The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams - February 26, 2024

Shirley was our host for this February 2024 meeting. Present were Beth, Carla, Colette, Linda, Marg, Marilyn and Shirley.  Betty was not at the meeting but sent her review to Shirley. We discussed Colette's book choice, The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. 

Pip Williams was born in London in 1969 to a Brazilian mother and Welsh father. She grew up in Sydney, Australia. Her first published work was at the age of 15, when she wrote a poem called Fifteen, and submitted it to a local magazine. She found out that she was dyslexic at the age of 17. In order to help his daughter, her dad gave her three dictionaries. Pip feels that this may be one of the reasons that she had such an interest in the compiling of the Oxford Dictionary. Ms. Williams has a PhD. In Public Health. She worked as an academic researcher and she feels it equipped her well to write novels. 

 

She and her family purchased a hobby farm and she began writing, leaving farming to her partner. The first book she wrote was One Italian Summer published in 2017 and popular in Australia.  She was inspired by the novel The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words by Simon Winchester, taking the part of this novel that dealt with the making of the Oxford English Dictionary as the basis for her new novel, The Dictionary of Lost Words that was published in 2020. It has been very popular worldwide and she has won several literary awards.  She has since written a third novel, published in 2023, The Bookbinder of Jericho. 

Our members, in general enjoyed the book and has a historical novel, found it interesting.  They did find, especially the beginning to be slow and tedious.  Most were surprised by the "unscientific" method that was used to make the dictionary.  The description of the scriptorium was quite interesting and added to our knowledge.  The description of the town of Oxford was particularly interesting to some of our members. 

Both Esme and Lizzie were well described and Lizzie, though illiterate was very smart.  The addition of the activities of the Women's Suffrage Movement was interesting and gave us information on how and when it began. The addition of this information, the description of the town of Oxford and the impact of World War I on Esme, Lizzie added to the interest of the book as a historical novel.  

Thank you Colette for presenting an interesting novel that generated a good amount of discussion. 

 

State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny - January 30, 2023

Marg was our host as we began our 25^th year of the Muse and Views Book Club. Linda, Carla, Betty, Colette, Beth, and Shirley attended as we met to discuss Colette’s book choice, State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny. In the book, the characters travel to Germany, Russia, Pakistan, Iran and is based in the U.S. so Marg took her cue from that and prepared appetizers to represent many of those options including beet bruschetta, a middle eastern platter, bratwurst with a beer sauce and we topped it off with ‘American as apple pie’.

We have previously read one of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache books so we were familiar with her writing but this book took a very different turn into political intrigue. One might assume that the book’s Secretary of State is based on Hillary Clinton however it was not. The authors did choose people close to them for their inspiration for each of the characters. We found that the co-authors Clinton and Penny mimiced the State of Terror characters of Ellen and Betsy as they worked together in solving the mystery.

We all found the inside look at the Secretary of State's office fascinating plus, of course, the thinly veiled jab at Donald Trump. One of the members found some relationship with the Joshua Boyle incident which happened while Hilary Clinton was Secretary of State. Joshua is the son of a then Tax Court judge.

Overall, the book was enjoyed by all. There were portions of the book that were perhaps a little too close to current events to be able to read without serious thoughts about our world today. There were lots of twists and turns to the story with travel and politics along with the mystery to keep interest alive. It was particularly interesting for our group of ladies of a certain age to see the middle-aged women being taken for granted as being ‘less than’ while proving that they are really ‘more than’.

Thank you, Colette, for choosing State of Terror for our first read of 2023.

Becoming - Michelle Obama - September 27, 2021

Present at our first meeting since summer are Betty, Carla, Colette, Jane, Janet, Linda, Marg, Michèle and Shirley.  The book to be discussed was Colette's choice, Becoming by Michelle Obama.

Most of us enjoyed the book and found that it was written as if she was talking to friends about her life. It was easy to read. Those of us who listened to the audio version read by Michelle Obama herself found it to be especially evident. She talked about her life as a child with her parents and brother, life on the east side of Chicago, the support she received from her parents and family, grandparents, aunts and uncles.  Being close to family and neighbours in a mostly black neighbourhood, when she went on to university and found herself in the minority, with few students who were black, it was difficult for her to participate in social activities.  We found her description of campaigning fascinating and it was obvious she did not enjoy it but she described how Barack, her husband relished the challenge of the race.  She described life in the White House a bit like living in a fish bowl.  Nothing could be done on the spur of the moment, everything had to be planned and their security detail was always present.

