Category Archives: WTB Book Club
Regeneration – Pat Barker
Set in 1917, army psychiatrist William Rivers main task is to ‘regenerate’ the shell-shocked soldiers sent to him at Craiglockhart Hospital. It’s the perfect Catch-22 situation. In order to be sent back to the front, Rivers has to sign the men off as mentally fit to be there, but would anyone in their right mind […]
Continue readingThe Other Mother
Above all, The Other Mother by Jen Brister is a fun read. If anyone can make ranting a comedic art then Jen Brister is your woman. Secondly, it is refreshingly down to earth: no sanctimonious, idealised Perfect Mother scenario here: far from it. Jen’s take is that parenting is hard; and you will get it […]
Continue readingEmilia
Emilia by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm is a fine piece of feminist theatre, a call-to-arms, which also happens to be informative, funny, thought-provoking, sad and life-affirming, and if you’re a woman, highly relatable. The Emilia in question is the daughter of immigrants, the ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets, brought up to be a courtesan at Elizabeth […]
Continue readingThe Memory of Water
In this play by Shelagh Stephenson, three squabbling sisters reunite for their mother’s funeral in this comic tale of inter-family relations. The play underscores how subjective memories can be: different people remembering different things and/or remembering the same events but often differently. The three sisters in question are Mary, a doctor, desperate for her married […]
Continue readingCase Histories
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson is more ambitious than your average crime novel. It’s no simple whodunit. The focus of much of the novel is on those who are left behind to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. The novel asks a question that Brodie later asks himself: What do you do when […]
Continue readingMy Year of Meats
My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki is an enjoyable read which will also provide you with plenty of food for thought. Brilliantly written, not least because of the way Ozeki blends the various strands of the novel together. Its heroine is the Japanese-American Jane Takagi-Little. We first meet Jane, unemployed, on her uppers and […]
Continue readingHomegoing
Homegoing, written by Yaa Gyasi, is so beautifully and skilfully written it’s hard to believe this is her debut novel. Homegoing is a historical novel whose sweep of history is breath-taking in its scope, featuring wonderfully drawn characters and giving a voice to those whose story is rarely told. The catalyst is the fates of […]
Continue readingOh You Pretty Thing
VG Lee’s collection of short stories is a fantastic read. Beautifully written, eclectic in subject matter, they range from life in small town Idaho in the 19th century to two friends on a shopping trip to Bluewater. What is consistent throughout, however, is the subtle and engaging way each story is told. It’s evident that […]
Continue readingThe Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
Set mainly in Edinburgh, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell is told from the perspective of three women, the eponymous Esme Lennox, her sister Kitty and the granddaughter, Iris. It is masterful storytelling of the first order, as O’Farrell intertwines their stories as if they were pieces in an overarching jigsaw puzzle. […]
Continue readingMy Sister, The Serial Killer
Set in Nigeria, My Sister, The Serial Killer grabs you from the start with its intriguing premise of two sisters, Korede, the sensible, older sibling, constantly coming to the assistance of her younger and much more attractive sister, Ayoola who has a nasty habit of murdering her boyfriends. If that’s not bad enough, things become […]
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