Note 6 : The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

What is it?

Published in 2019

Set in the United States in Philadelphia and New York, this is a story about a family and the role the eponymous Dutch House plays in their lives. It is centred on Danny Conroy, the narrator, and his beloved older sister Maeve, detailing their lives from childhood in the 1950s to old age. As children they are abandoned by their mother, for reasons that emerge as the novel progresses,  and left with their successful but remote property developer father. When he remarries, he introduces into their lives a stepmother with very much her own agenda.  

Why read it?

We all enjoyed reading this book, thought it well-written on the whole and found lots in it to talk about.  We agreed that there were elements of the story that would resonate with most readers: parent/child, wife/husband and sibling relationships, anger and forgiveness, loss and reconciliation.  We thought the circular structure of the book was interesting,  beginning and ending in the Dutch House, highlighting its huge importance to the story, in fact almost as if it is another character. The house is a catalyst – Andrea’s ambition to acquire it drives her to marry Danny and Maeve’s father and later,  when he dies, to evict them, while it was dislike of it that spurred their real mother to leave. It is also a symbol of their father’s ambition and of the flaw in his relationship with his first wife and retains a totemic power over Danny and Maeve representing what they have lost.  We noticed how Danny almost becomes his father, taking up the same career and making the same mistake as his father did in buying a house that his wife dislikes.  At the end the Dutch House is where the fractured Conroy family achieve reconciliation after years of separation and resentment. We noticed how the plot, particularly in the first part had an archetypal, almost fairy tale quality-  motherless children, a wealthy but emotionally detached father, a wicked stepmother, the loss of the kingdom and the eventual punishment of the wicked step-mother (Andrea’s dementia) and the regaining of it by a beautiful young princess (May).  

Why not to bother

We all agreed that the strongest and most memorable part of the book was the first section leading up to Danny and Maeve’s eviction from the Dutch House.  After that, we found the middle section which deals mostly with Danny’s career and marriage, less engaging. The final section where their mother returns, Andrea is found to have severe dementia and the house is acquired by Danny’s daughter May, seemed to us to be a little too neat and tidy. We were puzzled by why Maeve, who is such a strong character where Danny's well-being is concerned, was content to limit her career and live alone. We all felt she was an interesting character and deserved a bit more of the action. We wondered whether her portrayal may be intended to echo the fairy tale archetype - is she the dutiful sister who stays at home while her brother has adventures? Interestingly, although we all enjoyed reading this book at the time,  some of us found that even only a week after finishing it we couldn’t remember much about the plot or the characters. So for all its qualities the book was not as memorable as it seemed at first. 

What we asked

What is the significance of the house to Danny and Maeve and to the events in the story?

Did we find the ending believable? Or too neat?

What do the staff who worked at the house contribute to the story?

Keep?

We all agreed we’d keep it.

Score?  

4 out of 5

Note 5: The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks

What is it? 

The book is set in 1000 BC in what later became known as the Holy Land and subsequently as Israel and surrounding countries.  It is the story of King David and his successful campaign to unify the various tribes living in this region and found the city eventually known as Jerusalem. It is told by his prophet and advisor Natan (Nathaniel of the Bible), whose first prophecy, taken to be the words of the Name (God), was that David would become king and found a dynasty.  It is this that spurs David on to fulfill Natan’s words by whatever means necessary – for the most part with ruthless violence. 

Why read it?

The book is clearly the product of extensive research into this period of ancient history and gives a good idea of David’s life and to a lesser extent of Natan’s.  None of us were greatly engaged by the detailed accounts, full of gory and often shocking detail,  of David's numerous military campaigns, which take up most of the first part of the book. However we did gain a sense of his significant achievement in unifying the region. From about the middle of the book the story becomes more about people rather than events, with details of  David’s sexual appetite, as well as those of some of his sons, particularly with the account of his rape of Bathsheva, wife of Uriah the Hittite and its aftermath. We were also interested in the snapshot the book gave of women’s lives and the importance of religion at that time:  David’s brutal military campaigns are believed to have legitimacy thanks to Natan’s 'divine' prophecies. Fortunately the book is not all blood, guts and rape - the writer also lets us see a little of  David’s gentler side with his renowned musical talent – song writing and playing the harp- his love for some of his wives, his fondness for Natan and later on his son Shlomo (Solomon of the Bible).  Overall, we agreed that we learned something about the history and morality of that world. 

Why give it a miss?