It was easy to admire her as a person; strong, energetic, kind, and supportive of her kids and her husband.  We would have liked to know more about life after the White House.  What were her plans? What is she doing now?  One member who read both this book and Barack Obama's book thought this one was more enjoyable.  We did find that there was some repetition in the book, about her dislike of politics and we found that she described many of life's experiences as black and white, or black vs white?

Thank you Colette for suggesting this interesting autobiography. 

Bernadette by Maria Semple - September 28, 2020

 Our September meeting was again via Zoom.  COVID-19 has not relented!  Present were Betty, Carla, Colette, Janet, Linda, Marg, Michèle and Shirley.  We discussed Colette's book choice Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple.  Ms. Semple is an American novelist and screenwriter.  She has written 3 novels and written scripts for television programs such as 90210, Mad About You and Ellen among others.

This novel is about a family living in Seattle.  Bernadette, an architect suffered a catastrophic event in her career when in Los Angeles and has been dealing with psychological problems since impacting her family, husband Elgin and daughter Bee.  Bernadette and Elgin promise their daughter anything she desires if she gets all A's in her last year of middl school and Bee chooses a family trip to Antartica.  The majority of the story is told through correspondance, mainly Bernadette's emails, notes and documents.   

Opinions from our members was quite varied, some enjoyed it, some saw it as "magical realism", some as a comedy with laugh out loud episodes.  Some found the whole book absurd and unrealistic and difficult to finish.  Many found it difficult to get into the story but it picked up after Bernadette disappeared and daughter Bee began to search for her.  We learn a lot about Bernadette's accomplishments and her downward spiral into agoraphobia.    

Part of the variety of opinions on this book was probably the effects of COVID-19 that has impacted all of our lives.  Some who have yet to see it might want to watch the movie that is apparently better than the book.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - September 23rd 2019

Our September meeting was hosted by Linda. We spent a wonderful half hour catching up on our activities over the summer. Present were Beth, Betty, Carla, Colette, Janet, Linda, Marg, Michèle and Shirley.  There was a nice variety of cheese, sausage and crackers along with of course, wine, coffee and tea and Linda had two types of cheesecake!

This month we discussed Colette's book choice, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, a classic detective mystery. Dashiell Hammett is often considered as the "dean" of hard-boiled detective fiction. He began writing when he worked for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.  He wrote not only novels, but also short stories and was a screenwriter.  He was a political activist and did prison time for refusing to name members of the communist party.

Most members enjoyed the book.  The Maltese Falcon was originally published as a serial in the magazine The Black Mask.  Sam Spade the main character and detective re-appeared in lesser known novels but became well known when the movie came out and Humphrey Bogart played Sam Spade. The style of the book read very much like a a script.  There is considerable description of the environment, what rooms look like, the style of a car, the clothes characters wore, how they held a cigarette, how they wore a hat.  There is very little about the thoughts or emotions of the characters themselves.

A couple of our members did not enjoy the book as much and though it was published in 1931, felt that women were type cast and not at all equal to the male characters.

Members however, appreciated reading a classic detective story giving us some context for more modern novels of the same nature.  

They Left us Everything by Plum Johnson - September 24th, 2018

The September meeting of Muse & Views was hosted by Michèle. Present were Beth, Colette, Janet, Linda and Michèle.  We were served some wonderful hors d'oeuvres, a fig and walnut spread, spicy olives, small rolls of salami and mini-pizzas, red and white wine of course.  Shirley's wonderful Pot à la crème was served after our discussion with tea for everyone.

This month's book presented by Colette was They Left us Everything by Plum Johnson.  This is a memoir that Ms. Johnson writes as she is emptying the family home after the death of her parents, her father and then her mother.  A process that she thought would take 6 weeks eventually took 16 months. She writes about the toll 20 years of taking care of her parents took on her life, the resentment she felt that it was left to her, the constant trips to the family home from her own home in Toronto to see to her parents needs and whims.  As she goes through each room of her family home, she catalogues everything and she describes life as it was growing up.  We learn of her parents' relationship, the ups and downs, her parents' characters and the impact of their many moves before they settled in the Oakville home.

All of us talked about our own experiences with parents and what they have left us.  Several of us understood her attitude before the death of her parents, the resentment she felt and appreciated the feelings she had while she was slowly going through the house, cataloguing, throwing away, selling her parents' possessions.  Some of us regretted not using the time before to allow our parents and older family members tell of of their lives and putting it on paper so it remains with us and our children and relatives.

