Book Club 15th May: Corsets, Camouflage, Pilgrimages and Sweet Polly Oliver

Lovely treats courtesy of Frances

We convened for our May meeting at Frances' house, where the evening was helped along by   some lovely nibbles baked by Frances. 

The first book we discussed was 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry' - this was a popular choice. It was compared to the '100 Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared', a previous Book Club read, in that both books involve someone going on a sort of journey of discovery. We thought parts of it were very touching, in particular the way that Harold and his wife had grown apart over the years and Harold's visit to his friend Queenie in Hospital at the end of his pilgrimage was also quite poignant.  

Some of us found Kate Adie's 'Corsets to Camouflage' quite dry, more like an academic text, but we also thought it was interesting and informative. We were surprised how prevalent it was that women would pretend to be men, prompting two members to burst into song, treating us to a rendition of 'Sweet Polly Oliver'. Click the symbol on the picture to hear it. 

Not one of our members, but you get the idea. The first song for the proposed singing group, perhaps? 

Only one member had read 'Down and Out in Paris in London' as yet. It was found to be interesting, but more of a series of anecdotes than a story as such. There was an interesting part towards the end of the book where Orwell discussed slang terms used by tramps in the 1930s and it was interesting to see which words continued to be in use today and which had completely disappeared. 

As for 'Jambusters', about the history of the WI, one member is partway through it and finding it very interesting so far. 

The continuing saga of 'The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass'...... it has proved difficult for members to get hold of this book, so at each meeting there are one or two more people who have managed to read it. The consensus last night was that it is very funny (except for one member who shall remain nameless, who couldn't get into it, but promises to try again!) 

Some members had been to an author talk at Eastbury House recently, a new venture by Eastbury that looks promising as they have some more author talks lined up, 'The Virgin Queen' and 'Blood Sisters'. Click here for details of times, etc, and other events at Eastbury House

As always, our 'book discussion' veered off into all sorts of other areas. We talked about why it is that although we have lots of modern conveniences these days, life seems to be busier than ever. One member said whenever she visited her parents they would be asleep in the armchair in the afternoons. It seems the pace of life was much slower years ago. 

Kindles at the ready!

We have chosen four books for discussion again, and we put them a loose order to try to read them in if we can. As always, we don't expect everyone to read everything, it is just to give some variety and choice. If you click on the name of the book, it will take you to the item on Amazon, where you can read about each book. They might be cheaper used from Amazon, or from Play.com, or do what I do and order them all from the library. Even cheaper. 

1. Lady Susan by Jane Austen - currently FREE on Amazon for Kindle, or you can get the Complete Works of Jane Austen on Kindle for 49p
2. The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Simon Mawer
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extance 

Our next meeting will be on 10th July at Sue's house. Don't forget, anyone who can't make it to meetings and would like to read along with us is more than welcome and can start or join in discussion in the Book Club section over at the First Ladies forum. 

Books, a cuppa, nibbles and good company

See you next time!