Cornflower Book Group - September, 2013

 

    We've read 60 books, we've had a break over the summer, now it's time to begin our autumn reading.

    I hope that everyone who has read some or all of the Cornflower Book Group titles and taken part in our discussions so far will be keen to get going again and start a new book. For anyone not already familiar with the group and the way it works, it's a very informal set-up, open to all, involving reading one book every month and then sharing your thoughts on it - briefly or at length, just as you wish - by way of comments on the discussion post. Ours is a friendly group, and while our opinions on a given book will of course often diverge, when we disagree we do so in a good-natured, respectful manner.

   

    To begin the new season I've chosen Crusoe's Daughter* by Jane Gardam, a novel first published in 1985 and said to be the book of which its author is most proud (though she self-deprecatingly qualifies that by adding, "I don't know about proud..."); it's also the one the critics call her finest. It tells the story of Polly Flint and the 80 years she spends in a house by the sea on a bleak coast, the world of books her solace and obsession, and you can read the opening passage here.

    On Saturday, 28th. September, I'll put up a short post on the novel to get our conversation going, then it's over to all of you to join in and have your say. If you haven't taken part before but feel like doing so now, you'll be most welcome, and of course I hope all 'old hands' will return with renewed vigour and enthusiasm.

 

    *(For the benefit of anyone overseas whose local shops or libraries don't have Crusoe's Daughter, you can order it post-free here; it's also available as an e-book.)