We talked of all the articles and advice books that have appeared in the last years on how to deal with aging parents, illness, finances, how to encourage family members to downsize, to get rid of "stuff". Yet this memoir They Left us Everything,  shows how often parents gave us everything, family life, memories, our history.  Ms. Johnson came to appreciate the chance to relive memories of their family life as she cataloged, sold and threw out parts of her family life in the 16 months it took her to finally close the house and sell it.

Many of us saw the house itself as one of the characters as Ms. Johnson went through the house we were able to visualize it both inside and outside.  As she described family gatherings, weddings, parties that were held in the home and in the garden, we could "see" the home as it existed with the family.

We all enjoyed the book, found it brought back memories for some and gave some of us with living parents an new perspective, different that what is usual.  Books may give us ways of dealing with illness, downsizing, finances but our family memories are in our family homes and possessions they have collected.

Thank you Colette for a good recommendation that came originally from Sharon.

Meeting of September 25th, 2017

This is our first meeting since one of our founding members, Jolene, passed away.  We drank a glass of wine in her memory.  Members with us today are Beth, Betty, Carla, Colette, Jane, Michèle and Shirley.  Michèle served several cheeses and pâtés with grapes and figs, and with wine of course.  Naimimo bars, butter tarts and flourless chocolate cookies were served with tea and coffee. 

This month we are discussing Annie Proulx’s book, The Shipping News, Colette’s choice.  Annie Proulx, born Edna Ann Proulx in 1935 is an American author who began her writing career as a journalist.  She has written several novels and short stories.  Her latest novel is Barkskins.  One of her short stories, Brokeback Mountain, was turned into a very well-reviewed and received movie.  The Shipping News won several literary awards including the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  It was also made into a movie with Kevin Spacey, Judi Dench and Julianne Moore.  Ms. Proulx wrote The Shipping News while staying in a cottage near l’Anse aux Meadows in northwest Newfoundland.

The Shipping News is a story about a New York reporter, Quoyle, who decides to move to Newfoundland with his aunt after difficult family life overwhelms him.  The aunt has an ancestral home in Newfoundland and together with  Quoyle’s daughters they move and slowly renovate the home.  Quoyle eventually finds work as a reporter writing about the shipping news on the island.  As in many of her books, there is little joy in this story; characters who are mean spirited, sexual abuse is rampant and very little kindness is apparent. Certainly Quoyle is very protective of his daughters and eventually Quoyle and Wavey get together but it is left to the last 15 pages.  One of our members who has read several of her short stories that are dark and depressing, described this book as her « happy » book.  One member who recently read her newest novel, Barkskins agrees that The Shipping News is not as dark.

Newfoundland’s depressed economy as the cod supply diminishes and Quoyle and his aunt’s stories are influenced by the impact the economy has on the people of Newfoundland.  She describes well life as it is on the island; it almost felt like flipping through an album or a scrapbook, seeing bits and pieces of lives and events that eventually fit together.

Her writing style, did irritate some of us: very short sentences with no verbs, sentences with no subject.  However her descriptions of the landscape and the sea, the rugged beauty were very well done.  Her descriptions of the sea and the weather were full, beautiful and scary in some parts.

She captured well all the characters, the meaness in some of them literally jumped off the page.  Quoyle was a very sympathetic person despite being downtrodden.  He is an ordinary, not particularly attractive person, who copes and perseveres. He is a patient man and as the story develops Quoyle moves closer to a life that offers him satisfaction and love. 

There was a sense in the story from the characters  and descriptions of the pull where we come from has on us as we grow older, how a very strong sense of place stays with us even if we move away. 

It was a worthwhile read, thank you Colette for an excellent choice that generated good discussion. 

Meeting of September 26, 2016

This month's book was Colette's choice The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel. Present were Beth, Carla, Colette, Jane, Janet, Jolene, Michèle and Shirley.  Jolene was our host.  She had on the floor part of food she had prepared for us, as Odo liked it in the third novella of this book.  She also wore a Portugal t-shirt and had other momentos from Portugal in the house. As it happens also, there is a painting of a rhinoceros on the wall of her home reminding us of the reference to the fables  rhinoceros in Portugal. We can always count on Jolene to set the mood! Jolene had a very nice variety of cheese and crackers, my favourite spread fig and walnut and excellent chicken and pineapple skewers.  She served us parfaits of vanilla ice cream with pineapple and strawberries.

Yann Martel divided this novel into three parts in three different eras, a story called Homeless with Tomas in 1904,  the second story Homeward set in the 1930's with pathologist Eusebio and the third story Home set in the 1980's with Canadian Senator Peter.  All three men are dealing with grief, loneliness and the loss of their wives and in Tomas' case also the death of his son and father.  Chimpanzees are present in all three stories, in passing through in Father Ullyses' diary in Homeless, more directly in Homeward with Eusebio stitching a chimpanzee along with a dog and his wife into a dead man's body following the autopsy and very prominently in Home with Odo the chimpanzee as Peter's constant companion.

Yann Martel has written this book in the literary genre of magical realism.  The Merriam-Webster online dictionary describes magical realism as a "style incorporating fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction."  There are certainly incredulous incidences in Martel's stories and several allegories related to love, loss faith and religion.

As a group, we were certainly divided.  The majority did not like the book.  They found the stories and their themes difficult to understand.  What was the meaning of Tomas' voyage to discover the religious icon?  What was the meaning of the difficulties he had.  In the second story, several, who know the bible well, found many inaccuracies in the bible references and therefore the comparisons with Agatha Christie's novels seem to make no sense.  What was the meaning of such a strange autopsy and what did it mean that Eusebio sewed back into the man's body, the chimpanzee, the dog and the wife? In Home, Peter's relationship with Odo the chimpanzee could be considered weird and the end leaves us with many questions, what does it mean when Odo holds Peter as Mary held Jesus after the crucifixion.  It was not a book that they enjoyed and some finished feeling somewhat inadequate.

A few of us enjoyed the book but it really meant reading the stories without questioning the meaning of the allegories and suspending your disbelief.  We have one member who has decided to eventually re-read the book with the intention of understanding the symbolism and the references to religion and faith. We may eventually have a further discussion about this book.

Despite the divergence of opinion there is great camaraderie in our group and there was no difficulty in accepting everyone's opinion.

Meeting of September 28, 2015

Muse & Views Bookclub was hosted by Jolene.  Present were Betty, Colette, Jolene, Linda, Michèle and Shirley.  Jolene served smoked salmon and cheese on crackers, wonderful little meatballs and a quite wonderful vodka Mojito in honour of Russia.

The book this month, Colette's choice was Us Conductors by Sean Michaels.  Colette chose it because it won the Giller Scotia Prize in 2014 and the story has a historical significance.  Sean Michaels who now lives in Montreal, grew up in Ottawa and attended Glebe Collegiate. Mr. Michaels created a well-known and well regarded mp3 blog called Said the Gramophone that tracks the rise of new musicians and bands and is credited for opening doors for bands such as Arcade Fire and singers such as Basia Bulat.  Mr. Michaels has also written music reviews for The Globe and Mail, The Wire, The Guardian and the National Post among others.  He has also written travel articles and short stories. Us Conductors is his first novel.

Us Conductors is historical fiction inspired by the life of a Russian Inventor Léon Theremin and a musician Clara Rockmore. Among the many inventions credited to Léon Theremin, his most famous invention is the musical instrument the theremin.  The theremin is considered the first  electronic musical instrument.  It is often used as background music in series such as Midsomer Murders as it's sound can be eerie and project doom.

All members enjoyed the book especially because though the story is fiction, it gave us the opportunity to learn about the Theremin as a musical instrument, about Léon Theremin himself, though as a fiction not everything was true. We also learned about Clara Rockmore and her music and in the second half of the novel, about the Russian prison system.

The book was very well written, as a letter to Clara.  The writing style reminded some of us of a book we read previously Rules of Civility Amor Towles. The first half of this book takes place in the 1920's in New York, in bars and dance clubs as in Rules of Civility. 

We wondered about the title and Jolene as she often does found us a good explanation. To play the theremin you stand in front of the instrument with your hands in air and you move them through the electric current to make the musical sound, as a conductor. As to the "Us" it could be that in our lives we are all conductors.

We all felt it was a positive read and all of us looked up information about the theremin, about the New York Jazz era and about Russia, Léon Theremin and Clara Rockmore.

Meeting of September 22, 2014

The first book of our Fall season is The Orenda by Joseph Boyden, Colette choice.  Jolene is hosting and present are Carla, Colette, Jane, Janet, Jolene, Michèle and Shirley.  Jolene prepared salmon roll-up sandwiches with quinoa, maple cheddar cheese and a wonderful bison and foie gras pâté among other goodies, wine of course, coffee and tea.