Our main gripe was that the book falls into a trap, possibly as a result of the writer’s detailed research, of seeming overstuffed with detail. The result is that the many military campaigns and conquests become repetitive, tedious and confusing. More confusion occurs with the structure – Natan is asked by David to write a memoir of his life which he is to research by talking to various people from his past. Natan embarks on this task but also throws in bits from his own story as well as jumping about in time from present to various points in the past, so that at times we had no idea where we were.  Two further complaints were that the book has as many characters as a Russian novel, so that we needed to keep checking the ‘cast list’ at the front to keep track of them all. Also, although the writer tries to give us a full sense of David as a man, inevitably he is defined by his largely egocentric and brutal behaviour.  The result was that many of us found him unsympathetic and were not particularly engaged in his story. Natan is less well drawn than David. Despite being described as David’s counsellor, friend and critic he comes across as little more than a mouthpiece for the prophecies. His criticism of David’s brutality in doing ‘whatever is necessary’ to become King is limited and the book never gets to grips with the moral dilemma posed by this philosophy.

What we asked.

Why did the writer choose to tell David’s story?

Did we care about any of the characters?

Does using Natan as a narrator add or detract from our engagement with David's story?'   

Keep?

Most of us thought we'd keep it - more as a reference book than as a good read though. 

Score - 3.5

Note 4 : The Hours before Dawn by Celia Fremlin

What is it?

Published and set in the late 1950s, this book is about Louise, a young mother who takes in a lodger – Miss Brandon, who turns out to be not at all what she claims. Although often described as a thriller, what differentiates the book from others of the genre is its detailed focus on Louise and her domestic and family life.  This is described in painstaking and often very funny detail. Louise is seriously sleep-deprived thanks to her young baby Michael, something that not only has an impact on her ability to cope with everyday life  but also affects her interaction with others and her interpretation of the strange events that follow Miss Brandon’s arrival.

Why read it?

We found Louise’s character  engaging  and sympathetic  and we felt we got to know her pretty well. She is honest, admits her failings – domestic tasks undone, children fobbed off, an inability to stand up to imposing friends- yet often doesn’t give  herself credit for her achievements.  Her struggles with domestic and family life come across as real -  lack of sleep, the demands of her self- absorbed husband Mark, two young daughters and baby Michael, yet in spite of all these,  she is able to see the humour in many of the situations she finds herself in. She is particularly funny about Mark and his foibles, while the dialogue of the two young girls really captures the way young children talk and behave and is cleverly observed and  amusing.   We also felt that the book gave a good sense of life for a suburban housewife at that time. As far as the thriller elements of the story were concerned there were some that we found tense and even alarming – particularly where they involved a threat to baby Michael.  Miss Brandon’s character is well developed as the plot unfolds to reveal her as not only odd but also increasingly predatory and menacing.   Louise’s feeling that she is losing her grip on reality also adds to the tension.

Why give it a miss?

While we all agreed that the book’s strength was the detail about Louise and her life though as a thriller it worked less well.  This may have been due to the period when the book was written – perhaps we are more used to this kind of story now. We realised fairly early on what Miss Brandon was up to, though her reason for doing so was a good reveal. Other criticisms were that the writing could be a touch repetitive, though arguably this was to represent the repetitive nature of Louise’s experiences; some of the detail too about the minor characters (her old school friends etc) was a bit tedious; as a plot device the children finding the diary in the attic felt clunky. We all thought that if Louise had had to struggle more to find out the truth about her sinister lodger the story would have been more satisfying.

What we asked

Do Louise’s experiences still resonate with mothers today?

Do we believe that Miss Brandon would behave as she did?

Does the humour mitigate against or add to the tension of the story?

Is the title apt?

Was the ending satisfying?
What was the point of the minor characters?

Score

 Most scored it 4, and 1 scored it 3. So overall an almost 4.

Keep?

Most of us would keep it, but one of us had already given it away by the time we got together!

Note 3 : Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

What is it?

Published in the UK in 2019. 
Set in the 1950s and 60s in the coastal marshland of North Carolina, this is part whodunnit, part love story, part nature handbook. Place and time are important as the marsh - its flora and fauna, play a huge part in the book, as do the attitudes and prejudices of the period. The book’s central character is Kya, a girl whose story we follow from the age of 6 to her mid-twenties and later.  Abandoned by first her mother, then her adored brother and finally her abusive father, Kya survives and eventually thrives alone in the marsh. The who-dunnit element of the story concerns the investigation of the sudden death of a young local man Chase Andrews, found in the marsh in the opening chapter. The narrative jumps back and forward in time to detail Kya’s life, her relationship with the local community – in particular the two men with whom she has relationships -Tate and Chase – and the murder investigation.

Why read it?

