New Members Needed

Please try to recruit more readers for the Reading Group - we are losing another member who is leaving WBS - we need fresh blood!!

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner, was introduced to us by a member of another reading group. None of us had ever heard of this American writer and it was a really lovely introduction to this Pulitzer Prize winner’s work.

This was BBC correspondent Justin Webb’s pick on BBC radio’s book programme A Good Read recently, and he gives a thoughtful and appetite-whetting introduction to the novel which is still available on the iPlayer here.  It is the story of two long marriages and the sustained friendship which develops between the two couples, one wealthy, one poor, between the Depression and the 1960s. His characters are brilliantly brought to life, sometimes irritating, sometimes eliciting sympathy.   His writing is beautiful  - lyrical and almost elegiac; we felt that it is probably a book for older readers, who will enjoy the wit and insights and recognise some of the tacit compromises that long partnerships such as these entail.

Stegner develops a brilliant sense of place especially with his evocation of what Justin Webb calls the ‘North American tree experience’ in his descriptions of Vermont, where much of the novel takes place and he gives a great sense of the 20th century passing, without labouring the point.  Throughout the book is about the adults' point of view and their children are almost invisible.  Nothing really happens, but it is all the more wonderful for that.

The majority of us loved this book, others found it slow to get into, but came to really appreciate it.

It is one of the most rewarding reads we have had since this Group started -  “The best thing I have read for ages” said one of our most voracious readers – a high compliment.

Very highly recommended indeed!

Other books we discussed this week were:

• The Armchair Economist by Steven Landsbury – quite a struggle, but interesting.  Definitely not  as easy a read as Freakonomics!
• Housekeeping by Marilyn Robinson – beautiful language and writing - well worth reading
• My Animals and other Family by Clare Balding (a local reading group’s choice) - an easy read and one which makes you want to hear about the rest of her life after University.
• The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple –  the Indian Mutiny of 1857 seen from the ‘other side’,  through the prism of the last Muslim emperor’s life,  as British understanding and appreciation of Indian history and culture evaporated during the 19th century.  Fantastic history book.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 10 September 2014 at 12.30 at WBS Scarman Road, and we will be discussing Patrick Leigh Fermor’s A Time of Gifts.


*The cover illustrated is of an Australian edition and is more suited to the novel that the predominantly bright yellow photo you will find in stores in the UK, which is rather mis matched we felt!