Each year CBC has a Canada Reads competition to determine the Book of the Year. This year the theme was "One novel to change our Nation" and The Orenda that was defended by Wab Kinew, a journalist and aboriginal activist, won.

Joseph Boyden, born in 1966 in Toronto is of Irish and Métis descent.  He was educated at York University and now teaches part time at York and at the University of New Orleans. The Orenda is his third novel. His novel Through Spruce Black won the Giller Prize in 2008.  The Orenda is set in the 17th century in what is now Ontario and Québec and recounts the beginning of French colonization and the downfall of the Wendat-Huron Nation.  The story is told through the eyes of three people, Bird a Wendat warrior, Snowfall a Haudenosaunee girl adopted by bird and Christophe a Jesuit missionary (character based on canonized martyr Jean-de-Brébeuf).  The novel details the interactions of these three characters with the French.

All who read it found that the book was well worth reading.  Not only was it very well written, it also had well developed characters and a rhythm between the three voices thoughout the story.  All thought that there are some very violent scenes described in the book and some read quickly through those passages finding they were hard to read, but none felt that the depiction of the violence was an unnecessary part of the story. The novel also chronicles the impact of disease on the tribes brought by the colonizers and the impact of droughts on crops and the survival of villages.

The Orenda received some very positive reviews, touted as a classic and must read to understand part of Canada's early history.  Some however have criticized it saying that it gives a skewed vision of aboriginal nations as savages.  We all felt that it is certainly worth reading and an important book in English Canadian literature.

Meeting of March 26, 2012

The March meeting was held at Carla's home.  Wonderful brie cheese with a spicy pepper jelly, samosa and toasted asparagus bites were tempting.  Carla also served us a sticky toffee pudding that was sublime! Beth, Betty, Carla, Colette, Jane, Janet, Jolene, Michèle and Shirley were present.  We were missing only Linda who will be back next month!

We discussed Colette's choice Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James, a sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  P.D. James is well known as a detective and mystery writer from Great Britain.  Her books featuring investigator and poet Adam Dalgliesh are well known and loved throughout the world.  She began writing in the 1950's and published her first novel in 1962 Cover her Face. P.D. James, after the publication of her last mystery novel with Dalgliesh as the main character The Private Patient decided that since she had turn 90, she could indulge in her two loves, writing detective novels and Jane Austen novels.  The result was Death Comes to Pemberley.


In a note at the beginning of her sequel novel, Ms. James apologizes to Jane Austen for involving her characters in such odious subjects as murder and she says that Miss Austen would have probably responded that "had she wished to dwell on such odious subjects she would have written this story herself and done better."


Pretty well all our members have enjoyed Jane Austen novels and most also enjoyed this book.  However, one member felt a bit like Ms. James thinks Jane Austen would have responded.  P.D. James should have left well enough alone.  All thought that she did very well in capturing the voices, characters and atmosphere of Austen's novels.  There have been many sequels to Miss Austen's stories, not many that have been successful and  P.D. James certainly is more successful with this novel.  One of our members noted that Carrie Bebris' sequels that are written as murder mysteries are probably among the best.

Ms. James succeeded in keeping the suspense of this murder mystery.  None of us guessed before the end who had murdered Captain Denny.  She succeeded in pointing the finger towards others such as Fitzwilliams that we all suspected at one point in the novel or maybe Mrs. Bidwell?  It became obvious however, that it could not be any of Jane Austen's beloved characters, not even Mr. Wickham who was formally accused and brought to trial could be the murderer.  We did after discussion note that with twist and turns, clues are planted through out the novel pointing to the ailing young Mr. Bidwell. We wondered how realistic it could be that the young Mr. Bidwell, who was on his deathbed could have summoned the energy to be able to hit Captain Denny with enough force to kill.  However, it is explained away by his all encompassing desire to avenge his sister's "supposed" rape.

Sequels with stories and characters from another author's novel is certainly quite a challenge and we thought that P.D. James succeeded in integrating more "modern" aspects such as Georgiana's selection of a husband that she could do herself since she was of age and it was a new era. In a true Jane Austen story, Georgiana's choice would have not been hers alone.  Ms. James also described some of the differences in an investigation and trial in modern times and in the 19th century and this was appreciated, especially by our lawyer member.

