“The Wall Jumper” by Peter Schneider (Germany) Favourite Quote Every story lacks something that the next one has; but then the next story is missing something from the one before. Maybe the story I’m looking for doesn’t exist. Synopsis Berlin before the fall of the Wall is a city divided, yet its ordinary residents find ways to live and survive on both sides. There is … Continue reading The Wall Jumper
“Disgrace” by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa) Book Club Favourite of Season 12 Review Although readers found the protagonist highly unappealing and they had difficulty engaging with Lucy and some of the other secondary characters, they enjoyed the book very much, describing it as extremely well written and rich. They felt it was a story with many layers needing a number of readings to fully appreciate … Continue reading Disgrace
“The Following Story” by Cees Nooteboom (Netherlands) Favourite Quotes ‘when women are out to get something, they are capable of mobilizing forces that men, for all their so-called strength of purpose, cannot match.’ Synopsis One morning Herman Mussert wakes up in a hotel room in Lisbon, where twenty years previously he slept with another man’s wife. Yet he is quite certain that the night before … Continue reading The Following Story
“Brick Lane” by Monica Ali (U.K.) Review Readers enjoyed this multi-layered book a lot finding that it brought the immigrant experience deftly to life. They liked the parallel stories of the two sisters, Nazneen who went abroad and Hasina who remained behind, and the insights into their different personalities. They warmed immediately to the protagonist, who they described as most personable. Her inner growth from … Continue reading Brick Lane
“Loving Sabotage” by Amélie Nothomb (Belgium) Synopsis The daughter of diplomats posted to Peking in the mid-seventies, our unnamed narrator charges about her tightly enclosed world on her ‘horse’ (bicycle) with the dictatorial clarity and loneliness of a warrior-philosopher. ‘From puberty onwards’, she announces at one point, ‘life is just an epilogue’. There, on the asphalt-playground-battlefield, she discovers her first love: six-year-old Elena, her very … Continue reading Loving Sabotage
“The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd (U.S.) Review Most readers liked the book describing it as an easy read. They got a good feel to both its location and historical setting (South Carolina at the time of signing of Civil Rights Act). They found most of the characters likeable warming to one or other of them depending on their own sensibilities and … Continue reading The Secret Life of Bees
“The True Deceiver” by Tove Jansson (Finland) Synopsis In the deep winter snows of a Swedish hamlet, a strange young woman fakes a break-in at the house of an elderly artist in order to persuade her that she needs companionship. But what does she hope to gain by doing this? And who ultimately is deceiving whom? In this portrayal of two women grappling with truth … Continue reading The True Deceiver
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan) Review For most of the group, it was their second time reading this book and all except one reader really enjoyed it. They were captured by the story of the two boys, Amir and Hassan, and loved the passages that develop the relationship between them. They found that the descriptions brought the scenes to life and they were … Continue reading The Kite Runner
Nicola's Book Club 