Angela Young

Guest: Angela Young, Author of 'Speaking of Love'. This book has been shortlisted for 'The Book to
Talk About', in association with World Book Day- 6th March 2008.

Competition Q: What day of the week does Mother's Day fall on this year?
Answer: Sunday
Winners: Anna, London and Uma, Ilford
Prize: Signed copies of 'Speaking of Love'.

Books

After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
In Maggie O'Farrell's gripping debut, Alice Raikes, a grieving young widow,takes a train from London
to visit her family in Scotland. But after witnessing something shocking in the restroom at the
station, she abruptly heads back to London without a word, leaving her sisters perplexed.A few hours
later, Alice steps out into traffic, is hit by a car, and lies in a coma. Was it an accident or a
suicide attempt?Family gathers at her bedside as Alice drifts in and out of consciousness,remembering
her childhood, her first romance, and the love of her life -- her now-deceased husband, John, a
journalist felled by a bomb. Like a lens slowly coming into focus, Alice's voice is blurred with the
voices of her loved ones, until the true image of Alice's identity becomes clear. A fascinating
storyied truths finally come to the surface, After You'd Gone is also a warning of sorts to those
who hold secrets. With searing honesty and depth, Maggie O'Farrell combines a tragic love story with
tension-filled moments of suspense cleverly mixed with the ingredients of coincidence and chance. An
ambitious debut, this first novel promises to break the hearts of those who search the truths lying
within its pages. (Synopsis courtesy www.fantasticfiction.co.uk)

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to
meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden
generosity of a mysterious benefactor - these form a series of events that change the orphaned Pip's
life forever,and he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman.Dickens's
haunting late novel depicts Pip's education and development through adversity as he discovers the
true nature of his 'great expectations'.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
It is 1941 and Captain Antonio Corelli, a young Italian officer, is posted to the Greek island of
Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. At first he is ostracised by the locals, but as a
conscientious but far from fanatical soldier, whose main aim is to have a peaceful war, he proves
in time to be civilised, humorous - and a consummate musician. when the local doctor's daughter's
letters to her fiance go unanswered, the working of the eternal triangle seems inevitable. But can
this fragile love survive as a war of bestial savagery gets closer and the lines are drawn between
invader and defender.

The Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower
It is January 1067. Charismatic bishop Odo of Bayeux decides to commission a wall hanging,on a scale
never seen before, to celebrate his role in the conquest of Britain by his brother, William, Duke of
Normandy. What he cannot anticipate is how utterly this will change his life - even more than the
invasion itself. His life becomes entangled with the women who embroider his hanging, especially
Gytha - handmaiden to the fallen Saxon queen and his sworn enemy. But against their intensions they
fall helplessly in love; in doing so Odo comes into conflict with his king and his God and Gytha
with Odo's enemies, who mistrust her hold over such a powerful man.Friends and family become enemies,enemies become lovers; nothing in life or in the hanging is what it seems. "The Needle in the Blood" is a powerful tale of sex, lies and embroidery.

The Colour by Rose Tremaine
Joseph and Harriet Blackstone emigrate from Norfolk to New Zealand in search of new beginnings and
prosperity. But the harsh land near Christchurch where they settle threatens to destroy them almost
before they begin. When Joseph finds gold in the creek he is seized by a rapturous obsession with
the voluptuous riches awaiting him deep in the earth. Abandoning his farm and family, he sets off
alone for the new gold-fields over the Southern Alps, a moral wilderness where many others, under
the seductive dreams of 'the colour', are violently rushing to their destinies. By turns both moving
and terrifying, it is a story of the quest for the impossible, an attempt to mine the complexities of
love and in the process discover the sacrifices to be made in the pursuit of happiness.

French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
Of all John Fowles' novels "The French Lieutenant's Woman" received the most universal acclaim and
today holds a very special place in the canon of post-war English literature. From the god-like
stance of the nineteenth-century novelist that he both assumes and gently mocks, to the last detail
of dress, idiom and manners, his book is an immaculate recreation of Victorian England. Not only is
it the epic love story of two people of insight and imagination seeking escape from the cant and
tyranny of their age, "The French Lieutenant's Woman" is also a brilliantly sustained allegory of
the decline of the twentieth-century passion for freedom.

The Collector by John Fowles Withdrawn, uneducated and unloved, Frederick collects butterflies and takes photographs. A chance
pools win enables him to capture the art student, Miranda and keep her in the cellar of the Sussex
house he has bought with the windfall. The situation is seen first from the collector's point of
view: he thinks the chloroform pad no more vicious than his butterfly net, and patiently waits for
the barriers of class and taste that inhibit their love to break down in the limbo of their isolation.
She, the creator, desperate for her freedom, tries to be understanding but cannot banish her contempt
for everything anti-life that the collector stands for.

The Magus by John Fowles
On a remote Greek Island, Nicholas Urfe finds himself embroiled in the deceptions of a master
trickster. As reality and illusion intertwine, Urfe is caught up in the darkest of psychological games...John Fowles expertly unfolds a tale that is lush with over-powering imagery in a spellbinding
exploration of the complexities of the human mind. By turns disturbing, thrilling and seductive,

Footprints in the Sand by Sarah Challis
When Emily Kingsley arrives at the church, late and sad, for her Great Aunt Mary's funeral, she has
no idea that her life is about to change completely. Still grieving for her broken relationship with
the vain, mean and unfaithful Ted, and trying to come to terms with the cracks which seem to be
appearing in her parents' marriage, she sobs her heart out in the church. At the wake afterwards,
however, she and her cousin Clemmie are told that Mary has appointed them executors of part of her
Will. They are to transport her ashes to Mali, in western Africa and her final resting place is to
be Timadjlalen, in the Saharan desert. And so begins Emily and Clemmie's adventure -- a journey
that will be the most important of their lives.

Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann
1992: Leo Deakin wakes up in a hospital somewhere in South America, his girlfriend Eleni is dead and
Leo doesn't know where he is or how Eleni died. He blames himself for the tragedy and is sucked into
a spiral of despair. But Leo is about to discover something which will change his life forever.
1917: Moritz Daniecki is a fugitive from a Siberian POW camp. Seven thousand kilometres over the
Russian Steppes separate him from his village and his sweetheart, whose memory has kept him alive
through carnage and captivity. The Great War may be over, but Moritz now faces a perilous journey
across a continent riven by civil war. When Moritz finally limps back into his village to claim the
hand of the woman he left behind, will she still be waiting? Danny Scheinmann paints a dramatic
portrait of two men sustaining their lives through the memory of love. Cinematic and brimming with
raw emotions, it is the magnificent and emotive debut from a remarkable new writer.

Coming up Next week on Book Club- Artistic Director for Myriad Theatre Productions,Joanna O'Connor and Associate Director of Myriad Theatre Productions,James Kingdon.

Article by Muthamma Prasad, 1 Mar 2008
Posted in Book Club

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