Last meeting was on Thurs 22nd May. This month we all chose the same book - quirky title 'The Voluptuous delight of peanut butter and jam '– Lauren Liebenberg.
Everyone enjoyed this book and would recommend it to other groups – *don’t read this review if you don’t want to know what happens. A deeply moving story of life in Rhodesia (pre Mugable) where the first stirrings of unrest are beginning to be felt, told from the viewpoint of the elder of two young girls - sisters. A magical childhood with evocative descriptions of the wild, nature, animals and a way of life now disappeared. Family secrets hinted at heighten the girls’ curiousity and the mystery is solved by the arrival of a family ‘skeleton’ in the shape of their illegitimate cousin. Legends and a mixture of religion and paganism shape the girls' lives and all is how childhood should be – freedom and fantasy until Ronin, with his cruel nature begins to cause problems. In fact, as soon as they got the little dog and were so happy with it, I knew the animal was doomed. The sadness in the family is heartbreaking until Nyree the elder sister, eventually starts to come to terms with her sister, cias' death. The group agreed that although it was a choice we didn’t think we’d enjoy, it was ‘unputdownable’. Different story about a different way of life.
Another interesting entirely different item was something Keith brought from NLW. A borrower brought some old documents in and just left them with staff, explaining they'd belonged to his Dad. The main item was a 6ft long map of Earlstown and the old railway, offices and factories started by a 'Mr. Earl' - Earlstown - (the clues are there!) Some places are identifiable, some have now got Tesco on top of them - one intriguing placename - 'Lark Hill ' about which we could find no information. Any very old borrowers out there (older than me) with any knowledge of this place? At that time, (l1800's ) was surrounded by lots of trees, maybe to the West of the marketplace?