There was some criticism.  We felt that Elizabeth's sparkling personality and independent spirit is missing in this novel.  We also wondered why Darcy seemed so unsure of himself and his choices, very unlike the self assured personality he displays in Pride and Prejudice.  Some felt that we had little insight into Elizabeth's and Darcy's relationship.  The only time they actually talked was in the Epilogue and they discussed what had happened back before their marriage.  Some felt that though Elizabeth and Darcy were characterized as excellent parents, they spent little time with their children, probably typical of that class of society in the 19th century.

All in all we were glad to have read this novel and appreciated the effort P.D. James made to make quite a successful sequel to Pride and Prejudice. 

Meeting of March 28, 2011

Our host this month was Carla and the book choice was Colette's Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson.  Betty, Carla, Colette, Jane, Jolene and Michèle were present. Carla had prepared a proper English tea for us,  fancy sandwiches, cucumber, radishes, cream cheese and tuna, without crusts and cut round and triangles, wonderful sandwiches and scones with clotted cream and jam. Of course we were also served a proper tea in a proper china tea set.

Before we begin discussion about this month's book, Jolene has a suggestion about the May book The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.  It is a voluminous book with many characters.  For those who will not be reading it in one or two long sittings, she suggests that you keep a record of the characters and their relationships.  This will help in remembering what has previously happened in the story.

Colette gave us some information about the author Bill Bryson.  He is an American writer who lived in Great Britain for several years.  He has written several travelogues such as this month's book, A Walk in the Woods and Down Under and books about science such as A Short History of Nearly Everything.   He is presently living in Great Britain.

We all found some parts of the book amusing, some of us more than others.  There is a theme of love of the country and its people throughout the book that is obvious.  His powers of observation are excellent that lead him to describe many anecdotes with detail that may seem trivial but end up by becoming important in the story. He describes his encounters in scottish pubs that reminded some of us of similar encounters with people in Scotland, an accent and expressions so particular to the Scots that it was very difficult to follow any conversation or answer their questions!  He comments that the British would make good communists, not because they would want other than a democracy but rather that they tend to accept what cannot be changed, what they have no choice but to endure without protest such as line-ups for the train or traffic on the highways.

In general most enjoyed the book and its anecdotes that made them laugh.

Meeting of February 22, 2010

This month's meeting was hosted by Betty. In attendance along with Betty were Carla, Colette, Jane, Janet, Jolene, Michèle and Shirley. Betty served some excellent cheese and vegetable rolls and chocolate along with a wonderful apple crisp.

This month's book, Colette's choice, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is a book originally published as a serial in the "All the Year Round" periodical in 1859-1960. It is considered to be one of the first mystery novels and a pioneer in the publication of sensation novels - tales of women woven around criminal activities. Mr. Collins was a friend of Charles Dickens who was the owner of the periodical.

The book was published in three-volume form in 1860 and along with its publication in book form came The Women in White perfume, cloaks and bonnets and sheet music of The Woman in White waltzes and quadrilles. In the 1982 a U.S. movie version of the book came out and in 1997 a British version of the movie was made. Andrew Lloyd Webber also created a musical in 2005.

The book presented some challenges for several members of our Muses & Views Book Club. The length of the book 645 pages, was difficult for about half of the members present to finish. However, some watched the movie that gave them a good idea of the plot and the characters. Michèle said that the 100 pages she did read gave her the desire to finish the book. Carla, decided to try listening to c.d.'s of the book on a trip to Toronto but the book, read by a person with a decidedly British accent and the description of Marian Halcombe's waist when Mr. Hartright first saw her in the drawing room, ".....her waist, perfection in the eyes of a man, for it occupied its natural place,...." was too much for both Carla and her husband. However, Carla did read the novel, borrowed from her brother, and enjoyed it, once she got past, Mr. Hartright's description of Miss Halcombe's waist.

All those who read it enjoyed the the narrative first person characteristic of the novel. Each person in the novel tells his or her side of the events and the story in their own words. This method of writing helped develop the characters in the novel. All who read it found the story engrossing and had a difficult time putting it down. The novel was a good suspense, and the ending was particularly gripping.

We had some discussion about the frustrations of the Victorian era, class, pre-arranged marriages and the plight of women, how little they could do alone and how much single women were dependent on relatives for their livelihood.

