📚 🚶Our first book of 2024
How Emily's Walking Book Club defeats the January Blues + why The Ginger Tree is the ultimate book to help
Dear walking book clubbers,
Happy New Year! That is what I wish for every one of you, while knowing that in reality the New Year can feel like more of the same Old … just with less sunlight, less money and more flab around your middle. So here are three sources of comfort:
Those of you who read our December book, The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, will rejoice in marking the fact that Winter Solstice has been and gone; the days are getting longer.
Those who are feeling the financial pinch, please note that this Emily’s Walking Book Club newsletter will always be free for those who need it to be. I rely on those who CAN afford to pay me £20 or £50/year to cover my time, so that those of you who can’t pay me don’t need to. You’ll notice that the price of a walk ticket is now £8 - £15 depending on what you feel able to pay, but if you can’t stretch to that, you are always welcome to just show up and pay in cash whatever you can afford, no questions asked.
Those who are feeling a bit miserable about the extra Christmas pounds, well I can’t promise that our walks will burn off ALL those mince pies, but they will certainly be more fun than the gym.
PLUS there’s the wild beauty of Hampstead Heath, and the pretty gardens of Regent’s Park to enjoy, the joy of talking to a brilliant mix of friendly people, AND THE BOOKS ….
Thank you for your emails enthusing about our first pick of the year. I’m thrilled that The Ginger Tree is proving to be such a hit for many of you. I loved losing myself in its pages over the holidays, and was always finding an excuse to disappear off into Mary Mackenzie’s world of Peking, then Tokyo at the start of the twentieth century, replete with gripping, unexpected plot twists, told via her down-to-earth diary entires. It is an unusually long book for us, so do get reading if you’ve not yet begun. You will find the pages whizz past, but I don’t want to be held responsible if you are up till the early hours unable to put it down the night before our walk!
If you’re intrigued, I recommend listening to THIS tiny section of Kate and Laura’s excellent The Book Club Review podcast, in which Laura describes the plot in a spoiler-free way and shares why she loves it. Fast forward to 10 minutes in; it lasts about 4 mins. Some of you might remember meeting Kate, who’s been on a few of our walks.
Read on for:
Details for our January events - including news of this month’s expert guest
My introduction to and some ideas about The Ginger Tree
Links to discover more about Oswald Wynd
My jaw-dropping new highlight of 2023
Looking ahead to February.
Our January Events
Emily’s Regent’s Park Walking Book Club discussing The Ginger Tree: Friday 19th January, 12-1.45pm, setting off from Daunt Books, 84 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4QW, £8-15 N.B. There is an excellent, fully accessible path throughout, so good for those who don’t fancy the mud.
Emily’s Hampstead Heath Walking Book Club discussing The Ginger Tree: Sunday 21st January, 11.30-1pm, setting off from Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB, £8-15 N.B. Beware the mud! If you are anxious about slipping consider joining our Regent’s Park walks until it dries up…
Emily’s Zoom Book Club discussing The Ginger Tree: Monday 22nd January, 8-8.40pm, £1-10 Feel free to tune in even if you’ve not read the book - our zooms are open to all.
On Our Reading Radar about Living abroad: Friday 26th January, 1.30-2pm with Barnaby Rogerson. Hosted here on substack - the link to join will arrive in your inbox.
Join this month’s discussion thread to share your cultural highlights from the month, as well as your recommendations on the theme of LIVING ABROAD - What have you read or watched that has opened your eyes to the experience of living in a culture not your own?
We’re honoured to be joined by expert guest Barnaby Rogerson, who runs the publishing house Eland Books with his partner Rose Baring, as well as being an author, broadcaster and more. Eland are generously providing a trio of books to give away to one lucky participant in this event - see next week’s newsletter for details.
Buy The Ginger Tree 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.
Introducing The Ginger Tree
Whose story is it?
The Ginger Tree was first published in 1978, written by a Scot, who was born to Scottish missionary parents in Tokyo in 1913. Small wonder then that Oswald Wynd conjures this world of expat and missionary life so well.
The book takes the form of diary entries by our heroine Mary Mackenzie, beginning when she’s on the ship heading out East in 1903. It really does feel like you’re reading someone’s diary - absolutely engrossing, and intimate. Did you also find the writing very engrossing? Can you believe it is written by a man? There are some very personal moments - about getting her period, for instance, and coping with new motherhood - which are so well observed, that I still can’t get my head around the fact that it’s not by a woman. And do you mind the fact that a man is writing a woman’s story? There has been so much in the press recently about cultural appropriation - is this an example of it? Where do you stand on this wider issue?
The plot
Were you as gripped as I was by the rollercoaster ride of a plot? There were so many twists that I didn’t see coming! Did it remain credible? Did you enjoy the experience? I was absolutely hooked. I’m intrigued as to whether anyone has read any of Oswald Wynd’s books written under the pseudonym Gavin Black? These are crime novels, also set in the Far East - perhaps these (which he wrote first) go some way towards explaining his mean line in suspense.
