All Saints was the title under discussion at the Book Club’s March meeting. This is American author Liam Callanan’s second novel and is narrated by Emily – a fifty-something theology teacher, working at a Catholic high school. Callanan introduces us to Emily’s complicated and unconventional past to illuminate the difficulties she experiences in later life and in her present relationships. Emily struggles to atone for her past mistakes and ironically this creates her present crisis. The unusual style makes the book difficult to engage with, but is interesting for the inclusion of histories of various unknown saints. This device draws parallels with modern life and poses questions about the qualities which make a modern day saint. Emily is a very unconventional character – and certainly no saint in traditional terms – but the book failed to hit the mark for our group.

The members claimed the story was hard to get into – the style was confusing, the plot convoluted, and they remarked that there was no structure. They felt no affinity with the characters, commenting that the writer failed to give them any depth. The group disliked the disjointed style of All Saints and ultimately felt there was no point to many events in the book. For the members, the ending was a disappointment as they had hoped for a resolution but concluded there was no real explanation for the use of certain characters or their stories.

The next Book Club meeting will take place on Thursday April 10th at 7 p.m

The Book Club celebrated its first birthday this month with a little party at the meeting. The club reminisced over the various books they read over the past twelve months as part of the club. Some provided good memories but there were others they would rather forget! Here is an overview:

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
A Crime in the Neighbourhood – Suzanne Berne
Carry Me Down – M.J Hyland
The Butcher Boy – Patrick McCabe
The Dead School – Patrick McCabe
Left Bank – Kate Muir
Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
When We Were Orphans – Kazuo Ishiguro
The Witch of Portobello – Paulo Coelho
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
We Need to Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver
The Pilot’s Wife – Anita Shreve
Suite Francaise – Irene Nemirovsky
Perfume – Patrick Suskind
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Other Side of the Bridge – Mary Lawson

It was difficult to single out one particular recommended title but Suite Francaise, The Pilot’s Wife and The Kite Runner were all well received by the members. Never Let Me Go also provided a great discussion among the group