob and Cathy, grow up in their Grandfather's house, their mother having abandoned them to live in France and their father incarcerated in an asylum.  The sore of their mothers abandonment never heals.  Cath and Rob live a cloistered and dysfunctional life in their Grandfathers large country house,  find their love for each other and their need for comfort moves from sibling to lovers.  The novel twists and turns with elegant descriptions of melancholic decaying life in a large house in interwar Britain.  Lacking a character that you could sympathise with, this cold novel fails to engage the reader (my interpretation), although the descriptive prose is in places poetic in its elegance.

Words used to describe it:
great descriptive prose, ultimately unsatisfying, self obsessed, vivid descriptions, lacking resolution, vignettes and no story

Marks out of 10:

between 4 & 8

Next Book

Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge (Maire)

Next Meeting

11 August at 128 Harbord St

Subsequent meetings:

Sept Oxford Road - Carolyn

Oct Harbord St - Rowena

Nov Kingwood Rd - Olivia

Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim

A hidden gem of a book!   Lucy Entwhistle young, naive, hopelessly trusting and recently bereaved of her beloved father, finds comfort in the organising, overbearing recently windowed Everard Wemyss.  This clever careful tale becomes a black comedy as the character of Wemyss develops and we come to understand that Vera (Wemyss's first wife) may have decided that suicide by falling from a window was preferable to life with Wemyss.  This is slowly revealed in intimate detail as the story progresses and Wemyss's character is unveiled in all its awfulness.  A delicious book, which illustrates the lack of power and advocacy women had over their own lives at the turn of the 20th C, either being under the aegis of their father, then their husband.

This book is suppose to have been a reflection of Elizabeth's own disastrous second marriage to Earl Russell and clearly influenced Daphne du Maurier and her writing of Rebecca.

The story provoked a good discussion about the place of women, how things have changed, the lack of influence and the wonderful dialogue of the Aunt with her great lines.  Many concidered it would make a great play.  Although some members thought Lucy vapid, she was really just a conduit for the bully Wemyss to play out his OCD, narcissistic tendencies!

Words used to describe it:

Charming, a discovery, looking forward to reading it (you must Alison) engaging, enchanting, wanted more, must read

Marks out of 10 - all 9's

Next book

The Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore

Next meeting

115 Harbord St

9th July

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey

This book isn't called an American Classic for nothing!  We all thought we knew the story, having either read or seen the movie many years ago, but reading it again you realise what a good book it is and why.  
Randle McMurphy arrives at Pendleton Mental Institution, Oregon from prison, relived as his days of hard labour are over, not appreciating  that now he has no date for release and he could be incarcerated indefinitely under the 'care' of the tyrant Nurse.  Nurse is the main character in this book.  McMurphy subverts and undermines her cruel, inhumane and psychotic authority bringing life, laughter and a reason to live into the lives of the inmates of the asylum.  It doesn't end happily.  It is a discourse on Big Brother, the affect of an omnipresent and autocratic government and the state of mental health treatment in the US in the 60/70's on people and a not so subtle elegy to the human spirit.

Words used to describe it:
mind fuck, captivation, chilling, excellent

Marks out of 10 between 8 and one 10!

Next Book

Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim

Next Meeting 

28th May 

at 

117 Harbord St

Wonder by RJ Palacio

Wow, those who didn't come last week missed a good one - 5 star recommendation to Olivia's Guinness Cake!  Superb, delicious, divine - if we get cake like that each time, I vote we have it at Olivia's more often!  
When we reviewed this book I hadn't finished reading it so couldn't participate in the discussion - I've now read it so will!

Albert Pullman - known as Aggie, is the hero of the story.  What makes him different is his hideous facial abnormality caused by a gene defect.   As even he says  "I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse." After many operations he still looks freakish.  The book describes peoples reactions to him, or rather how he looks not his personality which is charming and intelligent. It skillfully shows how little actions of adults hurt more than the direct reactions of children.  Using first person narratives from friends and family the book describes Aggie's 5 year at a private school, from different perspectives,  after being previously home schooled.  How the children react, how the head master sensitively and adroitly deals with the issues that rise, illustrating how it affects his sister Via, who lives almost entirely in his shadow, lost amongst the clamor of Aggie's issues.  A clever book that manages a complex subject in simple language appropriate for the age group it's aimed at.

Our discussion centered around the the various points of view.  Some felt it rather 'trite' and too simplistic, the advice from his teacher "When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind." – Dr. Wayne Dyer, we thought was perhaps too banal - should you lie to be kind?  The chapter with no punctuation or capitals some found difficult to read. 