We agreed that Kya's longing to be loved, to make contact with others, alongside her struggle to survive, were more interesting then the murder mystery and provided the driving force of the story.  However the strongest element for us were the vivid descriptions of the marsh landscape and the creatures inhabiting it. Much of these were beautifully written and, as the author is a wildlife scientist, no doubt accurate.  They filled what we felt was a gap in the book (see below)  rather as they fill the space left in Kya’s life after she has been abandoned by those she loves and becomes increasingly dependent on the gulls and nature around her.  

Why give it a miss?

In spite of all the publicity and hype about this book, most of us found it disappointing overall: one of us described it as a 'holiday read', another as an 'airport novel'!  We had misgivings about the plot. While elements of Kya’s story were interesting (see above) we found the story of Chase and Tate rather obvious and at times cliched. Beginning the book with the discovery of Chase’s body suggests the author wants us to work out both how he died and why. But for us the answers to this became obvious about midway through the book so the ‘reveal’ at the end fell flat. We also thought many of the characters were close to stereotypes - the policemen, Jumpin the shopkeeper and his wife Mabel, Chase himself. Other downsides were the great deal of repetition in the descriptions of Kya’s life in the marsh which risked becoming tedious; the irritating tendency to list the food everyone was eating and the clothes they wore, much of it, again, repetitive; some of us found the poems over-sentimental, irritating and unnecessary too. All this suggesting the book would have benefitted from stricter editing.  Lastly none of us believed that Kya,  as she had been depicted, could have carried out the complex manoeuvre required to perpetrate the crime.The secondary reveal about the poems' authorship definitely felt like over-egging the pudding.

What we asked

Is the account of Kya’s childhood in the wild believable?

Are the characters of Tate and Chase too stereo-typed as good and evil?

Did we believe Kya capable of the complex manoeuvres and timing required for her to carry out the crime?

Why did the writer choose to write this book?

Is the title apt?

What would the book need to make it a better read?

Was the ending satisfying?
Was it a page-turner?

Score

We scored it 1s and 2s so about 1.5 out of 5 

Note 2: English Passengers by Matthew Kneale

What is it? 

First published in 2000, winner of the Whitbread Prize and shortlisted for the Booker Prize that year. 

The book is set in the mid-19^th century at the time of the colonisation of Tasmania by the British. The main story is of Captain Kewley a Manx smuggler,  his ship’s crew and the eponymous English passengers who charter his ship. They set off on an expedition to Tasmania in search of the site of the Garden of Eden. The book charts the often extraordinary events that befall them, their chequered relationships and the effects of their experiences. It also tells the story of native Tasmanian Peevay and the grim fate that befell most of his race at the hands of the colonisers.  The story is told by multiple narrators, the chief being the Captain himself, the priest Reverend Wilson- self-styled leader of the expedition, the surgeon Dr Potter and Peevay. Their accounts move the story forward at a lively pace while giving a vivid picture of the prevailing prejudices, beliefs and behaviour of the time. 

Why read it?

We all found this book an entertaining and engaging read with distinct, well-drawn and contrasting characters - from the arrogant, self-deluding Reverend Wilson, his rival the sinister racial profiler Dr Potter, to Peevay who grows from boy to man during the tale.  Each has an idiosyncratic language which adds to the richness and colour of their accounts: from the curious Manx dialect of Kewley, to the cultural amalgam of Peevay’s speech.  We admired the way that the writer has balanced the detailed accounts of the grim treatment of the native Tasmanians with adventure, history, satire and, at times,  laugh out loud humour so that they do not become overwhelming.   The plot detailing the expedition itself is lively and eventful. The historical detail feels well-researched giving the story, particularly the parts set in Tasmania,  validity and weight.  

Why give it a miss?

We had a few quibbles about the length: at 450 odd pages this is a fairly long book and also needs the reader to hold the various narrators in their head until they become familiar. In addition there is some jumping around in time which, although well-signposted, could be confusing. So it's not a book to be read in short bursts but needs longer periods of time.  We also thought that some of the coincidences in the plot – particularly in the fortunes of the Captain and his ship -could be criticised as a bit over-contrived.

What we asked

Do we believe in the characters? Or did they feel like devices to represent certain ideas?

What is the main theme of the book? Is it prejudice? Self-deception/delusion?

Is the author drawing a comparison between the quest for the Christian earthly paradise  and the destruction of the 'paradise'  of pre-colonial Tasmania?

Do the characters learn something about themselves by the end?

Did it leave us feeling sad at what happened to the natives? 

Was the ending satisfying? 

Score

4.5 out of 5

Keep?

Definitely.

Note 1: The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey

What is it?

First published in 2018. Set in the 15^th Century in a village in Somerset,  the novel details the events over four days on and before Shrove Tuesday - the beginning of Lent.

Narrated by the village priest John Reve, it begins  with the discovery of a drowned man by the river. The Rural Dean arrives to investigate and suspects it is murder.  The priest and the villagers are swept up in his search for the culprit. Over the course of the story, told in reverse, beginning on Shrove Tuesday and ending four days earlier,  we learn who the drowned man was and how he met his end. 

The novel plays with and eventually confounds our expectations of how such a  ‘crime’ might be solved. In doing so it describes in detail the  religious and superstitious beliefs of the villagers,  contrasting their apparent honesty during their Lenten confessions,  with the behaviour of their priest Reve who we discover has weaknesses of his own. 

Why read it?

We were divided about the book. So that made for a lively discussion! We all agreed that it was an unusual and surprising take on the murder/mystery novel, also that it gave a vivid and colourful description of life in a medieval village with all its smells, mess and mud.  Fans of the book found the central character of the priest convincing and engaging: we get to know him and trust him as his parishioners do. This makes his behaviour,  which is gradually uncovered,  particularly surprising.  Our expectations are also subverted when the truth about the suspicions of the Rural Dean, an unsympathetic figure from the start,  is finally revealed.  Fans thought the book had some interesting things to say about truth and its relationship to faith and also about the power of self-deception (perhaps another kind of faith?.  It raises questions for today about fake news, demonstrating how people can convince themselves and others of a ‘truth’ when the very opposite is the case.

Why give it a miss?

While some of us found the plot powerful and intriguing,  others disagreed:  they thought the villagers’ confessions were too long winded. They also felt that the reverse time structure, together with the number of characters, made it hard to keep track of the story.  Also that there was a risk you might feel a bit tricked by the way the plot twists and turns towards the ending. 

What we asked

Why did author choose this time and place to set the book ? 

What is it saying about religious faith?

What does the western wind signify? God’s forgiveness, wishful thinking or something else?

Does telling the  story backwards work? What does it do to the narrative and our expectations?

What is the author suggesting would be the upshot of John Reve’s behaviour?

Will the village survive the predatory monks?

Is the Dean there to represent scepticism?  Does he show us how we should really have reacted to Reve and Carter’s account?

Score 

A mix of 4s and 3s. So about 3.75 overall.

Keep?  

Three of us decided to keep it, two to give it away.

NOTES 

FROM

A 

SMALL

BOOK GROUP

About this blog

This blog grew out of a general feeling in our book group that it might be good to have a bit of help now and again when we're choosing our next book.

Sometimes we look at reviews before we choose. But we may not always want to read a full review as this can spoil the excitement of discovery.  Or maybe we just don’t have the time.  What we’d like is a taster.  So Notes from a Small Book Group aims to be just that. If you're in a book group and wondering what to read next I hope you'll find it useful. 

Here's how it works:

What is it?  

- gives a short introductory summary of the book. I'll avoid plot spoilers where possible but a few are inevitable. 

Why read it?  

- outlines what we felt were its strengths.  

Why give it a miss?  

- does the same for what we felt were its weaknesses. 

What we asked 

- lists some questions and issues that we discussed.

Score 

- this is the score out of 5 that we gave the book at the end of our discussion. 5 is the top score, 1 (or occasionally even 0) is the lowest. 

Keep?

-  we force ourselves to decide whether the book would get a coveted place on our overcrowded bookshelves, or whether it goes in the pile for the charity shop  – often a hard decision but interesting to see how it focuses the mind!

A quick point about the discussion questions in the What we asked section of each Note: as a writer I tend to focus on a book as a created work and by that I mean it’s an expression of the writer’s creative intention. We often look at the choices the writer has made about language, structure, theme, tone etc and what their effect is,  as well as on plot, characters and so on.  Of course every book group and reader will have its/their own focus and these Notes are not meant to tell anyone what to talk about or indeed what to think! They just reflect our own discussions.  Sometimes we’ve had useful and surprising insights into the book (or they seem so after a bottle of wine and supper!). So I hope the questions will be interesting to others too. If you'd like to let us know what your book group thought about the book then do post a comment. 

Who are we?

There are five of us - yes it really is a small book group!  We meet approximately once a month and take it in turns to host and provide supper.  At the end of the discussion, the host puts forward three or four books for us to choose from for the next meeting and we make up our minds. 
We've known each other for years and are all good friends - even when we disagree about a book.  Some of us work, some of us don't. What we all share is a love of reading. If you're reading this then chances are you do too!


@NotesfromASmallBookGroup