Colette wondered if this was a good choice for the book club, all said that there was a place for the classic novel and a look back at the writing genre of the past. We all thanked Colette for her choice. Jane provided us with two articles written by John Sutherland, The missing fortnight and Why doesn't Laura tell her own story?

Minutes of Meeting of June 22, 2009

We met at Shirley's home June 22 and fell in love with her new kitchen! In attendance were Shirley, Linda, Colette, Janet, Jolene, and Colette's guest Jane (who had originally suggested the book under discussion). We all enjoyed Mary Ann Shaffer's and Annie Barrows' book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Shirley served, among other treats, potato hors d'oeuvres, pork nibblies, and meringue desserts, all featured in the book.

Sergeant-at-arms Jolene brought the evening to order using a hammer (see p.48 of the book), and Colette followed up with background information on the authors and on 18th-century essayist Charles Lamb, whose literature was the reason the fictitious correspondence between the Dawsey and Juliet characters began in the first place. Colette noted that Mary Ann Shaffer had gone to Guernsey on a whim in 1976 and developed an interest in the fact that the Channel Islands had been occupied during the war. Ms. Shaffer unfortunately died a few months before her work was finished, and her niece Annie Barrows, an accomplished author in her own right, helped complete and polish the work and get it to print.

Everyone loved the style of the book and found it ironic that the author originally thought it would be easier to write a series of letters than a regular narrative. She discovered that to develop characters and keep each of their voices consistent were no small feats, but she was successful. The humourous description of people like Adelaide ("a woman too good for daily wear" p.125) and of chickens "with razor lips and back-to-back eyeballs" (p. 127) were all appreciated. Janet commented from personal experience that the postal system in England, at least in the late 80's and early 90's, was exceptional, and people wrote letters because telephoning was expensive. Others appreciated the fact that the history of the Channel Islands and the war were included as a backdrop to the story and that the premise of the book was a club not unlike Muse and Views in many ways, where books seem to have a "homing instinct, bringing them to perfect readers." (p.10) The happy ending meant Linda didn't have to give us an assignment to write an alternative!

To those who were away, we missed you. Of particular interest is the fact that our usual blogger Michèle is on a road tour and has even visited Stanley Park, a famous site in one of our recent book choices. As well, Beth sent regrets but suggested 84 Charring Cross Road as a suitable summer read, with an epistolary theme similar to tonight's book.

Enjoy your summer. See you back at Muse Sept. 28 at Colette's for discussion of Lisa See's Snowflower and the Secret Fan. Happy reading, Jolene

Meeting of June 23, 2008

We met Jolene's home last night for our final evening before the summer hiatus.  The book was Suite française by Irène Némirovsky, Colette's choice.

Colette summarized details about the author's family life, originally as a refugee from Moscow during the Russian Revolution.  She had a good relationship with her father but not her mother.  Ms. Némirovsky, a proflic and famous writer from an early age, married in 1926 and had 2 daughters.  Because of her Jewish background, she was arrested in 1942 and died in a prison camp a month later of typhus.  Her husband died in a gas chamber, and her nanny escaped with the children.  Suite française was published by daughter Denise some 64 years after being written, having been kept closed for a long time because the family mistakenly thought it was a diary too painful to be read.  The author received an award posthumously.  Many of these details are included in Appendix 2 and the prefaces in the book itself.

Most of the club ladies liked the book, though  there was some some ambivalence, especially on the part of a few who could not attend in person but gave me their comments.  We found it interesting that the author did not write about the events of WWII from her own Jewish perspective, but was successful in portraying the thoughts of so many others, including a memorable scene involving a cat.  The class consciousness in France was a topic of discussion, as was the flight from Paris of so many when the German occupation began.  For Jolene personally, the book gave her a context for her own childhood experiences on a Canadian Air Force base in post-war Germany.  The appendices also reinforced her feeling that family letters that have been preserved from those days are of real value in capturing history through the eyes of everyday people. 

Books read in 2007 - Choose your favorite!

BOOK CLUB - 2007

January – City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre

The story concerns a polish priest living in West Bengal, India, Stephan Kovalski, who is trying to help and understand life in a Howrah slum (across the Hooghly river from Kolkata) called Anandnagar (City of Joy). Among its various protagonists is the rickshaw puller, Hasari Pal who becomes a central figure in the novel. Despite the abject poverty and injustice, the inhabitants of Anandnagar display an inscrutable acceptance and celebration of life - an attitude that humbles fate and dignifies life.

