Jane:

My book club selection for May was Monica Ali’s Brick Lane. Now I know most of the world read it when it first came out in 2003 but it somehow passed me by – and I have to say that it’s aged very well. Which I suppose is the sign of a true classic.

It’s a book that threw me into a culture that was on my doorstep when I lived in London in the 1980s but I knew nothing of. It tells the story of Nazneen, a young Bangladeshi woman who comes to England in an arranged marriage to an older man and charts the changes both in her life and that of the immigrant community around her. It’s a richly painted tapestry of experiences which, while not surprising to me, were worlds – if not miles – away from my life. Sometimes that can be an uncomfortable experience, but the characters were so rounded and real the book was an absolute joy and I thoroughly recommend it.

By way of setting, Rosanna Ley’s The Lemon Tree Hotel was a complete contrast. Rosanna is one of my favourite authors so this book was always going to be a pleasure. The story wraps itself around the lives of four Italian women; a grandmother, mother, daughter and close family friend, and although there are secrets and love and a few surprises along the way, it is the bonds that unite – and divide – them, which give the story its impetus.

The relationships between the women in The Lemon Tree Hotel are real, not saccharine in any way. The issues that arise within families, the conflicting loyalties, the misunderstandings but overall the love, whether easily expressed or not. All these and more play out between the generations as change creeps into the beautiful village of Vernazza.

In many ways this book was as different as it was possible to be from Brick Lane, but in both the women stand centre stage across the generations and the skilful way their lives are played out by both authors is what keeps you reading to the end.

 

Susanna:

With A Sister’s Shame Carol Rivers has constructed a dramatic and involving plot in a detailed and atmospheric setting. There is an undercurrent of menace throughout and my fingers itched to give Vesta a good shake as, blinded by love and ambition, she threw herself headlong into the new life everyone warned her against.

This is also a tale of relationships in various forms – the bond between twins; long-lasting friendship that turns friends in family; and romance, both real and imagined, one leading to lasting love, the other to a relationship based on control.

Having read and enjoyed A Sister’s Shame some time ago, this time round I listened to it, read by Annie Aldington, who is an experienced and skilled narrator, who brings character and atmosphere to the telling.

 

Kitty:

This month I haven’t read as much I would like but I have discovered the joy of the audiobook, which I’m finding so addictive that I’m not getting much else done. That, of course, is Susanna Bavin’s fault for her excellent new book, The Sewing Room Girl, which I can’t stop listening to.

I did however have the pleasure of reading the second in Terri Nixon’s Penhaligon series, Penhaligon’s Pride and once again loved the way she describes the elemental nature of Cornwall and the strength of communities within it. A fabulous book.

I also read Mary Jane Baker’s A Bicycle Made for Two, a romcom set in Yorkshire and written with such sharp wit that she had me giggling loudly. She is now one of my favourite authors within the genre.