John of John

 

John of John by Douglas Stuart was our novel for September.  We met just last night and I am having trouble remembering whether we all loved it.  Most of us did.  We found that Stuart developed the characters in a way that we experienced their many different attributes- their best sides, their worst sides and their loveable sides.  Stuart is able to describe sexual repression and the displacement of that energy.  Relationships between characters are complicated and intense with triangulation and its instability permeating throughout.  Stuart also draws us into the isolated and particular culture of a small island where stepping outside of the norm is very difficult with repercussions of isolation and loneliness.  

We all agreed that this novel is a masterpiece.  Next month we are reading Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout.  We are meeting October 27th at 5:30 at Chrysanne's.  

Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81347913261?pwd=v1fB4Ah3gy2xycXfjrdu0KYA00gnbb.1

Text Cindy for password.

And Remember- next time everyone brings 2 suggestions for books!

The Trees

 

Naomi, Mindy's sister recommended The Awakening Land series by Conrad Richter.  We started with The Trees, written in 1940 about a family who move to Ohio Valley after the Revolutionary War (1795) from Pennsylvania. The family settles amongst the trees, building a rudimentary cabin and establishing a new life in land previously settled by Native Americans.  The Trees is a beautifully written historical and fictional account of beginning anew for a family.  Sayward, the eldest daughter becomes the leader guiding the family and managing their survival.  Richter researched the language and idioms used at that time and the book is a unique record of historical conversational sayings.  

Our historical buffs loved this novel.  Sayward was admired by all our readers as a strong, resilient female in the midst of a male dominated world.  Those of us who read all the books were enamored, while for others, one novel was enough!

Next month we are reading John of John by Douglas Stuart.  We are meeting at Terry and Debbie's on September 28th at 5:30.

The Island of the Missing Trees

 

Don Hillman is back!  

June brought us to Cyprus and London for Elif Shafak's The Island of the Missing Trees.  This novel is notable for its exploration of intergenerational trauma experienced by people, the trees and animals.  Love and loss are consistent themes that are explored by their effects on each character and on a fig tree that survives and is reborn.  This novel reflects the deep reaching disruption of conflict and war in relationships between people and their land.  

We had mixed reviews by Greater Westford Literary Society members.  Some of the magical realism felt out of place to some of our readers.  Others loved having a Fig tree as a main character and found some of the sentences just beautifully written.

Next we are reading The Awakening Land series- specifically The Trees by Conrad Richter. Optional is the read the other two: The Fields and The Town.

Martyr!

 

May brought us together over some amazing coconut curry and quinoa salad made by Lexi at Chrysanne's house.  We read Martyr by Kaveh Akbar and I am going to try to capture the discussion- which was a good one.  Lexi led by talking about one of the lines and themes in the book which was about how in relationships there is a feeder and an eater.  This is a universal truth that we pondered in our own relationships and in the relationships of Cyrus, his father, mother, friends and lovers.  

While it was a difficult read about a main character who seeks a meaningful death after tumultuous experiences  with addiction and then recovery,  combined with the issues of being an Iranian immigrant. Cyrus's  parents sought a better life through their immigration, but were they better off in the end?  We felt it was hard to read some of the struggles through the addiction and  the sadness of finding Cyrus's mother. Finally, the struggles of navigating sexuality and finding meaning were painful to read.  

This novel comes at a crucial time when we are at war as a country with Iran and our President has just announced that 'an entire civilization will be destroyed. ' This novel is centered around an event in 1988 when Iranian Flight 655 is shot down by the US- 290 people were killed, including 69 children.  This event in the novel results in the believed death of Cyrus's mother, the move to the United States and his father's under employment on a chicken farm in Indiana.  The parallels to current day, senseless bombings of a primary school are uncanny and the notion that a civilization that is so similiar to our own is being threatened to be destroyed.  We felt sad, frustrated and unsettled.

Next month, we are reading The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak.  We are meeting at Cindy's at 5:30 on 6/29/2026.  Don will join us remotely.  Cindy will send a link.  

The Land in Winter

 We read The Land in Winter for March.  This was a very interesting book that no one in our group loved, however, the reading inspired a great discussion.  The novel is considered an historical novel that covers a record breaking cold winter in 1962-63 in England.  In addition, the main characters are influenced by having parents and colleagues who were traumatized by WWII.  The novel captures the oppression  of the early 60's of marriage, career, socio-economic class and access to education.  The main female characters are isolated, pregnant and unable to freely follow their dreams.  The men are restless, unhappy and searching for something more.  Altogether, it is a story of restlessness and isolation.  We thought the writing was good, but didn't understand what the author was trying to capture, except these historical moments.  No one could find a favorite character and it all felt very sad.  

Our dear friend and bookclub member of 29 years, Mindy Evnin died. and we devoted this bookclub meeting to "What would Mindy think."  It is safe to say that Mindy was direct and no nonsense.  She would have agreed with our discussion and would have had little patience for the sort of accepted suffering of the characters in this novel.

Our next meeting is on May 11th and we are reading Martryed by Kaveh Akbar.  We will meet at Chrysanne's and Lexi is making dinner! 5:30!

The Trees

 February brought us to Terry and Debbie's house reading The Trees by Percival Everett.  We had read James by Percival Everett and loved it.  This novel, published in 2021 is a satire focusing on racism and police brutality. We talked about how the author can bring our attention to the injustices, violence and unfairnesses in our history and present in a way that keeps us engaged and thinking.  we were also struck by his creation of circumstances that are happening now in 2026! This led to some handwringing of what is to come in our politically tumultuous time. Thankfully, we were able to drown our worries with icecream and chose The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller.  We are meeting at Chrysanne's on April 13th at 5:30. 

Isola

 In January, we read Isola by Goodman.  I think just one of us enjoyed it.  While we appreciated the historical tale, we were not moved to identify with the characters. Our discussion was short and we enjoyed Allan's cooking.  Next book is The Trees by Percival Everett. We are meeting at Terry's and Debbie's February 16 at 5:30.