Wreake Valley Readers book group reviews 2006

Notes from a Small Island By Bill Bryson
This is the amusing observations of Bill Bryson as he tours Britain for the last time before returning to America, his country of birth.

Book Groups Review
This light read is full of amusing observation of British life by an American. Parts of the book made some readers laugh out loud.

The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall
This was a most unusual novel gives an insight into the seedy side of seaside/fairground life. It explores the life of Cyril, from his early life in Morecambe Bay to Coney Island and back to his roots.

Book Groups Review
This is a well written book but the descriptions of illness, physical deformity etc are rather too graphic.
Not one member of the group enjoyed this book and we’re not inclined to read any further novels by this author. No one wished to give this book a mark.

Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell
Set in the 12^th Century this novel is the first book in the Grail Quest series. The main character of this historical novel is Thomas of Hookton an archer in the English army who is fighting the French in France. As well as fighting for his King and country Thomas is on a personal mission to avenge his father’s death and recover his family treasure.

Book Groups Review
The book has interesting historical details and well drawn (some thought superficial) characters. The story is full of action and moves at a good pace. It gives a realistic insight into the 100 years war and the aspects of ‘chivalry’. This is a very readable book.

Middlemarch by George Eliot
This is one of the great epics of nineteenth-century English literature. The novel is set in a small town, Middlemarch, and traces the arrival of a young doctor, Lydgate, in the town and the start of his practice. The novel is concerned with the fabric of Victorian society in the 1800s and about the various human passions: heroism, egotism, love, and lust interrelate within this society.

Book Groups Review
This is a beautifully written highly detailed book with ironic characterisations and observations of life in small town England in the Victorian era. It has interesting social comments on the railways, medical changes, the reform bill, and the lack of education for women.

The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Henry time travels and he isn’t able to control when or where he goes he just disappears and travels forwards or backwards in time always with no clothes and no money. Clare has known Henry since she was a young girl and both Henry and his time travelling have become an almost normal part of her life. When she eventually meets Henry in real time they start a more normal relationship and get married. This story is about the relationship between Clare and Henry the ups and down of marriage and the extra difficulties time travelling creates.

Book Groups Review
The story is confusing as the reader is jumped from one time to another and you can understand how disjointed Henry must feel. The narrative also jumps between Henry and Clare which adds to more confusion as you forget which person is narrating. The story got more depressing the more you read as the time travelling takes its toll on both their relationships and Henry’s body.
Not many readers in the group managed to reach the end of this book but we all thought the time travelling concept was very interesting and posed a lot of questions.

Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai
Uma, the spinster child of a suffocating Indian family is trapped at home. Her life and culture is contrasted with another dysfunctional family in America where her brother, Arun is studying.

Book Groups Review
The beautifully drawn vignettes of incidents in the characters lives make this book a joy to read. We all felt thoroughly involved with the story. Read it!!

The Kindness of Strangers by Kate Adie
The book is a biography about Kate Adie’s career as a war journalist.

Book Groups Review
The book was hard to get into and the sequence of events jumped around which made the story hard to follow. There were a lot of details about the conflicts Kate Adie reported from and we felt it gave an accurate and impartial account of what happened without much emotion or many personal details. This is a unique book and a good read but the writing didn’t bring the events to life.

After Rain by William Trevor
This is a series of short stories set in Ireland

Book Groups Review
These short stories were dated, but well written snap shots in to the trials of people’s lives and relationships. The stories left you asking a lot of question and wanting to know more about the characters. After finishing one story you wanted to read the next one. This book is definitely worth a read.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult
This story is about two neighbouring families who are very close. Their children are friends from birth and grow up almost as brother and sister but as they get older their relationship develops in to boyfriend and girlfriend. They make a pact and the boy helps the girl to commit suicide. The case goes to trial and the courts have to decide if it was murder.

Book Groups Review
This book was difficult to read because there were a lot of flash backs which gave it a cut and paste feel. We felt the first few chapters were a bit insignificant but as the book moves into the court case it got more interesting. Some of us thought the story was dragged out and only towards the end did we feel we were getting to know the characters (if at all). The story did keep us guessing right up to the end and provoked a lot of discussion

Headlong by Michael Frayn
The story is about Martin Clay, a young would-be art historian. He sees the chance of a lifetime when he believes he has discovered a valuable painting. He tries to obtain the painting without letting the owner know its true value and sets up a classic sting risking everything in an attempt to make his professional reputation.

Book Groups Review
This book is very descriptive with a strong storyline, farcical interludes, and good characterisation. The plot has interesting twists but an untidy finish.
Good read but complicated by the art history lesson.

The Siege by Helen Dunmore
It is 1941 and the Germans have surrounded the city of Leningrad leaving the occupants to starve and the freeze during the harsh Russian winter. The story is about a young woman called Anna and her family who are trying to survive.

Book Groups Review
This is a well sculpted book with no padding and a minimum of well developed characters. The author describes feelings and surroundings wonderfully bringing the characters and places to life. This emotional and chilling tale makes you realise how amazing the human spirit is and what some people will do to survive.

This was a magnificent story enjoyed by all and recommended to everyone.

Birds Without Wings by Louis de Burnières
This book traces the fortunes of one small community in south-west Anatolia during the Gallipoli campaign and the subsequent bitter struggle between Greeks and Turks.

Book Groups Review
This book was full of fantastic yet gruesome descriptions which gave you a feel for the time and place. The characters were well developed although slightly larger than life. The story had interesting information on the massacres and it highlighted the nonsense of the situation, in parts it was quite relevant to current problems. Within the book there were a lot of separate storylines and it skipped from one to another, this made it difficult to pick up again after a break. When reading the story having a map would have been useful to understand the geography.
This was an enjoyable book, but it was a challenge to read in a month and many felt they needed to read it a second time.