Held in The Old Workhouse Bar on the first Thursday of the month at 7.30 pm. New members welcome. The book choice for November is:- " The Two of Us, My life with John Thaw " by Sheila Hancock. . THE BOOK REVIEW "THE SHADOW OF THE WIND" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Our choice for this month appeared to split our readers into 2 camps, those who loved it and those who hated it, in fact, one reader said she couldn't put the book down and one said she couldn't pick it up ! . This is a very long book, translated from the Spanish by Lucia Graves. The story is set in the late 40s and early 50s in the aftermath of the Spanish civil war and revolves around Daniel Sempere- the son of a struggling bookseller- who, at the age of 10, is taken to the "Cemetery of forgotten books " and allowed to choose one book. His choice " The Shadow of the Wind " by Julian Carax is the start of his obsession with the mysterious author and a long chain of events including violence, murder, love and mystery. A long list of characters are gradually introduced including the enigmatic Fermin Romero de Torres who comes to work in the Sempere bookshop, the rich bookseller Gustavo Barcelo and his blind daughter Clara, the sinister Police Inspector Fumero and a badly disfigured stranger desperate to obtain Daniel's book. Apart from finding the book rather long and , at times, unbelievable I considered it a thoroughly engrossing read which kept up an element of suspense to the end. I enjoyed the style of writing and the descriptions of both people and places. K Miners |