Wednesday September 23rd came around, and so we gathered at Marg's place for our next two selections - Hamnet (Maggie O'Farrell) from McLassie, and The Beekeeper of Aleppo (Christy Lefteri) from Marg. Because of the unseasonably cold September, and the fact that Barb wasn't in Noosa (as was her preference), Marg's fire was lovely and warm and the conversation even warmer.
As we rolled on through the evening, the similarities in the book selections became apparent. Both books, though entirely different in time, place and storyline, involved lost sons, ghosts, grief, relationships under stress, and strong women shining through.
Marg introduced Nuri the Beekeeper to us first, with a brief synopsis of the life of the young author - a person who had experience working with, and had family connection to, refugees and asylum seekers. This located the book in a writing style that was non-judgemental and reflective. It was a calm, structured and unsettlingly peaceful telling of the modern world-wide tragedy of displacement, and this way of storytelling somehow gave the book more gravitas. Fleeing from war torn Aleppo after witnessing the death of their son, Afra and Nuri both independently struggled through debilitating episodes of PTSD as they made their way across Europe. But getting to safety meant compromises, particularly when dealing with people who exploited their vulnerability. We all knew there would be trouble ahead as Nuri navigated their way to UK - and sure enough, there was. The PTSD came in the form of blindness for artist Afra, and ghosts for Nuri, and then they had to make their way dealing with smugglers and drug runners, all while trying to help other asylum seekers keep safe.
We all agreed this book was a great story, very well told. Though the storyline was tragic, there was always a sense that there would be light was at the end of the tunnel - to be found with Mustafa and the British black bees in Yorkshire. As Afra started to see the light and Nuri came back from the edge, we couldn't be sure but I think we all just hoped that turned out to be the case.
After a big collective sigh of relief, McLassie introduced us to her selection Hamnet (and I'm going to get tired of having to correct from the auto-corrected Hamlet!). It was written by a very busy Irishwoman, who married and lived in Scotland with her writer partner and 3 children. McLassie wondered how she had time to research and write the book, and some of us pondered whether McLassie's life wasn't actually busier! But well researched it was - set in Stratford in the 1580/90's it followed the lives of a young playwright to be, his wife Agnes, and their twin children, Judith and Hamnet. Sound like someone you know? The storyline took us through the romance of Agnes and 'Will', their different characters (one unusual; one a gifted dreamer - no prizes for guessing which is which), then marriage and setting up in Stratford - and someway through the book came the departure of 'Will' for the big smoke, fame and fortune, leaving Agnes as the solid homemaker.
But it was the loss of Hamnet to plague at the age of 11 that was the centrifuge of the book, with the two main characters finding different ways of coping with the grief. This spun them around in very different directions. For Agnes, it was to become strong, respected and the centre of the family; while for 'Will' it was to write and produce the tragic masterpiece, Hamlet. And it was only by seeing the production of the play 4 years after Hamnet's death that reconciled Agnes to Will's distance - we were lead to the idea that the play put the ghost of Hamnet to rest and resolved a troubled marriage. Whether this was just fictional was not the point - we all took a leap into how people cope with grief and come out stronger the other end. Maggie O'Farrell also threaded some tantalising byways through the book - the story of the flea and the rat and the escape of the plague was fabulous to read, and had enormous resonance to C-19 and 2020; Will's father John was the ugly character of the book and we were all happy he disappeared from view; and while fame and fortune were in Will's hands, Agnes was the strong core of the family and the community. Some of us wondered why the book wasn't called 'Agnes' rather than 'Hamnet', but we all knew in the end it was a Shakespearean novel with a happy ending. Another good choice.
Score for the books - consensus came in at a whopping 9.5 for each; and that went for the lovely raspberry short cake, avec les jolie fleurs, too! As conversation turned to trees, equinoxes and gales (thats trade wind, not Kathy), the evening wound to a pleasant close - with thanks Marg and McLassie.
Next Meeting: Wednesday 18 November 2020, at Julie's place, 1 Fox Street, Goodwood. Book Selection
Sue: The Erratics, by Vicki Laveau-Harvie
Julie: Minimum of Two, by Tim Winton
