Our next meeting is in November, month of remembrance, so we decided to read books themed around war and conflict - old and new. Here's a few of the books the group have decided to try:
The Greatcoat
By Helen Dunmore
Isabel Carey finds herself lonely and isolated after moving to Yorkshire during the winter of 1954. It's austerity Britain, and Isabel is adjusting to married life with her GP husband, who is frequently out on call. She spends much of her time alone, in rented accommodation that has come complete with a dour and creepy landlady. When Isabel wraps herself in an old RAF greatcoat found in a cupboard, she starts to dream. Woken by a knock on the door, she answers her door to an airman, and starts an intense relationship with him.
The Book Thief
By Zusack Page
This book is narrated by the character of Death. It's 1939 Nazi Germany, and he's watching Liesel, a nine year old girl. She's living with a foster family on Himmel Street because her family have been taken to a concentration camp. Liesel starts stealing books, and both the events of the war and the words on the pages, change her life, and the lives of her community on the street.
Valentine Grey
By Sandi Toksvig
The Boer War is at the centre of this book, and so is the British Empire. When a soldier goes to South Africa to fight, there's not only the conflict of war, but also class, gender and sexuality, because Valentine Grey is a woman.
The Garden Of Evening Mists
By Tan Twang Eng
Elizabeth has read this already, and loved it. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, it's Tan Twang Eng's second novel. It's set in Malaya around the Japanese Occupation in World War II. A young law graduate and concentration camp survivor becomes an apprentice to the only Japanese gardener in Malaya when she sets out to create a garden to the memory of her sister.
A Whispered Name
By William Brodrick
Moving novel of The Great War, highly recommended by Edith. Click here to read her review...
