Book Club Pages

October Book Club by Liz Dobson

We didn’t manage a meeting in September which was a real pity because the book we read was universally liked. More people read it too, mostly giving it 9/10 with a few 8/10. It was funny too. We had read Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Amazon says of it “Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with – of all things – her mind. True chemistry results. Like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show, ‘Supper at Six’. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (‘combine one tablespoon of acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride’) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy because, as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook, she’s daring them to change the status quo.” Most of us loved the book, the most eloquent of us, Amelia saying – “I absolutely loved this book, a really good plot and

an insight into the treatment of women in the home and the workplace. It really gave me an appreciation of what our mothers and grandmothers had to tolerate and the shocking and unacceptable treatment that so many women have received in the past. Things are definitely improving, but I believe there’s still a way to go. Out of interest, I’ve had a quick Google re. legislation. 1921-1970 – FA ban of women’s football. 1975 – Sex Discrimination Act. 1991 – The case of R vs R changed the landscape completely with marital rape finally made a legal reality.” Wish we could find another like that. For our meeting on Tuesday 4th October we have been reading The Promise by Damon Galgut which won the Booker prize in 2021 and isn’t at all funny. Our next read for Tuesday 1st November is The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller. Lessons in Chemistry is to be made into a TV series by Apple TV, something to look forward to. Last week a few of us took ourselves off to the cinema to watch Where the Crawdads Sing. A much enjoyed Book Club read a few years back. Such a satisfying ending.

November Book Club by Liz Dobson

After the wholeheartedly liked Lessons In Chemistry we went on to read the Booker prize winning The Promise by Damon Galgut, which was not so well liked. Set in the four decades of modern South Africa, starting with the last years of apartheid and proceeding through the optimism of Mandela and the Rugby World Cup, the corruption of Zuma and ending with the faint hope and promise of a new South Africa.

It is the story of the Afrikaans Swarts family. Ma, Pa, son Anton and daughters Astrid and Amor and begins with the family reunited for Ma’s funeral. Before she died Ma had elicited a promise from her husband to grant to Salome, their maid, ownership of the house she lives in on the family’s land. A promise he does not fulfil. Over subsequent family deaths the promise is still not fulfilled. Finally, after 31 years, the last surviving member of the family is determined to do something and presents Salome with ownership of the house she lives in. Salome’s son treats this gesture with scorn, insisting it has no meaning given how belated it is and the state of the house. Thus, could it be said, is the bequest from the Boers to their indigenous countryfolk paralleled. Not an uplifting read, but interesting of its time and place. I gave it 6/10 and others 4, 3, 1 and 0 some on a partial read. Few people read the book. The book club curse of downloading the sample and not liking it much I suspect. For 1st November we are reading The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller, for December Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell and for January The Lost Apothecary by Sarah

Penner.