Read Ahead

The Surgeon’s Daughter is actually the sequel to The Girl in His Shadow but members found it unnecessary to read the first book to enjoy the second as a stand-alone novel.

Joseph Banks (1743-1820) was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences.

Members were less effusive about this title than was the case with last month’s book. We found the stories of the women quite interesting

Members all gave this book 9/10 – unusual for us. We described it as uplifting, confidence-building, humorous, a good plot with several good subplots and great characters

Members were unconvinced by this novel. None of us liked the main character, Margot, and found her behaviour both professionally as a psychologist

Members agreed that reading this novel was enjoyable, like watching a detective show such as Midsomer Murders or Death in Paradise.

Members were delighted with this book, saying it was their favourite of the books we have read over the years and that they would read it a second time.

One member got sick of ‘staring up the fannies of women giving birth’ in this novel.

Members enjoyed this engaging, humorous story about the broke dairy farmer Tom Murray who decides the bank won’t have his house and burns it to the ground, but sadly manages to kill himself in the process.

Some of us found the book a bit slow initially and hard to get into. Others were keen to find out whether The Promise of the title is kept, given the self- absorbed characters in the novel.

Members at the meeting and those who wrote in generally enjoyed this book which they found interesting and different because of the author’s descriptions of the friendships

Those members who tackled this book found the writing rather hard going and at times repetitive but the subject interesting enough to press on to the end.

Members agreed you need to check your credulity at the door with this novel but they liked several aspects of it.

Most members enjoyed this entertaining history of domestic life in England and America. The author uses as an organising framework the history of his own house, an English rectory built in 1851.

This novel led to some interesting discussion, with members divided on whether it was a good read or not.

We liked this one for being a real page turner with an interesting plot, but we also all agreed that if you truly want to know about Nancy Wake, on whom the novel is based, you will have to read elsewhere.

Members almost universally gave a thumbs down for this book, describing it as too weird, too different, too black, too challenging, not funny, too anguished, too painful, too silly, too difficult and too avant garde to finish.

Damon Courtenay died at the age of 24 on April Fool’s Day, 1991, from AIDS- related illnesses.

This month it was almost unanimous. Nobody in the group liked A Spool of Blue Thread – except one.

Club members gave this book a rating of 8 out of 10 or higher, with most giving it 9.5.