The book club has asked me to publish the list of books that will be voted on for next year at book club this month.
New ones will be added to it from time to time.
Thanks, Louise
by Abraham Verghese
Alias Grace
by Margaret Attwood
The story is about the notorious 1843 murders of Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery in Upper Canada. Two servants of the Kinnear household, Grace Marks and James McDermott, were convicted of the crime. McDermott was hanged and Marks was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Although the novel is based on factual events, Atwood constructs a narrative with a fictional doctor, Simon Jordan, who becomes personally involved in the story of Grace Marks and seeks to reconcile the mild mannered woman he sees with the murder of which she has been convicted.
Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold
by C. S. Lewis
It is a retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche, which had haunted Lewis all his life. The first part of the book is written from the perspective of Psyche's older sister Orual, and is constructed as a long-withheld accusation against the gods. Although Orual is unattractive, she loves her beautiful half-sister Psyche obsessively, and when Psyche is sacrificed to the "God of the Mountain” she feels as if the gods have stolen her sister from her. In an attempt to rescue her sister, she, instead, destroys her happiness. In response, she writes her tale in hopes that it will be brought to Greece, where she has heard that men are willing to question even the gods. The book examines the frustration of those who wonder why the Gods hide themselves instead of making themselves manifest.
A Prayer for Owen Meany
by John Irving
It tells the story of John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany growing up together in a small New England town during the 1950-60s. Owen is a remarkable boy in many ways; he believes himself to be God's instrument and journeys on a truly extraordinary path. The novel deals with serious spiritual issues, such as the importance of faith, matters of social justice, and the concept of fate, in the context of an outlandish narrative. Throughout the novel, John and Owen both offer criticisms of organized religion and religious hypocrisy. The narrative is constructed as the interweaving of three different stories.
Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
Marion and Shiva Stone are born one dramatic afternoon in 1954 in Addis Ababa, the same day their mother — a nun, Sister Mary Joseph Praise — dies of complications from her hidden pregnancy. The boys are conjoined at the skull, yet separated at birth. Both become surgeons during Ethiopia’s political turmoil. Almost supernaturally close as children, the brothers become more and more distant as the novel progresses; they are dramatically reunited at its end — through the mysterious agency of the long-vanished father, Thomas Stone.
South of Broad
by Pat Conroy
The novel follows the life of Leopold Bloom King in Charleston, South Carolina. It ranges from his troubled childhood to his adult life with his close group of friends. The massive book is written in 5 parts. The book follows a group of friends from 1969 to 1989. The book covers many aspects of the Charleston society: marriages, love, racism and the church.
American Jezebel
by Eve La Plante
The author is a direct descendant of Anne Hutchinson, “The woman who defied the Puritans.” Hutchinson had only been in Boston — where she settled with her wealthy textile trader husband, Will — for a year or two before she became a troublemaker in the eyes of the local authorities. In 1647, Hutchinson was dragged before one of those nightmarishly stacked colonial courts (similar to the ones the Salem Witch Trial defendants would face 45 years later), and ordered to recant her "heresies." Her trial is the centerpiece of American Jezebel, It's been likened to the trial of Joan of Arc.
The Mistress of Nothing
By Kate Pullinger
In 1862, almost certain to die of consumption if she remained in England, Lucie Duff- Gordon, accompanied by her maid, Sally Naldrett leave for Egypt. Her family, including a toddler, were left behind, but she was advised to acquire that indispensable tool of a Middle Eastern traveller, a dragoman: Omar Abu Halaweh. An affair in the steamy night of Luxor between Omar and Sally results in a pregnancy. Against all odds, Sally challenges her destiny as a fallen women and disgraced companion
The Mistress of Nothing
By Kate Pullinger
In 1862, almost certain to die of consumption if she remained in England, Lucie Duff- Gordon, accompanied by her maid, Sally Naldrett leave for Egypt. Her family, including a toddler, were left behind, but she was advised to acquire that indispensable tool of a Middle Eastern traveller, a dragoman: Omar Abu Halaweh. An affair in the steamy night of Luxor between Omar and Sally results in a pregnancy. Against all odds, Sally challenges her destiny as a fallen women and disgraced companion
