Scores on the doors:
Jane 9
Pauline C 9
Elaine E 10
Rebecca H 9
Janet J 7
Janine J 6 (speed read)
Sally M 9
Cai M 9
Christine P 9
Trude S. 8
June T 9
For the enjoyment of friends, books and wine …
Scores on the doors:
Jane 9
Pauline C 9
Elaine E 10
Rebecca H 9
Janet J 7
Janine J 6 (speed read)
Sally M 9
Cai M 9
Christine P 9
Trude S. 8
June T 9
1940: The Spanish Civil War is over, and Madrid lies ruined, its people starving, while the Germans continue their relentless march through Europe. Britain now stands alone while General Franco considers whether to abandon
neutrality and enter the war. Into this uncertain world comes Harry Brett: a traumatised veteran of Dunkirk turned reluctant spy for the British Secret Service. Sent to gain the confidence of old schoolfriend Sandy Forsyth, now a
shady Madrid businessman, Harry finds himself involved in a dangerous game – and surrounded by memories. Meanwhile Sandy’s girlfriend, ex-Red Cross nurse Barbara Clare, is engaged on a secret mission of her own – to find her former lover Bernie Piper, a passionate Communist in the international Brigades, who vanished on the bloody battlefields of the Jarama. In a vivid and haunting depiction of
wartime Spain, Winter in Madrid is an intimate and compelling tale which offers a remarkable sense of history unfolding, and the profound impact of impossible
choices. ‘Sansom adroitly draws the disparate strands of his ambitious saga together. His non-pareil evocations of time and place anchor his characters with satisfying precision’ Independent
Scores on the doors:
Jane 8
Pauline C 8
Elaine E 8
Rebecca H 6
Janet J 8
Janine J 9
Sally M 6 or 7
Cai M 6
Christine P 7
Trude S. 7
June T 5
Renee is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building, home to members of the great and the good. Over the years she has maintained her carefully constructed persona as someone reliable but totally uncultivated, in keeping, she feels, with society s expectations of what a concierge should be. But beneath this façade lies the real Renée: passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their outwardly successful but emotionally void lives. Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Renée lives resigned to her lonely lot with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma Josse is determined to avoid the pampered and vacuous future laid out for her, and decides to end her life on her thirteenth birthday. But unknown to them both, the sudden death of one of their privileged neighbours will dramatically alter their lives forever. The Gourmet, Muriel Barbery’s first novel is published on 1st September 2009.
Scores on the doors:
Jane 8
Pauline C 6
Elaine E 6
Rebecca H ?
Janet J 6
Janine J 6
Sally M 7
Cai M 8
Christine P 7
Trude S. ?
June T 6