Dear walking book clubbers,
It was great to begin our Autumn season with you on the Heath, discussing Deborah Levy’s potent memoir. Pictured are the walk’s accompanying treats, selected for their relevance to the book: apricots, enjoyed by Levy for breakfast at her Majorcan hotel, intense chocolate that she buys in the local shop (inspired by Marquez), and oranges to roll underfoot before sucking out the juice, as Levy remembers doing in her South African childhood.
I loved discussing this book with you all, both on the Heath and on Zoom. It is always wonderful to hear how your personal stories connect to those of the book - so thank you for sharing them with us. I’m thinking especially of the South African member who spoke movingly about the resonance of that section for her, and to a Polish member who talked about how she loved reading about the Polish directors in the first section (and thank you for pointing me towards Kantor’s Dead Class, mentioned in the book, available on youtube here with English subtitles). In both discussions, we focussed on the intense, uncanny imagery in the book. You can find out more in this month’s webcast here:
N.B. I have just spent hours manually inputting subtitles, only now to see that if you just press a button youtube does it automatically. So please please do enjoy the bespoke subtitles!!
Looking forward to hearing your further thoughts on the book, the webcast or anything else!
October
*** Tickets for our October meetings are now on sale ***
In celebration of Black History month, I’ve picked this fascinating and very moving book from the poet Lemn Sissay. It’s about his childhood in care, as well as being a thoughtful exploration of Britishness, race, family and a celebration of creativity.
Look out for more information and further reading about this book in our next newsletter. In the meantime you might enjoy this episode of Imagine, featuring Sissay. (Thank you Gilly for finding this!)
You can book your place and buy the book using the links below. See you there!
For the Heath:
Sunday 10th October, 11.30-1pm, setting off from Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB:
On Zoom:
Monday 11th October, 8-8.30pm
Buy My Name is Why 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.
Looking forward to seeing you in October.
Happy reading!
Emily