GROUP CONVENOR – Christine Wright
We meet on the first 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.
December 2024 The Millstone by Margaret Drabble
This story is about the amazing freedom just beginning for women and girls in post war Britain – the “Swinging Sixties”. Rosamunde is a good-looking, independent, strong-minded, well-educated and employed young woman living in her parents’ flat whilst they are living in Africa. She is also an innocent, trusting, vulnerable virgin gadding about London in the early 60s. Though giving the impression of confidence, she is really inexperienced and naïve.
After a long, unconsummated relationship with her former boyfriend, the story is about her ironic determination to do something about her virginity and she finally has sex with George – an interesting, enigmatic man whom she really likes. Unfortunately, she falls pregnant and has to decide what to do about it. She does not tell George nor disclose the father to her friends. She contemplates aborting the baby (gin and a hot bath was the prevailing myth at the time!) but after much soul-searching decides she will keep the baby.
She is in the fortunate position of having plenty of friends, a secure home and a good income as a university graduate doing a PhD on Elizabethan sonnet sequences. Her friend Lydia who has nowhere to live, moves in with her rent-free in exchange for future babysitting duties. A very different situation to that of many unmarried mothers at the time. Although supported by her doctor, who is a friend of her parents, her experiences of the prejudices of maternity staff and other married mothers is a shock to her system. The midwives treat her unkindly and even tie a “U” at the bottom of her bed for “unmarried”. The maternity ward also highlighted the gulf between herself and (often depressed) women having their 3rd or 4th child due to lack of effective contraception.
Octavia is born and Rosamunde’s life changes dramatically. Here is the real love story. It is supposed that the “Millstone” in the title is the baby – but although this could easily refer to others’ views of single parenthood, it was certainly not the case for Rosamunde. Her only decision left – should she tell George? Differing views from members……..
Some comments from members
“Clearly a strong feminist tome describing a pre” Beatle “early 60’s and one realises how life has changed both culturally and the way institutions operate; attitudes towards single motherhood etc. We follow the main character with some anxiety as she makes her decision to have a child and defy the norms of the time and accept adoption. The unexpected finale when the child’s father could have been told demonstrates the mother’s courage in preserving her freedom of self.”
“There were many twists in the plot, which seemed quite unrealistic to me – going on a one-night stand after a long unconsummated sexual relationship with her former boyfriend just didn’t make sense. Rosamunde does not reveal to us how she kept the identity of Octavia’s father from her friends. The reaction of her parents to the news of Octavia’s birth does not ring true to me. How she completed a thesis and held down a job with a small baby, however well-behaved it was, beat me and even if she didn’t want anything more to do with George, I find it extraordinary that she did not give him the chance to know of her existence.”
“Although we knew from early on that she does not marry George I was disappointed with the ending. She wanted to keep Octavia for herself, but I think George had a right to know of the existence of his daughter. For me, a very disappointing ending.” “I found her constant thoughts of George sad until a chance meeting at the end of the book resulting in a polite, though poignant conversation, with Octavia sleeping peacefully between them. How she could not tell him she was his, and how he did not ask, I found too neat an ending. The strong single-person statehood that developed apace from the arrival of the pill in 1967 seems to have been born with this book.”
“I recognised the streets in London, I used to go to a café in in Upper Regent Street, the British Museum, Unwins, the off-licence and Selfridges….. Going to the ante-natal clinic where they don’t actually tell you anything about having the baby or how to care for it! She worked on her own, she lived on her own she was a single parent. Her philosophy was very matter of fact, no high expectations of people or life”
“If she had been from a different background with fewer advantages, she probably wouldn’t have been able to make these bold choices, she may have had to consider the trauma of ending the pregnancy or consider adoption”
“Sociology, class systems, prejudices run through the story. I’m not sure what the millstone is. I thought it would be the baby but the baby strengthens her and enhances her personality.”
November 2024 Dadland by Keggie Carew
This book was particularly relevant to some members of the group who had first hand experience of living with a family member suffering from dementia and their contribution in our meeting was very much appreciated by everyone.
The author is the daughter of Tom Carew, and this book is the biographical story of her father following his life from a young, vibrant, charismatic man to an elderly one with dementia who dies aged 89.