February - Home to Harmony by Philip Gulley

Come home to Harmony, Indiana, a peaceful slice of small-town America, as Sam Gardner, Harmony-born and raised, begins his inaugural year as pastor to a new flock of old friends, family members, and outrageous eccentrics -- in this unforgettable place where earth-shattering events rarely occur, but small life-altering ones happen daily.

March - The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The book is the story of a 14-year-old girl who is raped and murdered. She tells her story from her personalized Heaven looking down as her family tries to cope with her death and her killer escapes the police.

April – State of Fear by Michael Crichton

State of Fear is a 2004 novel by Michael Crichton published by HarperCollins on December 7, 2004. Like most of his novels it is a techno-thriller, this time concerning eco-terrorists who attempt mass murder to support their views. The book contains many graphs and footnotes as well as two appendices and a twenty page bibliography.
Crichton, who spent 3 years studying the theme, included a statement of his own views on global climate change at the end of the book, saying that the cause, extent, and threat of climate change is largely unknown and unknowable. This has resulted in criticism by scientists as being inaccurate and misleading. He warns both sides of the global warming debate against the politicization of science. He provides an example of the disastrous combination of pseudo-science and good intentions, in the early 20th-century idea of eugenics. He finishes by endorsing the management of wilderness and the continuation of research into all aspects of the Earth's environment.

May - The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Wide Sargasso Sea is a 1966 postcolonial parallel novel by Caribbean-born author Jean Rhys. After many years of living in obscurity since her last work, Good Morning, Midnight, was published in 1939, Wide Sargasso Sea put Rhys into the limelight once more and became her most successful novel.
The novel acts as a prequel to Charlotte Brontë's famous 1847 novel Jane Eyre. It is the story of the first Mrs Rochester, Antoinette (Bertha) Mason, a white Creole heiress, from the time of her youth in the Caribbean to her unhappy marriage and relocation to England. Caught in an oppressive patriarchal society in which she belongs neither to the white Europeans nor the black Jamaicans, Rhys' novel re-imagines Brontë's devilish madwoman in the attic. As with many postcolonial works, the novel deals largely with the themes of racial inequality and the harshness of displacement and assimilation.

June - Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent  Lam

Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures welcomes readers into a world where the most mundane events can quickly become life or death. By following four young medical students and physicians – Ming, Fitz, Sri and Chen – this debut collection from 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Vincent Lam is a riveting, eye-opening account of what it means to be a doctor. Deftly navigating his way through 12 interwoven short stories, the author explores the characters’ relationships with each other, their patients, and their careers. Lam draws on his own experience as an emergency room physician and shares an insider’s perspective on the fears, frustrations, and responsibilities linked with one of society’s most highly regarded occupations.

September – The Memory Keepers daughter by Kim Edwards

Award-winning writer Kim Edwards's The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted family drama that explores every mother's silent fear: what would happen if you lost your child and she grew up without you?

On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down's syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this beautifully told story that unfolds over a quarter of a century in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by David Henry's fateful decision that long-ago winter night.
October - Perfume--the Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind,

An international bestseller, set in 18th century France, Perfume relates the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, "one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages".
Born lacking a personal odour (a fact other people find disquieting) but endowed with an incomparable sense of smell, he apprentices himself to a perfumer and becomes obsessed with procuring the perfect scent that will make him fully human. In the process, he creates perfumes—presumably based on pheromones—that powerfully manipulate human emotions, murdering 25 girls to take their scent.
The book features detailed descriptions of the techniques of scent extraction such as maceration and enfleurage.

November - Charles the Bold: the Dog Years by Yves Beauchemin,

Charles the Bold: The Dog Years is the first in a series of four novels that chronicle the life of Charles Thibodeau, a youngster from Montreal’s notorious east end. In this first volume, Yves Beauchemin takes us from Charles’ premature birth in October 1966 to his first term in secondary school. In the first pages the reader realizes that Charles is a special child and that his life is going to be far from ordinary. Although he is “born with a natural gift for happiness,” Charles’ childhood is overshadowed by tragic events. His mother never fully recovers from the birth of his younger sister Madeleine and both sister and mother die before Charles reaches the age of four. Left with his alcoholic father, Charles suffers from the domestic violence Wilfrid Thibodeau repeatedly inflicts upon him. One night the carpenter even attempts to murder his son, who then seeks refuge with the Fafard family.

References:

Wikipedia.com

Amazon.ca

Chapters.ca

Canlit.ca

Mdextras

2007-12-29