Words used to describe it:

simplistic, nothing profound, made me feel kinder, innocent, slightly predictable, sweet

We marked this book twice: 
as adults  between 5 - 7 
If we were marking it as young adults between 6 - 8

Next book

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

by Ken Kesey

Next Meeting

23 April at 130 Harbord St

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

The autobiography of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a harsh evocative story which illustrates her life from her Somalian childhood, to restrictive youth in Mecca, Saudia Arabia, to Kenyan and then escape to Holland. Clearly describing her life of beatings, harsh mutilation, devout believer, escape from a forced marriage and asylum in the Netherlands, education and her political awakening and doubts and changes in her faith.  As an insight into the restrictive life of one brought up within the constraints of Islam as practiced in parts of Africa and Arabia it was illuminative.  

A fascinating  book illustrating a woman's life and a window into the life of someone who had considered the faith of her birth as omnipotent and  then through life and education changed her outlook and perception completely.  For many of us it was not the harshness of her life which shocked us but the perceptions, ignorance and prejudices shown that we found most 'interesting/horrifying'.  We were all glad that we had read it and the debate was extensive.

Words used to describe it:  fascinating, enlightening, eye opening, informative
Marks out of 10:  8 across the board!  That's a first.

Next book

Wonder by RJ Palaccio

Next Meeting 

Change of date now Thursday 19th March 

at  72 Kingwood Road

Germania by Simon Winder

Ummm this is a difficult book to review, it's not a novel with a story to to be picked to pieces - it's a personal romp through the history of Germany - as its borders fluctuate, shrinking and expanding with the personal ambitions of which ever principality is in ascendancy.  A book to dip into rather than read in one 'Volleri betreiben' session.  Full of information and richly detailed , the authors enjoyment of the country, its museums and the history came through.  I found that it has helped with my very vague knowledge of the hinterland of Europe and how these countries have waxed and waned over the centuries.  
The book generated a good discussion about European history and our lack of knowledge. Some found the book too dense and a difficult read.

Words used to describe it:  detailed, impenetrable, dry, dense, starts well, difficult, witty to begin with
Marks out of 10 - between 2 - 5

Next book

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Next meeting

Thursday 19 February 

at

72 Kingwood Road 

March meeting at Cindy's

April meeting at Mandy Y

The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

"I have an illness, a disease with the shape and sound of a snake. Whenever I learn something new, it learns it too … My illness knows everything I know. This was a difficult thing to get my head around."writes Matt Homes a diagnosed schizophrenic struggling to cope with the loss of his Down syndrome brother, and the guilt he might have contributed to his death. Using writing as therapy after having been sectioned, Matt describes in detail the unutterable boredom of psychiatric hospitals, the interminably of time, and the tick tock of pills that mark the passing of the day.  Written in various type face, with sketches and the feel of a journal 'put together' this book of a journey into a mind is interesting and depressing.  Matt's family are well drawn, their love and fragile mental states suggested at.  

The book generated a good discussion about mental health, perceptions of mental illness, and what guilt can do to the mind.  A number of us found the protagonist difficult to 'like' and were hoping for more of a clear cut description of schizophrenia, other loved the terse phrasing and clever descriptions of the illness cleverly linked in with the story line.

Thank you Carolyn for all the lovely eats - thank goodness we hadn't eaten, and for the wonderful post book discussion of politics, religion and prostitution!

Words used to describe the book:
realistic description, bit blah, unengaging but, enlightening, interesting,

Marks out of 10 - between 5 - 8 so quite highly marked.

Next book 

Germania by Simon Winder

Next Meeting (excluding X'mas dinner on 17th December)

Thursday 15th January

at

126 Harbord St

The Last Telegram by Liz Trenow

Using her family knowledge of the silk weaving industry, this story weaves the life, loves and regrets of its protagonist Lily before, during and slightly after WW2.  The author deftly drops sinpets of history, information and technical details of the silk weaving process into the story.  The importance of the tightness of the weaving for parachutes, the wonder of the material its self, from cocoon bulb to this immensely strong but beautiful yarn.  We discussed the social situation of the women depicted, the well drawn characters.  We discussed the racialism of small town England.  We all enjoyed the book.

Words used to describe it:

enjoyable, a lot of potential, pleasurable, quaint, likeable, easy read, undemanding

Marks out of 10:

between 6 - 8 so quite highly marked.

