Hamm Court Book Club – Page 25 – For the enjoyment of friends, books and wine …

Do no Harm by Henry Marsh

Book Description

An astonishingly candid insight into the life and work of a modern neurosurgeon – its triumphs and disasters.

About the Author

Henry Marsh read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University before studying medicine at the Royal Free Hospital in London. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1984 and was appointed Consultant Neurosurgeon at Atkinson Morley’s/St George’s Hospital in London in 1987, where he still works full time. He has been the subject of two major documentary films, YOUR LIFE IN THEIR HANDS, which won the ROYAL TELEVISION SOCIETY GOLD MEDAL, and THE ENGLISH SURGEON, featuring his work in the Ukraine, which won an EMMY. He was made a CBE in 2010. He is married to the anthropologist and writer Kate Fox.

Elaine 9
Cai 9
Christine 8
June 8
Trude 8
Pauline 9
Sally 8
Janine 9
Janet 6
Jane 8

Station Eleven by Emily St.John Mandel

What was lost in the collapse:

almost everything, almost everyone, but there is still such beauty.

One snowy night in Toronto famous actor Arthur Leander dies on stage whilst performing the role of a lifetime. That same evening a deadly virus touches down in North America.

The world will never be the same again.

Twenty years later Kirsten, an actress in the Travelling Symphony, performs Shakespeare in the settlements that have grown up since the collapse.

But then her newly hopeful world is threatened.

If civilization was lost, what would you preserve?

And how far would you go to protect it?

Trude 8
Elaine 7
Janet 6
Janine 4
Christine 7
June 7
Cai 5
Sally 9
Jane 7
Rebecca 7
Pauline 7

How to make a friend by Fleur Smithwick

As a lonely child, Alice found comfort the same way so many others do – she invented a friend. Sam was always there when she needed him, until one day…he wasn’t.
Now, Alice’s life almost resembles something happy, normal. She has a handful of close friends and a career as a photographer. But when a tragic accident shatters the world Alice has constructed, the sense of isolation that haunted her in childhood returns. And with it, so does Sam.
To Alice, he looks and feels like a real person, but how can that be so? And who will decide when it’s time for him to leave again?

First of all we must thank Cai for introducing us to the author, and inviting her to the Book Club evening. Fleur was a delightful guest and it was a pleasure to meet her and gain some insight into the trials and tribulations of a budding author. And Trude, write that book!

Scores on the doors were:

Janine 7
Elaine 8
Pauline 9
June 5
Sally 8
Cai 7
Trude 7
Jane 7
Rebecca 8
Janet 7

The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop

In the summer of 1972, Famagusta in Cyprus is the most desirable resort in the Mediterranean, a city bathed in the glow of good fortune. An ambitious couple open the island’s most spectacular hotel, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots work in harmony. Two neighbouring families, the Georgious and the Özkans, are among many who moved to Famagusta to escape the years of unrest and ethnic violence elsewhere on the island. But beneath the city’s façade of glamour and success, tension is building.

When a Greek coup plunges the island into chaos, Cyprus faces a disastrous conflict. Turkey invades to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority, and Famagusta is shelled. Forty thousand people seize their most precious possessions and flee from the advancing soldiers. In the deserted city, just two families remain. This is their story.

Christine 8
Rebecca 9
Cai 6
Jane 5
Sally 7
June 5
trude 6
Janet 6
Pauline 7
Elaine 5

Hello from the Gillespies by Monica McInerey

For the last thirty years, Angela Gillespie’s annual Christmas letter has been full of her family’s triumphs. But this year Angela surprises everyone, including herself – she tells the truth.
Angela’s husband is in the throes of a mid-life crisis. Her grown-up daughters are more out of control than ever. And her youngest child spends all of his time talking to an imaginary friend.
With fantasy thoughts of a life before marriage and motherhood becoming more than just an innocent daydream, Angela’s real life is slowly slipping out of focus.
But, as the repercussions of her ruthlessly honest letter begin to pile up, a shocking event takes Angela from her family, and she realises she should have been more careful of what she wished for. . .

Elaine 8

Jane 8

Sally 7

June 6

Trude 4

Christine 7

Janine 9

Rebecca 9

Pauline 8

Janet 8

Cai 8