Category: Wenvoe Page Turners

“The Women” by Kristin Hannah

 

“The Women” by Kristin Hannah

The first part of this book follows Frankie McGrath leaving her sheltered life, to become an army nurse in the Vietnam War. There is an emotional description of the gruelling conditions in the Evac hospital and the powerful friendships that developed between staff members. When she is transferred to a hospital closer to the front, conditions are even worse.
The second half of the book covers the difficulties Frankie meets on returning home – abuse from the public for Vietnam veterans, lack of recognition for the nursing skills she had developed, family rejection. Frankie suffers from PTSD but is unable to access help from doctors or the Vietnam Veterans’ Association. Her nursing friends from Vietnam support her. Several readers would have preferred more about these friends and less about Frankie’s romances. The book ends on a happy note welcomed by some, but too farfetched for others.
A good book makes you think. This book inspired many to research more about the Vietnam War, and reconsider what we knew of it in the 70s. It raised issues of women’s rights, racism, government misinformation and the horrors of war.
We would recommend it to others; score 9/10.

“Gabriel’s Moon ” by William Boyd

 

“Gabriel’s Moon ” by William Boyd

 

Gabriel’s Moon by William Boyd was met with mixed reception by the group being thoroughly enjoyed by some but others felt that it was a disappointing read and wouldn’t recommend it.

The main character was a travel writer who somehow became embroiled in espionage and managed to gain entry to several different countries becoming involved with historic events such as the assassination of Lumumba in the Congo. As such there was a mixture of fact and fiction in the book.

There were themes in the book of the main character’s relationships with women – among others his psychoanalyst, the woman who became his ‘handler’ – his brother and contacts made in the field, while at the same time he was dealing with the childhood trauma of losing his mother in a fire. There were a lot of different threads within the book that many felt quite confusing.

Some felt the book was well written with good description of places visited but others found it ‘bitty’ and confusing with no real theme to the story.

The ending was ambiguous but this is the first in a trilogy so any loose ends may become clearer in future books.

One of the group has read a number of books by William Boyd and felt that the story followed previous themes.

Overall, the book was given a score of 5.

“Perfect” by Rachel Joyce

 

“Perfect” by Rachel Joyce

Rachel Joyce wrote the bestselling novel of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, so the Page Turners had high expectations for another of her novels, “Perfect”. Perfect tells the story of two 11-year-old boys who plot to save their mother after she has a car accident; an accident she is not aware of. Class divisions, mental health, emotional abuse are some issues running through the book, culminating in a terrific twist at the end. Some Page Turners thought the book was a slow, unhappy, dreadful story with characters they couldn’t warm to or like. Others thought Perfect was a tragic, moving , well written novel with many characters who found themselves to be victims of their circumstances. It was scored a 6…so far from Perfect. What are your thoughts?

“The Phone Box at the End of the World” by Laura Imai Messina

 

“The Phone Box at the End of the World” by Laura Imai Messina

This novel is loosely based on a true story, following the Japanese tsunami that devastated Tohoku in 2011. Yui, a radio show host, and Takeshi who is a surgeon have suffered great losses in their lives, and the story follows their slowly developing relationship after an initial encounter at Bel Gardia where the phone box is situated. The concept of a wind phone is beautiful – a safe space where people can reveal their unspoken thoughts and memories to their loved ones, helping to heal their grief after loss.

Opinions were equally divided over who did or did not enjoy this book. The scoring was 6.5/10. Thank you Sandra for providing delicious eats and ripe plums from the garden.

“Orbital” by Samantha Harvey

 

“Orbital” by Samantha Harvey

Orbital by English author Samantha Harvey was winner of the Booker Prize 2024. The novel is beautifully written with distinctive and poetic prose. It covers a 24 hour period in the International Space Station as six astronauts and cosmonauts from America, UK, Japan, Italy and Russia hurtle through 16 sunrises and sunsets at over 17,000 miles per hour, 250 miles above Earth.

Their day is filled with individual tasks carried out with dedication and precision as they pass over and see the ever changing vistas of oceans, mountains, deserts and glaciers, a world without borders. They watch as a gigantic typhoon builds over the Pacific.

