May 2026
Love and War in the Apennines by Eric Newby
An autobiographical account of Newby's POW experiences in Northern Italy and the bravery of the peasants who tried to hide him once he'd escaped. A mixed reception from our group, mainly to do with his journalistic style rather than the subject matter.
April 2026
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
A tender recollection of raising a leveret found in a field by the author. Some charming episodes with vivid descriptions , drawings and information about the hare in mythology and literature.
March 2026
Ambergris by Bryony Collins
A psychological family thriller set in Wales with a very direct writing style , similar to American detective fiction. We had divided views on this book ; a good discussion.
February 2026
TheThe Spy and the Traitor by Ben McIntyre
A true story about the double agent Oleg Gordievsky who was smuggled out of Russia by a dedicated MI6 team via Finland. Despite the amount of detail, the author made this a gripping narrative which we all enjoyed.
January 2026
The Women by Kirsten Hannah
This was a ' Marmite' book for our group. The story centres around Frances Mc Grath ( Frankie ) who serves as an army nurse in the Vietnam War, how she is treated when she returns and the problems she encounters. Profoundly moving for some of our group but a bit too explicit for others it certainly gave us an insight into the Vietnam War and the context of American life at the time.
December 2025
By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
Based on meticulous academic research this book is a fictionalised account of the life of Emily Bassano who , it is proposed, wrote many of Shakespeare's plays. Emily's story is interspersed with that of Melina Green a modern day playwright who is struggling with gender bias in the theatre. We found the academic basis of the book interesting but some of the writing was a bit laboured..
November 2025
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
Not a favourite read with everyone in the group this novel follows the fortunes of Sabrina Carpenter, avid reader and junior MI5 operative. Lots of narrative and plot devices including the unreliable narrator and stories within stories as well as an insight into the literary world.
October 2025
What A Way to Go by Bella Mackie
The second novel by this author published just this year .Based on the lives of the wealthy but dysfunctional Wistern family this is a social satire with an unusual twist : those characters who have died can hear what their family are saying about them. Overall we had a mixed response to this book but liked the touches of verisimilitude with the 'true crime' blogger, arguments about inheritance, crooked fund managers and a 'running away fund' - all things we have read about in the news.
September 2025
Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A love story set in 1960's Nigeria against the backdrop of the civil war. This stimulated a mixed reaction from our group. Some of us found it readable and interesting, others of us found it difficult and struggled to finish the book. However we all felt that we'd learnt more about a time and place in history we were ignorant about and that sadly history repeats itself
August 2025
Odd Boy Out by Gyles Brandreth
Most of us are familiar with Gyles Brandreth from his writings and TV appearances but this autobiography mainly covers his family history and younger years with some mention of his time at Oxford and his theatrical pursuits. That he could claim to be 'special' was undoubtedly true in his eyes; whether, outside his immediate family others would agree is debatable.
July 2025
Gentleman and Players by Joanne Harris
A psychological thriller published in 2005 but set in the 1960's world of education and dealing with issues such as social class, coming of age and revenge this book had a mixed reaction from the group. With a large cast of characters and narrated from a va.
June 2025
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
This book was enjoyed by group members who had a background in science fiction, others of us found some themes a tad far fetched. This book, which is set in Ibiza, examines themes of conservation that we could all relate to particularly those of us that had recently seen David Attenborough's film 'Ocean' or are familiar with the sea grass meadow in Shell Bay. While enjoying the epistolary format the underwater alien presence that gave selected people superpowers seemed less credible. Why not read it yourself and see what you think .
May 2025
Conclave - by Robert Harris
This was was first published in 2016 and extensively researched to give his readers an insight into the conclave process. This proved not only instructive but very timely as we were reading the novel as the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis was taking place. The group members wwere fairly evenly split as to whether they preferred the novel or the recent film , but all enjoyed the read.
April 2025
Lessons in Chemistry - by Bonnie Garmus
Set in 1950/60's America we loved this 2022 novel for its main character Elizabeth Zott, a research scientist who struggles to get recognition for her academic work and later works as a presenter on 'Supper at Six' where she presents cooking as a science lesson and takes her audience seriously. Funny and at the same time moving the plot is multi stranded which we all liked. The book prompted discussion about our own working lives and the differences between living in the UK and America.
March 2025
No Son of Mine by - C L Swatman
A psychological thriller, this novel gripped some of our group with the page turning plot but was disliked by others due to its direct style. In addition to the subject matter - put simply, the nature versus nurture debate, our discussion led onto a consideration as to what makes a good thriller with discussion of novels by Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz and P.D. James amongst others.