Book Club?

[Amy Steinberg]

Anyone interested in starting a book club? And/or maybe a book swap ring???

[Shannon Thompson]

what a great job!!! I'd love to review books, I can't get enough of them =o)

[Patty Woodland]

I started reading the book last night.....it pulls you right in!

[Solsida]

I just picked up my copy yesterday (3.99 on the Barnes and Noble bargain table!). I read a little this morning. Seems like it will be a good book!

[Amy Steinberg]

I got mine a couple of days ago...it is very interesting. A friend asked me what it was about and I don't know how to explain it to her.

[Erica Blashill]

I was just thinking about this the other day and thought it would be fun. I'm glad someone else had the same idea!

I need to look back in the posts to see what the book is. I saw that someone else said they like historical fiction--it's my favorite too!

[rickimc]

Yes, I have looked through the posts, but am slightly confused as to what the book is and when it needs to be read by.

[Solsida]

Oops, I posted too high up on the chain, the book is listed in my post above.

[Solsida]

The book is The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell. (Sorry, I can totally see where we left you hanging!) Hope you join us, the more the merrier!

[Amy Steinberg]

O.k. Ladies I found the "Reading Guide" on the publishers website. There are 14 questions total and so as not to bombard everyone the first week of april I thought I'd publish a couple tonight then a few more in a couple of days, etc. I hope that is o.k.

Let the fun begin....

1. How do the Dickinson and Wharton epigraphs at the beginning of the book relate to and set the stage for the novel? In what way do they put the book in the context of a larger literary tradition? Are there other books or authors who seem appropriate for epigraphs for this book? Why?

2. Some of the earliest scenes Esme shares with the reader are those from her childhood in India. What do these scenes, particularly the ones on pages 4–8, reveal about Esme and her family? What do they reveal about their place in time and society?

Anyone???? (I gotta go look up the word epigraph first - LOL)

[rickimc]

For question 1, I am not sure about other books or authors apporpriate, but the whole time I am reading this, I keep thinking of the children's classic, The Secret Garden (probably partly because that is the play we are currently doing at work). Both books deal with family member deaths in India and then coming back to live with realitives, plus the last name of the protagonist of both books is "Lennox."

[Solsida]

Well, for question #1, it seems like Esme's female relatives should been embroidering the Wharton quote on a pillow. To be honest, I missed the epigraph until just now!

#2 I'll have to come back to this one, I have some thoughts, but I have a sense of what's about to happen (I'm a little more than halfway through) and I don't want to spoil it for anyone else, but clearly the mother is cold, proper, and concerned about appearances. I will say it's interesting how she shows the differences between the generations of women, from Esme's grandmother all the way down to Iris.

[Erica Blashill]

Sounds great. I'm in!