It had been a day of thunderstorms and rain around Adelaide town, but by evening the weather had calmed down and our happy group congregated at Marg's place on 14 September 2022. Sarah from Victor Harbor was a refugee from Covid and a surprise but very welcome guest - while everyone knew Barb, still basking in the northern sun, had an evening pass.
Is it this leg or the other?
After hearing all about Banjo's recent surgery and oversize splint, McLassie led us on the journey to discover different kinds of mothers with her book selection 'All my Mothers', by Joanna Glen. We all know McLassie is a very wise mother, and this was by unanimous proclamation a very wise choice. It was a book for all - an emotionally intelligent child at the centre searching for her birth mother, encountering both fragile and strong women, mothers assigned by disposition and given a colour by the author through Eva (blue is best), interesting relationships with males some of whom were gay, mystery about whether the priest was her father, the value of friendship, particularly heartbreaking beginnings and an ending just waiting to be read.
From McLassie's research on the author we learnt Joanna loved all things Spanish, and so unsurprisingly the novel ended up in the south of Spain - and from Sarah's research we learnt that Joanna Glen may have a slight obsession with mothers as this is her second book (of only 2 so far) on the subject - 'The Other Half of Augusta Hope' being her first.
All agreed the book was well written, was a great read, and importantly for some, easily able to be read in your pyjamas on a day when thunderstorms, wind and rain swirled around for most of the day. And more thanks to McLassie because along the way we also found out from her that 'Saudade', the famous maker of the Mitcham portuguese tarts translates as 'longing' in Portuguese - the overriding sense which hummed along quietly in the background while reading the book. The general agreement was so many sad but also so many good things came out of this read - whatever you were wearing.
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| Marg contemplating big themes |
Next up was Marg's choice and with her book of notes in hand, and sound advice from her daughter in mind (which was something like "Mum, at book club you don't rewrite the book - people have already read it. You pick out a few themes and talk about them") Marg took us to her book 'Songbirds' by Christy Lefteri. We last left Christy with the Beekeeper from Aleppo who finally made it to England after a perilous journey - this time we landed in Cyprus near the Green Line with Nisha the disappearing nanny, Yiannis the poacher, Petra the mother who found her daughter but not her nanny, and of course the Songbirds.
Entrapment was the key theme for Marg - with Nisha the Sri Lankan nanny trapped in 'servitude' (read modern slavery), and the Songbirds trapped in the poacher's nets for pretty substantial monetary gain - where they (the songbirds) ended up in a Cypriot 'national' dish
Somehow we all knew it wasn't going to end well for Nisha and as Petra and Yiannis's search tracked her last journey down the lane, any way out for the songbirds and Nisha seemed to close off. Marg followed up on this theme by checking on recent reports about the plight of migrant workers like Nisha, and attempts by the British army to stop the poaching. But lo and behold - zip progress on both counts.
Our discussion suggested there was a lot going on in this book. Firstly, the very practical question of the smell that must have come from Yiannis's flat haunted some - but in the literary sense there was the engaging relationship between Yiannis and Nisha, the gap between Petra and her daughter, Nisha's story and her daughter back in Sri Lanka, then Yiannis and Nisha's daughter, the dark clouds always hanging over the Red Lake, and the black marketeers lurking in the background. But we agreed with Marg - entrapment was absolute and overpowering. We never heard the voice of Nisha or the songbirds singing - no doubt a decision of the author knowing they were destined to an untimely end. Like the Beekeeper it was an enlightening read, but unlike the Beekeeper, it didn't end well - but then like the Beekeeper it certainly brought important issues to the surface, and thats what good books do.
The full house at Marg's place agreed the two book selections, though very different, were both from the top shelf - and after getting them under our belts it was time to dive in and get McLassie's delicious raspberry and pear cake under our belts - with refreshing tea and lots of goss about kings, queens, Richard Fidler interviews https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/episodes (especially the episodes on coast watchers and black war babies), and other recent events.
The the next meeting is Wednesday 16 November 2022 at Julie's place (1 Fox Street, Goodwood), when Banjo could be back on all four legs. Book choices:
Julie: The Reader by Bernard Schlink (tip: the 2008 film of the book may still be on Netflix)
Sue: The Promise by Damon Galgut (after scratching The Paris Bookseller)
Recommended reading: for those wanting to continue with Cyprus, The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak (nod to Cherrie's suggestion).
