GROUP CONVENOR – Christine Wright
We meet on the third Wednesday of the month at 1.00 pm in the Assembly Room at St Austell Arts Centre. If you enjoy reading and discussing the book you have read, come along and join us.
NB This group is now at capacity. Please contact the Group Convenor via the below form if you would like to be added to a waiting list.
Below are details of our recently read books.
March 2024 Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
This book generated a wide variety of opinion. It is a tale of a small-town community in a coastal area of Australia and centres around the local school, especially the kindergarten class, and has been made into a successful TV series. The themes of the story are friendship, family, loyalty with some disturbing issues of physical and mental abuse thrown in and is told mainly through the experiences of three women – Madeline, Celeste and Jane.
The reader knows from the beginning that there will be a murder on the school trivia night but intriguingly, there is no hint of who will be the victim. Before each chapter there is a “Greek chorus” of parents giving their opinions on the fateful school trivia night which draws the reader in and helps establish the identities and relationships of characters as the story unfolds.
The lives of the three women are explored in detail including their relationships with partners/husbands and children “behind closed doors” and is a snapshot of the “yummy mummy” stereotype and their behaviour which is often more like squabbling children than responsible adults. This is at times, very funny. It covers the friendships, rivalries, affairs, good and bad parenting and the “keeping up with the Jones” behaviour. In the midst of all this are the children who are all affected in some way by these interactions. It also successfully covers the issue of abuse, both domestic and “one-off” and the serious impact this has on the lives of the abused and abusers. This becomes more and more significant as the story progresses.
It was also reminiscent of J.K. Rowling’s book “The Casual Vacancy” which starts with a death of a good man whose demise opens the floodgates for the tearing apart of a community and a tragic ending. This book ends with the death of someone whose loss could be seen as beneficial to the community and allows the rather neat conclusion.
Some members’ comments:
“As a grandparent having already relived again those crucial years with my own daughters’ families the book is a very detailed, humorous and cliched account of middle-class yummy mummies”
“Some of the subject matter is disturbing but realistic. The children handle situations better and are more sensible than the adults”
“It makes you aware of the wider effects of words and actions within the many different scenarios being played out, like pebbles making ripples and waves and bumping into each other”
“I enjoyed this book. I liked the main female characters in particular, Madeline. She made me laugh out loud. The description of the behaviour and comments of her teenage daughter was hilarious.”
“The main female characters were very distinct and well-drawn. I could picture them though I have not seen the TV series. I found the depiction of domestic abuse very thought provoking.”
“I enjoyed this book immensely. Lianne Moriarty deftly combines a satirical swipe at playground politics with a thoughtful exploration of female friendship and violence against women.”
“I think I was put off from the start by the subject matter of this book, mostly about yuppy sounding mummies and daddies gossiping, criticising, bitching about each other and their primary school kiddies, clothes, behaviour etc.”
“I enjoyed this book on the whole. I thought the characters were well portrayed, as was the description of Celeste’s abusive relationship, Madeline‘s problems with a teenage daughter who was trying to cope with split loyalties, and Jane’s problems coping as a single parent. But it was only the author’s clever withholding of the outcome on trivia night that kept me going. I found the build-up rather tedious and was most disappointed with the finale.”
February 2024 EDUCATED by Tara Westover
This was a memoir written from personal journals and memories of a girl who grew up in a fundamentalist Mormon family in rural Idaho. She was not allowed to go to school, see a doctor and did not have a birth certificate until she was 9 years old. Her father is an uneducated bully and tyrant who uses the Mormon religion to justify his violence and control. It is a harrowing and often violent account of Tara’s life, her family and the domination of a father whose extreme beliefs affect everyone. Tara had no formal education but spent time with her brother Tyler who left the family to pursue his education. Although self-taught, she came to realise that education was important to her and so began a long and difficult journey trying to find a way.
She finally escapes into the world of proper education where her intelligence is recognised
and she thrives, although the guilt she carries around from her strict upbringing and
necessary estrangement from her family end up in her having a nervous breakdown. She
never really throws off her early indoctrination and constantly wonders if she should return
to her roots.
Some comments from the group:
“I was amazed at what Tara achieved by rising above a very unusual family”
“I found the book uplifting as it mirrored my own view on education but also very scary
because it so clearly demonstrates a whole aspect of the States that can produce such
fanaticism”
“I found this a compelling read about growing up in a fundamentalist and survivalist family
in rural Idaho. I enjoyed it for its glimpse into a world far beyond my experience but also for
its exploration of the universal themes of education, memory and the ties of home.”
“This account of the authors early life Is brilliantly told. Her struggle to find acceptance in
such a dysfunctional family makes harrowing reading. Her determination to self-educate
herself is mind blowing.”
“I can only endorse all the positive reviews printed in the book covers – a book I will never
forget.”
“Educated” is a long saga involving a theme we have covered in other reads in the last two
or three years: the impact of an extreme religious experience on a childhood. We have read other books in the last few years based around the Mormon religion (eg. Issy Bradley). But the interesting thing about “Educated “is the context of America in contrast to the UK, the isolation of some communities, the passion and poverty and how cults survive.”
“Saved by her enlightened professor who persuaded her to write her PhD on the History of
Mormonism in modern times.”
“To me, this book showed again the scary side of religion in this case, the Mormon faith. It
was a difficult read, but worthwhile in the end”
“Despite the fact that I didn’t actually like this book, it cannot be denied that that Tara
Westbrook should be admired for pulling herself away from her background of extreme
religious beliefs, unrecognised mental health issues, violence and distorted love”
Previous Reviews can be seen HERE
We are happy for you to come to a Coffee Morning or one main Monthly Meeting and to attend one individual group (with the exception of groups that require pre-booking and ticket purchases) before deciding whether to join St Austell u3a.
Please always contact the Group Convenor to ensure the session is going ahead.