Next book

The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

Next Meeting

Thursday 27 November - 12 Lysia Street

Recommended read

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Christmas Knees Up
17 December possibly at Luna Neuvoa, Fulham Road

The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony

Elephants are large, very large and when angry or encroaching on human habitation can cause chaos and carnage in their wake.  With the growth of human population in Africa the land that elephants can safely roam is shrinking.  Lawrence Anthony had set up a small game reserve Thula Thula, S Africa when he was approached and asked if he would like to take in a small herd, 7 animals, of rogue elephants who were angry, distressed and aggressive. He would and did.  This book is the story of how Lawrence with patience came to gain the trust of the matriarch and therefore the herd through watching, understanding and 'talking' to them.  His aim was to habituate the herd enough that they would tolerate humans near, but not close by, as part of the moving safaris he offered on his reserve.  

The book generated an interesting discussion about animal behavior, the various techniques that other animal 'whisperers' use.  We found the book entertaining although lacking in detail - for instance, how did Lawrence and his wife buy Thula Thula?  What sparked his interested in big game and game reserves and a bit more about the local tribes and the impact reserves like this have upon their lives would have been interesting.    I suppose that many of these details are in other books that he has written but it would have been nice to place the story in a wider context. 

Below a link to

Short interview with Lawrence Anthony 


Words used to describe it:
   enjoyable tale, surprisingly good, loved one paragraph, a bit episodic, enjoyed it, interesting story

Marks out of 10:
   between 6 - 9

Next Book

The Last Telegram by Liz Trenow

Next Meeting

23 October

at

53 Bishop's Road, SW6

The Grand Banks Cafe by George Simenon

Number 8 of the Inspector Maigret detective novels, and the first that most of us had read.  Leisurely paced and intimately detailed it was an excellent holiday read.  Who killed the captain and why was there a woman on board the Ocean's last disastrous voyage.  Some of us found the translation a little clunky - starting too many sentences with And, was irritating.  The characters and period were skillfully and lightly crafted, although the plot was slight.  We all enjoyed the book although there wasn't much to discuss .  Someone mentioned that the next book of Simenon's that they read - The Yellow Dog, was a much better read.

Thank you Jackie for the delicious food - so glad that I didn't have supper before I came!  You put the bar pretty high.

Words used to describe it:
undemanding, dated, Victorian sensibilities, cabin fever, the other ones are better, atmospheric, familiar and easy, comforting, nostalgic

Marks out of 10:
between 6 - 9

Next book

The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony

Next Meeting

Thursday 25th September at 126 Harbord St

Her Brilliant Career by Rachel Cooke

A lovely evening, out in Cindy's productive garden, talking too loudly and probably disturbing the neighbours - Oh whoops we are the neighbours, that's ok then! 

The book is a short trot through the varied careers of 10 women of the 50's who managed by ambition, skill, chance, happen-chance and bravado to make a career for themselves in an era when having a career was unusual.  The women were as varied in career as they were personally, for a change the jobs they did were not the glamorous writers, actors and thinkers of the time, but gardener/plants-woman (Margery Fish), film producer (Betty Box), cookery writer (Patience Grey, more popular than Elizabeth Davis at the time), first woman judge (Rose Helibron), pilot and racing car driver (Sheila Van Damm) and her rotating partners Nancy Spain, journalist, Joan Werner Laurie founder of She magazine, archeologist (Jacqetta Hawkes) and last but definitely not least architect (Alison Smithson).  What we all noticed was in many cases the fact that children were definitely had but then quickly dispersed to boarding school, nanny or other carers ASAP.  The book was definitely a quick romp through their lives, although the notes were useful and informative.

With so many women we turned our discussion to their personalities and how they managed to achieve what they did.  Rose Helibron and Alison Smithson were interesting characters.  Alison in particular seems to have been a particularly determined and forthright person.  We discussed and compared the working lives of our mothers, most of whom HAD to give up work on marriage - and admired their determination in this era.  Our American member reflected on the difference between Britain still in the grip of austerity, rationing and belt tightening with the prosperity and burgeoning middle class life style in America at the time.

Words used to describe this book:  patchy, repetition, badly edited, waste of a good story, disheartening, interesting facts, doesn't do what it says on the tin

Marks out of 10:   between 5 & 8

Next Book

Grand Banks Cafe by Georges Simenon

(if you'd like to read the others by him Cindy suggested:  
Night of the Crossroad, The Yellow Dog)

Next Meeting

28th August at 115 Harbord St

Date for the diary

Juke Box Evening 13 August