They have a daily exercise programme to offset the negative effects of the lack of gravity and at night they sleep floating about in their small claustrophobic cabins. We are given brief insights into the lives, histories and thoughts and learn how the cycle of daily orbits result in the loss of their natural sense of time.

This novel initiated a lively discussion and some very different reviews from the Page Turners. All agreed it was well written and thought provoking. Some were fascinated by the narrative and were of the opinion that any elaboration of the characters would have changed the whole tenor of the book. More negative responses described how they found it tedious and boring with no plot or character development, not enough human drama and too many lists and repetitive descriptions of scenes of Earth from space. Scores ranged from 4 to 10 and the overall score was 8.5.

Two Months’ Worth of Reports!

Two Months’ Worth of Reports!

“Less ” by Andrew Sean Greer

This Pulitzer Prize winner was boring, uninteresting and not at all funny. So said all ten of us Page Turners. Our score was the lowest yet of one out of ten. Less was clearly not more.

However, it was lovely as always to meet up together for a welcome cuppa and exceptional bara brith and brownies. Thank you, Nicola. You spoilt us

“Frank and Red” by Matt Coyne

Frank is a widowed older man who likes to keep himself to himself. Red is a six-year-old boy who is chatty and excitable.
Frank is a gruff, ill-humoured loner since the death of his wife, Marcie, whose “ghost” does her best to cheer him along or put him straight on a few things. His house and garden are now neglected, and he’s turned his back on the world. Then Red and his mum Sarah move in next door after Sarah’s divorce
Red hates the new house, it’s tiny compared to his old house, he hates his new school, none of the kids speak to him, excluding him at playtime, and one boy in particular is a real bully. It’s no better at home, no one to play with, and then there’s Frank, the grumpy old man next door who’s really mean.
The most unlikely of friendships, but somehow, two people who are decades apart in age, are thrown together by circumstance. What follows warms the heart to see just how the relationship develops. Frank and Red are new neighbours and complete opposites.
The group felt that it was an easy read with some laugh out loud moments and was sad and emotional. There were some issues that some members found difficult to accept. Firstly, why didn’t the teacher do more about the bullying of Red which was quite obvious as the story developed. The whole group questioned whether a six-year-old would have taken this difficult journey on the underground as he was trying to reach Frank’s son or would Frank have got away with driving on the pavement (which he did) trying to reach his son.
The story was heartwarming and uplifting but had varying scores between 5-9. The final score was 7.1

Many thanks to Jill our hostess for the afternoon who provided us with delicious chocolate cake.

“The Horse Boy ” by Rupert Isaacson

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“The Horse Boy ” by Rupert Isaacson

This book is a true story of a family who embark on an epic journey across Mongolia. The author, Rupert Isaacson and his wife Kristin had one child who was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. As their son, Rowan, grew older, the couple struggled to deal with and manage his severe tantrums and meltdowns, and in the book, they describe their feelings of anxiety, depression and exhaustion dealing with Rowan’s challenging behaviour but also their overwhelming love for their son. They consulted many doctors, trying to get therapies and strategies to help Rowan progress but were unsuccessful in finding any that had a lasting effect.

Rupert noticed that his son had a strong connection with horses and that horses had a calming effect on him. Rupert decided to find an alternative source of healing for Rowan and after extensive research, found that in Mongolia, the Shamans, who practice interacting with the spiritual world through trances for the purpose of healing, had a reputation for healing children with neurological symptoms.

Rupert is a journalist and arranged for a film crew to accompany the family on their travels across the country and to document their meetings with the Shamans and the healing ceremonies they participated in. This documentary financed this epic journey, and Isaacson records it all for this book.

Our book group agreed that the author had impressive literacy skills and wrote in detail; one member really enjoyed the descriptions of Mongolian history, the cities and the vast, beautiful countryside that the family covered in their quest to meet the healers. Concern was raised in the group about the rituals that Rowan and his parents all endured as part of the healing process, and we had a long discussion regarding whether this had a positive or negative effect on the family and Rowan’s symptoms. Many of the group said that although the author described the journey in great detail, this led to chunks of repetitive dialogue and the book became a challenge to read. This was another book that split the group in their feelings towards it. If you have an interest in alternative healing therapies and in particular the autism spectrum or want to know more about Mongolia and the Shamans, this may be a book for you to read.

