Thursday, September 15, 2011

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Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad: The True Story of an Unlikely Friendship by Bee Rowlatt & May Witwit

This was recently serialised on Radio 4 and is about the close friendship via e-mail between Bee Rowlatt in England and May WitWit in Baghdad. May is a University lecturer who teaches Jane Austen and loves shoes, and Bee is a BBC reporter and mum of three. May's e-mails reveal the chilling reality of everyday life with her husband in a war zone. As the danger increases, Bee makes the life changing decision to intervene.

Available for loan from Onchan Library.

The Jane Austen Book Group by Karen Joy Fowler

‘In California’s Sacramento valley, six people meet once a month to discuss Jane Austen’s novels. They are ordinary people, neither happy nor unhappy, but all wounded in different ways, all mixed up about their lives and relationships. Over the six months they meet marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and, under the guiding eye of Jane Austen, some of them even fall in love…’
 This month’s book choice was quite a light-hearted read, greatly
enjoyed by some members but not so much by others. Those who were enthusiastic liked the style of writing, the humour, and the concept of having the characters choose ‘their own private Austen’ for each meeting, thus revealing something of their own personalities and private lives. Those who weren’t so keen found the characters un-involving, the plot slow and the precept unconvincing. We did all agree, however, that it was not a memorable novel, some members having read the book previously and not being able to recall much about it. We also agreed that reading the same author each month would NOT work for our book group!  Cath