In the summer she is sent to work for the local vicar’s invalid wife…. A scrap of a thing with a sharp tongue and hair the colour of milk, Mary leads a harsh life working on her father’s farm alongside her three sisters. 1831 and fifteen-year-old Mary begins the difficult task of telling her story. An absorbing book, at times painful reading, set in the midst of the 1918 flu epidemic in Dublin.ġ November – Choose either one of the following books to read. Single mother Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant chemist in a man’s world-1960s America-as she becomes an unlikely cooking-show host and the role model her daughter deserves.Ĥ October – The pull of the Star by Emma Donoghue. Set in the heyday of the Suffrage movement, this quietly gripping tale of a lexicographer’s daughter who starts compiling her own dictionary out of words deemed ‘less important’ is a poignant exploration of love, tenacity and the ownership of language. The dictionary of lost words by Pip Williams. A charming, irresistible debut novel set in London during World War II about an adventurous young woman who becomes a secret advice columnist-a warm, funny, and enormously moving story.Ħ September – This month choose from two books you can read or both if you so wish. The book recounts a tender story of love and friendship between a teenage miner and an eccentric older woman.Ģ August – Mrs Bird by A.J. Set during a blazing summer in the wake of the Second World War.

A rich, magical tale of belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal.ħ July – The Offing by Benjamin Myers. Set in the flat and threatened fenland landscape, where the sky is dominant and the sea lurks just beyond the horizon, these delicate, dangerous, and sometimes deeply funny stories tell of things buried and unearthed, of familiar places made strange, and of lives where much is hidden, much is at risk, and tender moments are hard-won.ģ May – The Island of Missing Trees By Elif Shafik. An original memoir prompted by the author’s daily journey by bus from East Dulwich to the BBC.ĥ April – This isn’t the sort of thing that happens to someone like you. The author brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de’ Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court.ġ March – Between the Stops by Sandi Toksvig. Interested to Join: Contact Lynette at Upcoming books:Ĥth January – This month we discuss the books we have read over the Christmas period and books from the book swop.ġ February – Marriage Portrait by Maggie o’ Farrell. 7.00-9.00 PM.Ĭost £26 a year payable to West acre Theatre. We meet at West acre Theatre the first Wednesday of the month.

Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar