Dear walking book clubbers,
Wonderful to see you on Hampstead Heath yesterday, and a reminder of our Zoom tonight at 8pm. For anyone anxious about ‘not having done their homework’, please don’t worry - the Zooms are very informal and welcoming, with no pressure to contribute.
Please book in using the Eventbrite button (which allows you to pay and gives me a feel for numbers), or alternatively, just show up using the link HERE, Meeting ID: 741 4970 8168, Passcode: Bassani.
And a reminder of our Live Discussion Thread this Friday at 2-2.30pm. Look out for the link to join, which will arrive in your inbox just before. This is a chance to discuss themes in The Gold-Rimmed Spectacles, and also to share what else we’ve been reading / watching / enjoying in July - I can’t wait to hear what’s been going down…
Also, for those who were intrigued by the short story set in Padua, mentioned in The Gold-Rimmed Spectacles, it is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘Rappaccini’s Daughter’, and you can read it HERE.
Announcing our Autumn Programme
I was impressed with your sleuthing skills - congrats to those of you who emailed me with some successful guesses! Now to reveal all…
Tickets for September are NOW ON SALE.
Tickets for October - December go on sale on the 1st of the previous month. Conveniently, you can see and book tickets to all the walks on Eventbrite HERE and all the Zooms on Eventbrite HERE.
September
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Mrs Palfrey joins the elderly, rather eccentric residents of South Kensington's Claremont hotel to see out the end of her life. When, on a walk, she suffers a fall, the help she receives from an aspiring young writer proves to be a rescue in more ways than one ... Sometimes wickedly funny, sometimes painfully sad, always keenly observed, this insightful and beloved classic holds enduring appeal.
This walk is in memory of Carrie Young, one of the first walking book clubbers. She loved this book, and you can hear her (and the rest of us) discussing it on our 2013 walk with Clare Balding on Radio 4, here. We don't usually repeat books, but I felt it was important to choose one that was meaningful to Carrie. And I am SO excited to revisit this one. To donate to a memorial bench for Carrie at her local community orchard, please do so on the Just Giving page, here. All contributions are really welcome, thank you.
On the Heath: Sunday 11th September, 11.30-1pm, setting off from Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB
On Zoom: Monday 12th September, 8-8.40pm
Live Discussion Thread: Friday 30th September, 2-2.30pm
Buy Mrs Palfrey and the Claremont from Daunt Books HERE and receive 10% off using the code WBC at checkout, or just tell them you’re in the group if you’re buying it in the shop.
October
By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Saleh Omar arrives at Gatwick Airport, seeking asylum from Zanzibar, having left his entire life behind. When he meets a figure from his past, their intertwined stories gradually unravel, revealing love and betrayal, seduction and possession ... Abdulrazak Gurnah, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021, entrances with his elegant telling of Saleh Omar's past - and his secrets - in this beautiful, quietly gripping novel.
Tickets go on sale: 1st September
On the Heath: Sunday 16th October, 11.30-1pm, setting off from Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB
On Zoom: Monday 17th October, 8-8.40pm
Live Discussion Thread: Friday 28th October, 2-2.30pm
Buy By the Sea from Daunt Books HERE and receive 10% off using the code WBC at checkout, or just tell them you’re in the group if you’re buying it in the shop.
November
A Fortunate Man by John Berger & Jean Mohr
In this highly original, slim book, John Berger's words come together with Jean Mohr's photography to portray the life of a GP in the Forest of Dean in the 1960s. Through examples of common - and uncommon - cases, digressions into psychology, history and more, Berger and Mohr reveal the complex and unique role of a doctor in the community, and the sacrifice entailed.
Renowned writer and critic John Berger, and photographer Jean Mohr spent six weeks living with and shadowing their friend, Dr John Sassall, to create this extraordinary work in which pictures and text are in conversation. First published in 1967, this fascinating and poignant meditation on society, humanity, and the value of healing takes on new relevance today, given the current state of and debate around the NHS.
Tickets go on sale: 1st October
On the Heath: Sunday 13th November, 11.30-1pm, setting off from Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB
On Zoom: Monday 14th November, 8-8.40pm
Live Discussion Thread: Friday 25th November, 2-2.30pm
Buy A Fortunate Man from Daunt Books HERE and receive 10% off using the code WBC at checkout, or just tell them you’re in the group if you’re buying it in the shop.
December
A Touch of Mistletoe by Barbara Comyns
Some 'mistletoe' for our Christmas meetup!
This wonderful, utterly absorbing novel (not, in fact, a Christmas tale) is about two sisters embarking on adulthood in the interwar years, and the fortunes and misfortunes that befall them.
An alcoholic mother, extreme poverty, awful jobs, childbirth, depression, abortion, the Blitz ... It's a far from cosy novel, but somehow Comyns' calm, wry voice succeeds both in giving weight to the daily tragedies and transforming them into moments of hilarity. Who else could describe a character's 'unwashed knees' as smelling 'of roast chicken', or could state: 'when we children heard the word ‘poorly’ applied to anyone who was ill, perhaps an innocent child suffering with measles, we took it for granted that they had been drinking bottles of port or sherry'?!
At what might be a difficult time for many of us, Comyns' blacker-than-black humour is a vital tonic.
Tickets go on sale: 1st November
On the Heath: Sunday 11th December, 11.30-1pm, setting off from Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB
On Zoom: Monday 12th November, 8-8.40pm
Live Discussion Thread: Friday 23th December, 2-2.30pm (I think… but subject to change)
Buy A Touch of Mistletoe from Daunt Books HERE and receive 10% off using the code WBC at checkout, or just tell them you’re in the group if you’re buying it in the shop.
August
In the meantime, don’t forget to RSVP for our special new summer event, and join us for a drink and a chat at the UK book launch for Housebreaking by veteran walking book clubber Colleen Hubbard:
6.30-8pm, Tuesday 16th August at Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB
This is a free event, but we need to know numbers; RSVP directly to Colleen: colleen@colleenhubbard.com.
Happy reading!
Emily