| Friday, 7th October at 8.00pm at Fran's |
Maggie O'Farrell |
The Hand that First Held Mine |
I liked the idea of these two women living in the same city, fifty years apart. Lexie and Elina have no inkling of each other's existence, but they hear each other's echoes through time. And, as it turns out, they are linked in other ways--in ways neither of them could ever have expected. |
| Friday, 4th November at 8.00pm at Jill and Robin's |
W. G. Seebald |
Rings of Saturn |
The Rings of Saturn begins as the record of a journey on foot through coastal East Anglia. From Lowestoft to Bungay, Sebald's own story becomes the conductor of evocations of people and cultures past and present: of fishing fleets, skulls and silkworms. The result is an intricately patterned and haunting book on the transience of all things human. |
| Friday, 2nd December at 8.00pm at Aline's |
Charlotte Bronte |
Jane Eyre |
A novel of high romance and great intensity, Jane Eyre has enjoyed popular success and critical acclaim ever since its publication in 1847. Jane's journey from a troubled childhood to independence - and her turbulent love affair with the enigmatic Mr. Rochester - electrified Victorian readers with its narrative power. |
| Friday, 13th January at 8.00pm at Janette and Richard's |
Simon Sebag Montefiore |
Jerusalem |
The epic story of Jerusalem told through the lives of the men and women who created, ruled and inhabited it. |
| Friday, February |
Diana Setterfield |
The Thirteenth Tale |
Angelfield House stands abandoned and forgotten. It was once home to the March family - fascinating, manipulative Isabelle, brutal, dangerous Charlie, and the wild, untamed twins, Emmeline and Ameline. But Angelfield House hides a chilling secret which strikes at the very heart of each of them, tearing their lives apart... Now Margaret Lea is investigating Angelfield's past - and the mystery of the March family starts to unravel. What has Angelfield been hiding? What is its connection with the enigmatic writer Vidia Winter? And what is the secret that strikes at the heart of Margaret's own, troubled life? As Margaret digs deeper, two parallel stories unfold, and the tale she uncovers sheds a disturbing light on her own life. |
| Friday, March |
Kathryn O'Flynn |
The News Where You Are |
Set in Birmingham, The News Where You Are tells the funny, touching story of Frank, a local TV news presenter> Beneath his awkwardly corny screen persona, Frank is haunted by disappearances: the mysterious hit and run that killed his predecessor Phil Smethway; the demolition of his father's post-war brutalistic architecture; and the unmarked passing of those who die alone in the city. Frank struggles to make sense of these absences while having to report endless local news srories of holes opening up in people's gardens and trying to cope with his resolutely miserable mother. |
The result is that rare thing: a page-turning novel which asks the big questions in an accessible way, and is laugh-out-loud funny, genuinely moving and ultimately uplifting. |
| Friday, April |
Jane Gardam |
Old Filth |
FILTH, in his heyday, was an international lawyer with a practice in the Far East. Now, only the oldest QCs and Silks can remember that his nickname stood for Failed In London Try Hong Kong. Long ago, Old Filth was a Raj orphan -one of the many young children sent 'Home' from the East to be fostered and educated in England. Jane Gardam's new novel tells his story, from his birth in what was then Malaya to the extremities of his old age. Brilliantly constructed - going backwards and forwards in time, yet constantly working towards the secret at its core - OLD FILTH is funny and heart breaking, witty and peopled with characters who astonish, dismay and delight the reader. Jane Gardam is as sensitive to the 'jungle' within children as she is to the eccentricities of the old. A touch of magic combines with compassion, humour and delicacy to make OLD FILTH a genuine masterpierce. |
| Friday, May |
Araminta Hall |
Everything and Nothing |
A gripping psychological suspense novel, from an exciting new talent. There's no such thing as a safe house... |
On the surface, Ruth and Christian seem like an ordinary working couple with two kids = and a home in chaos. As the cracks in their marriage widen, they decide to get their very own super-nanny, Aggie. Quietly efficient, she brings calm and order, and the children adore her. |
But why is Aggie so eager to gain their trust? Is there something sinister about her efforts to create the perfect family? And what is she really doing in their home? |
Everything and Nothing builds to a mesmerising climax in a story that is, at its heart, about thwarted and damaged love. |
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