News from the book group

 

We have a lot in store for the next four months.

Do join us.

Our April Book shared the warmth of Sicily and richness of the writing as The Leopard seemed to sing to everyone’s hearts and will number among people’s top 10 books.  Everyone talked about the book with enthusiasm and such appreciation of the novel and we felt really blessed to have finally read it.

 

Set in the 1860s, The Leopard tells the spellbinding story of a decadent, dying Sicilian aristocracy threatened by the approaching forces of democracy and revolution. The dramatic sweep and richness of observation, the seamless intertwining of public and private worlds, and the grasp of human frailty imbue The Leopard with its particular melancholy beauty and power, and place it among the greatest historical novels of our time.

Although Giuseppe di Lampedusa had long had the book in mind, he began writing it only in his late fifties; he died at age sixty, soon after the manuscript was rejected as unpublishable. In his introduction, Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi, Lampedusa's nephew, gives us a detailed history of the initial publication and the various editions that followed. And he includes passages Lampedusa wrote for the book that were omitted by the original Italian editors.

 

 

In May, we meet again to discuss our reflections on: 

The Dry by Jane Harper. 

The meeting is on Thursday 18^th May, 2.30 at Pam’s.

 

Luke Hadler turns a gun on his wife and child, then himself. The farming community of Kiewarra is facing life and death choices daily. If one of their own broke under the strain, well...

When Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to Kiewarra for the funerals, he is loath to confront the people who rejected him twenty years earlier. But when his investigative skills are called on, the facts of the Hadler case start to make him doubt this murder-suicide charge.

And as Falk probes deeper into the killings, old wounds start bleeding into fresh ones. For Falk and his childhood friend Luke shared a secret... A secret Falk thought long-buried... A secret which Luke's death starts to bring to the surface...  

June 15^th, the theme is Marriage.  Choose any book, however closely related to the subject of marriage and any type of marriage 'the biggest commitment two people can make to each other'.

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July 20^th  We discuss Cross Channel by Julian Barnes.

These are short stories so read as many or as few as you wish, to discuss. In these stories, Julian Barnes takes as his universal theme the British in France - the fascination with the country, the reasons for being there, and the sometimes ambiguous reception. Maybe some of us can find and laugh at ourselves here?

 

KEEP THE DATE;
August 17^th will be our annual Garden Party with lots of bubbles and books to swop and talk about. Get prepared by sorting out the  good condition and used books which are using space on your shelves which could be filled with new and enticing tales.

It's Mother's Day in France on 28th May..

 

Wishing Happy Mother's Day French style....

 

 

Did you know that the celebration of Mothers' Day started in the early 20th century in the US and it is not related to other celebrations of Mothers and Motherhood e.g. Christian Mothering Sunday, Greet cult of Cybele, or the Roman festival of Hilaria. In fact it's a purely commercial event but it does remind us to show our appreciation for our Mothers (or even be appreciated and spoiled) at least once a year.

 In France Mother's Day is the last Sunday in May so we can celebrate our Mothers twice. How do you celebrate in your native country?

 

 

 

 

Garden Club Visit to Lasbadies in Moncrabeau

The Garden Club enjoyed a wonderful visit to the open garden at Lasbadies on May 11th.

Despite the forecast, the storm held off and  all enjoyed this stunning garden, with beautiful planting topped with magnificent views. It was a mix of Old England and Tuscany with features varying from David Austin type roses to Italian sundials set around a beautifully sturdy Gascon house with Irises galore. We didn't manage to name half the plants.

It's a newish garden as in 1998 the site was a field of wild flowers with a ruin needing much attention. To provide shelter in such an exposed situation the garden was divided into different spaces each protected by hedges or a structure to create garden rooms each with its own character. 

The rooms include a large cobbled area with rill, a fountain and herbaceous beds bordered by a white wisteria and rose walk on one side and a raised hornbeam hedge on the other. 

Other rooms include a smaller circular garden with sculpture, cypressus and more vibrant planting, a box parterre, a potager and a secluded space with pool and abri. The roooms wrap round the house and are linked by paths, grassed areas and hedges giving a strong structure to the garden throughout the year.

Tea and gorgeous cakes with great conversations about gardening and plants we have known finished off a delightful time spent amongst friends and we thank Pat and Caroline for finding it for us.

 

We donated the proceeds from our trip to the children's leukaemia fund.

 

For those who missed it the garden can be viewed by appointment with Jenifer Story; Lieu dit Lasbadies
47600 Moncrabeau.  France. 05 53 65 60 54