Tom served in an elite force called the Jedburghs during WW2, these were 3 man bands who were carefully selected for the particular qualities required to work behind enemy lines, disrupting the enemy and liaising with the local resistance on the ground. The work was extremely dangerous, selfless and invaluable to the war effort. He continued his role after VE day, when was sent to Burma to fight the Japanese.
He was a charismatic leader, fearless, strong, brave and highly regarded being awarded the highest honour – a DSO – for his service to his country. He had an amazing life and was married 3 times with 4 children.
Sadly, he develops dementia in his 80s and inevitably his memories and fierce independence slowly fade. He is initially aware of his own deterioration and becomes increasingly frustrated, writing himself little notes and letters which give the reader an insight into what he is going through.
The story is how Keggie researches his life story through archives, clips, letters and diaries of her grandfather and is a moving tale of living with someone with dementia. It contains harrowing details of war but is interspersed with humorous anecdotes about her dad which helped offset the horrors of what he went through.
Comments from members of the group:
“A long exhausting but gripping long read a mix of biography, autobiography and pyschodrama involving class angst and being Irish ! His daughter is in awe of his charisma, charming, fun personality and his extraordinary energy and need for adventure. He was clearly the man for the job for special wartime operations behind enemy lines. It is clear this persona is not so easily suited to ordinary life. Three unsuitable marriages, dysfunctional family life for his children, clearly a philanderer unable to find effective peacetime employment, stable housing and sense of wellbeing sadly culminates with dementia in the final phase of his life. He is lovingly cared for by daughter who crafts this story of his life.”
“The story has particular resonance for me in relation to the wartime Burma campaign. My dad was an army officer training and organising Indian soldiers taking supplies by horse and mule through the Burma Jungle. My wife’s father was an Army Doctor decorated for working in the Burma front line even treating Japanese POWs. My partner who I care for with Alzheimers has recall of her father being very like the subject of the book. He led a very unsettled life and refused ever to work for the postwar NHS!”
“Wow! How I enjoyed this book! I don’t know where to begin with praise for this author. I romped through the book, enjoying every page. I liked her style of writing building up the picture of Tom Carew ‘s life. I liked her descriptive passages -short but meaningful.
Besides giving us colourful descriptions of episodes in her father’s life she covers the history so skilfully of the troubles in Ireland, the Second World War guerrilla activities in France and Burma and the Burmese fight for independence. I liked the way she put the documentation which backed up her father’s escapades in the text and not as an appendix.
Tom Carew was not a person I would have taken to had he been an acquaintance of mine (I’m a great advocate of sticking to the rules!) but Keggie builds up a great picture of his character, warts and all, which I found fascinating to read.
But there is another story running through this book, just as fascinating – that of living with a loved one with dementia. Her handling of the situation is to be admired and it was a delight to read. Her story of meeting her father under the clock at Waterloo still makes me laugh – a story I am retelling at dinner parties already. “
“Keggie Carew’s research into the logistics of the war in France and Burma is to be commended, – details of how supplies were dropped by parachute and harrowing descriptions of the carnage of war. I found the historical facts the most interesting. The Special Operations and the Jedburgh units were not known about at the time because they came under the Official secrets Act. Her father loved the war where he had the freedom to “do his own thing”. He had no respect for authority and no understanding of danger. The work played to his strengths. Civilian life was much more challenging for him – he had no idea about money and expected everyone to help him and love him. However, the book was too long and I only finished it because it was the Book Group book.”
“I had never heard of this book but quite quickly became fascinated and drawn into the biography of Tom Carew, the heroic WW2 member of the Jedburgh group. I liked the way the author interspersed factual accounts, her own interpretation and feelings, diary extracts and the atmospheric aura from so many black and white photographs into the whole story. It is only when he is 86, having lost his wife and suffering from dementia that she becomes obsessed with telling his story.
He was clearly a maverick with buckets of charm and a high level of intelligence receiving the DSO for spectacular bravery, parachuting into enemy territory, befriending the locals and averting many disasters for the Allies. This book made me think about those soldiers demobbed in 1945 and how they coped – or not – with peacetime.
The mixture of humour, sadness and excitement of the “Jeds” in their work revealed a lot to me about WW2 and I found the book a fascinating, page turning read.”
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.
