For this month, the book was generally liked by all. The ratings ranged from 4 to 5. A couple people felt like it was slow at some points when discussing Sarah and her speech impediment, but no one disliked the book. That's good for us! The discussion ranged from women's issues in the 1800 to current day, slavery issues that have lingering effects in present day, and family relationships. We liked the strong women in the book, and thought it was a shame that our history books don't include the stories of these two sisters and other strong American women. I'm probably missing a few things, but it was a good discussion.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
The Secret Keeper-Review by Pat
With a smaller group than normal, five of us were at the meeting to discuss “The Secret Keeper”, by Kate Morton. The ratings ranged from 3.5 to 4.0 with an average of 3.70. Despite the higher ratings, part of the group mentioned they would not read the other books the author has written. Some of us found the writing style to be a little drawn out and too descriptive in areas while others liked the more intricate detailed information.
The book’s main characters are Vivien, Dolly and Jimmy (of course, Jimmy is the love interest between the two women). The book starts with Laurel at the family’s England farm for her mother’s 90th birthday. Laurel searches into her mother’s past for answers to a murder she witnessed by her mother back in 1961, over 50 years ago. The story goes between the pre WWII blitz in England to the 1960’s to 2011 and we liked the writing style moving between the past and the present. Laurel’s two sisters in the story added no value to the story line but everyone enjoyed the relationship that Laurel and Gerald shared. Our group appreciated the book’s multiple sub-plots, twists and turns that were presented along with the big surprise ending. None of us guessed the ending where Vivien switched her identity for Dolly’s when Dolly died.
During our discussion, many of us had different interpretations and inferences drawn about events that occurred in the book (i.e. the arrival of Henry at the end of the book and if he knew that it was Vivien he was going to see or Dolly). Readers often assumed something about a character only to find out later that the character is not as they appeared. “The Secret Keeper” offers tragedy, deception, jealousy and romance blended with a mystery plot throughout the book. Some in our group didn’t feel like the book was realistic while others thought the events could occur as written.
About the Author: Born 1976 – 39 years old. We all thought Kate Morton would be from England but she was from Berri, South Australia, however, she had spent some time in London in the summers. She holds a B.A. in English literature, a Master’s degree in Victorian literature from the University of Queensland and is currently working on a PhD program researching contemporary novels that incorporate aspects of gothic and mystery fiction. Kate Morton is married to Davin, a jazz musician/composer and they have two sons.
Call The Midwife-Review by Pam B.
In addition to eating, drinking and salacious talk (thanks Jimmy Fallon) we discussed "Call the Midwife." Now, I have to admit that after a couple of drinks and without taking notes (my excuse...it was dark) I may not remember every detail. I do remember that most everyone loved it and thought it was a "delightful" book. It was easy to read and was perfect for our summertime meeting.
At the age of twenty-two, Jennifer Worth leaves her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in London's East End slums. You are told astounding stories about the author's years working at the Nonnatus House Convent in the Docklands during the 1950s.
It was well written and full of insight into human nature. Most of us had little knowledge about this time and place in history and loved that the book taught us so much about it. This book was touching, funny and fascinating. It was an unforgettable story of the joy of motherhood, even in the worst of circumstances.
I recommended this book because I love the PBS tv series and wanted to see if the book was just as good. I was not disappointed! At least a couple more of us had seen the tv series and thought that it followed the book very well. If you are interested, the tv series is available on dvd at the library and also on Netflix.
Most of us agreed that it was one of the best books we have read and the average rating was a 4.3
Pam
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