OCFPL- Book Club March

This month's book was Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal. This one was a split book amongst the group. Some members enjoyed it and others did not. We enjoyed the main character, Maggie Hope, after all who doesn't like a strong female character who had gumption. What got us divided about the book was some of the twists and surprises of the story and how they happened. Some of us agreed that they were just too unbelievable and just made no sense. Other enjoyed those twists and turns, and it gave the story the excitement it needed.

Overall, we liked the history and time frame of the story. There is something about London in the 1940's on the brink of war that just makes any book a bit more intriguing. It is just seemed off with some of the side stories and characters in the book about how some felt flat while others were stronger.

Score for this title is 3 books and a short story out of 5 books.

If you would like a copy of the book, follow the link below:

https://oceancity.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1437459153

Join us next at our next meeting on April 21st as we discuss The Library at the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoy.

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Comments

Fault Lines by Nancy Huston

Shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 2008, Fault Lines takes an interesting narrative approach and follows four generations of a family counter-chronologically. Family secrets start to unravel as each generation's character is revealed. We first meet 6 year old Sol, a coddled spoiled brat of a character, as he and his family are on a trip to Germany to revisit a long-lost relative. Huston then introduces the reader to the other generations; his father Randall, grandmother Sadie, and great grandmother Erra. As each character's story unfolds, you can see how each narrative weaves into one. The last section, which centers on Erra, is the most eye-opening one and is the final piece of the novel's puzzle. I don't want to say much more because it'd be giving too much away, but suffice it to say, it's a pretty intense (and sad) read.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

A short but very moving tale about a man who uncovers the awful truth about a former lover. Michael is 15 when he first meets Hanna, who is 36. Despite the creepy age difference, the two become lovers, though Michael is far more captivated by the mysterious and distant Hanna than she is to him. Their affair is all too brief and one day, Hanna just disappears. Years later, Michael unintentionally sees Hanna as the defendant when he is observing a court case for law school. As Michael slowly learns about Hanna's horrible past, he must struggle to accept the question - if he loves (or loved) a monster, what does that make him? There is redemption in the end, but it's very bittersweet. And of course, they made a movie out of this one. If the weather is decent, perhaps I'll go see it this weekend - Kate Winslet is supposed to be fabulous.

"A Banquet of Consequences" by Elizabeth George

Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley mystery series is probably one of my favourites in the style of English detective stories. It's the series that I keep returning to, when I slip into a reading rut and can't focus on reading something new, particularly to the first book in the series A Great Deliverance. While there are lots of decent mystery series circulating now, the first book in George's Lynley stories has a certain grim insistence about it that keeps drawing me back to it. And in her latest contribution to the series, George has written a story that in many aspects parallels her first--however, these parallels did not become immediately apparent until the climax of the story. One of the things that I like best about Elizabeth George's writing is that she realises that a lot of times, the supporting characters can have better story potential than the main title character. She uses this to her advantage in almost all of the Lynley seri...

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