Elma Turner book chat August
There is no set book or need to register, just come along and chat to others about what you've been reading lately.
We meet at the Elma Turner Library on the second Tuesday of each month, 10.30am.
Janice Hadlow The other Bennet sister
The first novel by this previously published non-fiction writer with academic credentials. I don’t usually enjoy Jane Austen, but I enjoyed this very much. A lot of description but loved that we got to know Mary the hitherto ignored sister in Pride and Prejudice. Here she moves to live with another family and really blossoms and meets her man.I would now like to see Hadlow write another in the style of Austen but with one of the men as the protagonist.
Sebastian Junger Tribe : on homecoming and belonging
A look at tribal society and how Westerners are attracted to them. An example is how war veterans after a war, miss the intimate bonds of platoon life when they come home and how this may contribute to post-traumatic stress. Junger also points out that for many civilians war is better than peace as is adversity and disasters which bring a community together.
This is a memoir about a young Orcadian ( Orkney Isles native) who leaves for London after school finishes only to get into a life of drug and alcohol addiction. The description of her life spiralling out of control is luckily at the beginning of the book and we go back there in Amy’s memory throughout, but the gem of the memoir is after she returns to Orkney at age 30 to convalesce. Now we get a very different Amy. She remains sobre and becomes very connected to nature, writing some beautiful descriptions of the bird life, the stars and landscape plus the myths and history of the place especially the tiny island of Papa Westra. Loved it. Also made into a film this year and about to be screened on 23, 24 August as part of the NZ International Film Festival.
Stig Abell Death in a lonely place
Former London detective Jake Jackson ( introduced in the first mystery Death Under a Little Sky) finds his life in the country threatened by a cold case from the past. It threatens to upend Jake’s new life with chickens, a lake, sauna and new love Livia the local vet.
Abraham Verghese The covenant of water
Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water follows a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this poignant beginning, the young girl--and future matriarch, known as Big Ammachi--will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants. A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself. Very long book and not an easy read.
Based in Australia with the Bundy family, The eldest daughter Rebecca goes missing after the last day of school. The narrator, Emma, the other sister, observes a big fight with their mother before Rebecca’s disappearance. The police are distracted by a local murder and don’t make much effort to find her. Sad seeing how this affects the parents. Unpredictable ending!
Brenda Peterson Wild chorus: finding harmony with whales, wolves, and other animals
Raised with an understanding of animals and living in a forest as a youngster Peterson discusses her connection with whales, bears, and wolves. There is an intriguing chapter about feral children raised by animals.
Six longish short stories and a novella set in New York City. One story, the Bootlegger is based on his own experience.
Lars Mytting The bell in the lake
Previously reviewed. This is the first of a trilogy. The first novel is set in a small parish, Butangen in Norway, 1880. Young, inquisitive Astrid is unlike the other girls in the secluded village at the end of the valley. She dreams of a life that consists of more than marrying, having children, and eventually dying from hard work in the fields. Kai Schweigaard has taken over the parish of Butangen, with its 700-year-old stave church. The old church is one of the few remaining examples of early Christianisation, with effigies of pagan deities carved into the wooden walls. And the bells - two sister bells forged in the 16th century, in memory of the Siamese twins Halfrid and Gunhild Hekne - are said to have supernatural powers.
Thoroughly enjoyed this novel. A landslide cuts off a farm where a group is secretly planting and cultivating vegetables to sell. A US billionaire also has an interest in the land and surveillance set up. Stories within the story. Unusual.
The court case that follows the shooting of a policeman by his son after years of abuse on the family. The viewpoint of the lawyer defending the minor ( only 14). Very enjoyable.