You can take a Scot out of Scotland …
We never see Mary in her native land, and yet she is so indelibly Scottish! Her barbed comments against the English, her resilience and shatteringly hard work … Were there any aspects of her character that seemed particularly Scottish to you? Without giving away too many spoilers, I think this takes on particular resonance when considering what happens to her half-Scottish children.
An outsider’s perspective
An outsider’s view gives a very particular take on a foreign land. Did you enjoy sharing Mary Mackenzie’s perspective? Or did you want to hear more from Chinese and Japanese voices? I’m aware that we are treading on sensitive ground here. Do you think Mary ever becomes truly embedded in Chinese or Japanese culture? There are some excellent moments of culture-clash comedy (e.g. the description of sushi has never made it sound less appetising!), alongside moments that are rather more profound. Do you think Wynd falls into the trap of racial stereotyping, or is his portrait more nuanced than this? I rather loved the character of Japanese rebel woman Aiko Sannotera, and have noted down her line for future use: ‘Two disreputable women like us ought to be friends. What do you think?’
I am sure that many of us have lived abroad at one time or another - many of you still are! I’d love to know how your own experience of living in a foreign place compares to Mary’s. And don’t forget our On Our Reading Radar discussion thread this month, where we’ll be sharing tips on other books and films that explore this theme, with expert guest from Eland Books, Barnaby Rogerson. Have a look at our previous On Our Reading Radar HERE about New York to get a feel for what these are like!
More about Oswald Wynd
HERE is the link to the episode of The Book Club Review podcast again. Fast forward to 10 minutes in and listen for 4 minutes.
The kind people at Slightly Foxed have lifted the paywall for us on this excellent piece by Harriet Sergeant, which highlights how well The Ginger Tree captures loneliness. BEWARE SPOILERS - I’d advise reading this only after reading the book! To read the full piece, click HERE and enter the promotional code EMILYSWALKINGGROUP.
THIS review in The New York Times, from 1978 when the book was first published, is brilliant. I absolutely agree with this bit in particular: ‘The details of her life both in China and in Japan are riveting. One really feels what it must have been like to live there then, and one's admiration for her increases with every page.’
I’m gutted not to be able to track down anywhere to stream the four-part TV adaptation of the book, although it is available on DVD for those of you who have DVD players that haven’t given up the ghost. The trailer, HERE, is worth watching especially for the brilliantly British line: ‘Not very constructive, is it?’ Apparently this was the first film to be shot in HD, and cost £1 million per episode… If anyone’s seen it, please report back!
Oswald Wynd died in 1998. His obituary in the Scottish Herald HERE sheds some light on a fascinating, adventurous life.
My new 2023 highlight
This happened:
I nearly fainted!
You can read Patti Smith’s full post here:
February - tickets are now on sale
My Ántonia by Willa Cather
When orphan Jim Burden is sent to live with his grandparents in Nebraska in the late 1800s, he finds an unlikely friend in Ántonia Shimerda, an older Bohemian girl. After a childhood of shared adventures, their paths diverge, but Jim will never forget Ántonia, and her remarkable free spirit… Willa Cather’s best-loved novel is a beautiful portrayal of friendship, growing up, and Frontier life. This works as a stand-alone novel, even though technically it’s the third in Cather’s Great Plains trilogy.
Why did I choose it? So many people have recommended this to me over the years that it had become frankly embarrassing that this remained a gap in my reading. When I finally sat down to it, I could certainly see what all the fuss was about, and I also felt it made an interesting companion to January’s The Ginger Tree: another book about journeying into the unknown, resilience and growing up, only in extremely different circumstances.
Listen to THIS episode of NPR’s You Must Read This for a short exploration of why My Ántonia is brilliant to read, and re-read.
In Regent’s Park: Friday 23rd February, 12-1.45pm, setting off from Daunt Books, 84 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4QW, £8-15
On Hampstead Heath: Sunday 25th February, 11.30-1pm, setting off from Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB, £8-15
On Zoom: Monday 26th February, 8-8.40pm, £1-10
On Our Reading Radar: Friday 1st March, 1.30-2pm: Working the land Join this month’s discussion thread to share your cultural highlights from the month, as well as your recommendations on the theme of WORKING THE LAND - What have you read or watched that captures the essence of life working the land?
Buy My Ántonia 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.
You can find details for our first four books of 2024 in this post:
If you’d like to book on to all four of our Spring walking book clubs, you can do so using the buttons below. N.B. The March Regent’s Park walk is only being sold via Daunt as part of the Daunt Books Festival.
Happy reading!
Emily
When I listened to the Book Club podcast in your link it reminded me that I’d found out about The Ginger Tree from a R4 Book Club programme about 6 years ago in which Diana Rigg said it was her favourite book. It sounded right up my street and I got a secondhand copy which I devoured immediately. A real hidden gem.
I listened to a podcast discussing the BBC adaptation. Unfortunately, nothing good was said of it, which maybe is why it's not been made more accessible. But the book is great. It's one I saw in a charity shop months ago. I was interested but sure I'd never get round to it, so I'm pleased it's made a second appearance and that there are others discovering it with me. Thanks also for sharing related content, the 1978 review in particular. :)