10th Anniversary of the Book Club
Our 10th Anniversary meeting of Book Club was
held on a lovely summer’s evening at The Whitaker. Having overstretched
ourselves at the previous meeting with 3 books we chose just one book
for review - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
This is the story about Marie-Laure, a blind French girl and Werner, an
orphaned German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try
to survive the devastation of World War II.
This was a popular choice we enjoyed the switch between the description
of Marie-Laure’s escape from Paris with her father and their relocation
to live with Etienne, a reclusive great-uncle in the walled citadel of
Saint-Malo; and, Werner who grows up to become an expert at building and
fixing radios. His talent wins him a place at a brutal academy for
Hitler Youth and then a special assignment to track the resistance,
leading him to Saint-Malo and Marie-Laure.
The book provided an insight into the issues faced by those living in
occupied France and the lack of options available for the youth of
Germany.
Other than Marie-Laure and Werner there were great characters and
storylines on the periphery of the main narrative.
The characters were well constructed and credible and the storyline
provided a different perspective on the lives of those caught up in the
War. Unlike most stories that cover this period the book enabled you to
feel a certain amount of sympathy and understanding for someone who was
in the Hitler Youth. It cannot be said that theirs was an easy choice to
make because the reality was that they had no choice.
There was no hesitation in recommending this book.
It was at this point in the evening when we were discussing our choice(s)
for next meeting that things went a bit ‘pear shaped’. It cannot even be
blamed on the alcohol because we’d only had one at this stage.
Fortunately, the one book we all thought we had chosen was A House Full
of Daughters by Juliet Nicholson. However, some thought we had
additionally chosen A Seaside Affair by Fern Britton, others The House
by the Sea by Santa Montefiore and some even Everyone Brave is Forgiven
by Chris Cleave. Of course, we only discovered this misunderstanding
when we started our discussion at the October meeting.
We were all thrilled when Denise surprised us with these signed photographs and grateful comments from some of the authors who wanted to wish the Cribden Avenue Book Club well for the future!
A big thank you to our authors and to Denise for spreading the word.
Find out more about our Book Club here