“This must be the place” by Maggie O’Farrell

“This must be the place” by Maggie O’Farrell

The plot of this book is a love story between Daniel, a professor of linguistics and Claudette, a famous film star, who has decided to vanish from public gaze.

Each chapter is like a short story, introducing a new, believable character. By the end of the book, they have become entwined with the central pair. A variety of issues- alcoholism, severe eczema, infertility, severe stammer, separation from children by a divorced wife, stress of being in the public eye, are vividly described , as we meet this large cast of characters.

Although the story begins in a dilapidated, isolated farmhouse in Donegal, the characters take us to Bolivia, Sweden, Paris, Brooklyn, China, India and London. We cared about them, as they dealt with bitter divorce, secrets, remorse, miscommunication, grief and love.

Readers loved O’Farrell’s ‘rhythmic flow of language’ . ‘Beautifully written dialogue’ and ‘quirky writing’.

The time switches and large number of characters created a problem for several readers. But they felt that for this book was worth making the effort, to take notes, or reread chapters (or the whole book).

Score was 9 out of 10

Read Any Poetry Lately

Read Any Poetry Lately?

Have you read any poetry lately? Maybe not, as most people’s memories of poetry feature sitting in a boring English lesson, analysing verses and rhythms and learning lines to quote in an upcoming exam. So, when the Page Turners elected to read some poetry for the first time in the group’s existence, would this prove to be a challenge too far?!

Absolutely not! The group were given 10 poems by Mary Oliver to read. Mary Oliver is an American poet, born in Ohio, who published her first book of poetry in 1963, at the age of 23. Over the course of her long career, she received numerous awards and won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984.

Although some of the group said they didn’t like poetry (…those boring school English lessons!) and admitted that poetry wasn’t their “cup of tea”, everyone agreed that Mary’s poetry was accessible, full of beautiful imagery and very descriptive. Most of the selected poems were focused on the joys of nature: “an armful of white blossoms”, in The Swan; “they are full of gorgeous life”, in Starlings in Winter.

The favourite poem of most of the group was, Starlings in Winter, which describes a murmuration of the birds. Who would disagree with some lines from this poem:

I want to be light and frolicsome
I want to be improbable,
beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.

Go on. Spread your wings. Read some poetry! The Page Turners were glad they did!

 

Traditional ‘Lucky Dip’ At Christmas

‘Lucky Dips’ At Christmas

It has become somewhat of a tradition for a ‘lucky dip’ at Christmas for the Page Turners group. Everybody wraps a book and it is pot luck what you pull out of the hat. At our January meeting, members share their surprise gift.

This year was no exception with some members delighted with their find and others less so as gifts ranged from known and loved authors to short stories (as ever varied), to one person who was lucky enough to receive 2 books and one of them even had 2 books within 1!!!

A brief synopsis:

  • Maggie O’Farrell’s, “This Must Be The Place” was agreed to be read by the group for a future meeting as all had previously thoroughly enjoyed her writing.
  • “The Essex Serpent” by Sarah Perrin had been read by the group many years ago and was enjoyed by a new member.
  • “Cold Comfort Farm”, short stories by Stella Gibbons, whilst easy reading was recommended as a group read.
  • “The Sky Beneath Us” by Fiona Valpy, again described as a simple read but not recommended for the group.
  • “Ghost” by Robert Harris, whilst described as excellent by the reader, was felt not to be up to his usual very high standard of research and analysis.
  • “Burmese Days” by George Orwell didn’t go down a storm as the characters were described as unlikeable and uninteresting, the setting equally so.
  • “The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts” by Louis de Berniere was confusing initially and at times hilarious to read.
  • “The Woman on the Ledge” by Ruth Manseni, a thriller, was a great page turner;
  • “Mrs Harris Goes to Paris” AND “Mrs Harris Goes to New York” was great and the New York book built on her Paris adventures.
  • “Mystery Guest” by Nita Prose was described as written by an amateur Agatha Christie and not recommended for book club.

Once again we were fortunate enough to sample Babs’s Christmas cake which was up to her usual very high standards!!

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