July 2020 online Lamberhurst magazine - Flipbook - Page 1
BOOK CLUB REVIEWS
Many people have been reading a bit
more during the pandemic, so here are
some book reviews that might be of
interest.
St. Mary’s Book club read a book
comprised of 2 stories, Mrs Harris Goes to
Paris and Mrs Harris Goes to New York by
Paul Gallico. The stories pay homage to
that British institution the charlady. It was
written back in the 1950’s with old charm
and
simple
language,
although
occasionally reminiscent of a Dick Van
Dyke film.
Mrs Harris is a 60-year old woman with
the spirit of a 16-year old who is practical,
cheerful and generally content. However
she seems to get herself into frightful
muddles but always comes out on top. In
the first story she sees a Dior dress in one
of her clients’ houses and decides she
must have one. She scrimps and saves and
finally makes it to Paris, having never
travelled out of London before. Following
lots of mishaps, and unbelievable
solutions she makes it home with the
dress. The fate of the dress leaves her
something more precious than what she
expected. The second book sees her travel
to New York with a client and her best
friend and cook Mrs Butterfield. Rather
farfetched but no less enjoyable to read
the 2 friends managed to sneak a badly
treated orphan out of England to New
York to try and reunite him with his GI
father. There are many scrapes along the
way, making many friends in unexpected
places but of course all turns out well in
the end.
Predictable plots and characters, absurdly
improbable at times but it is impossible
not to love Mrs Harris, so don’t let this put
you off, this book was true escapism and a
fabulous read. We are never too old for a
fairy story.
St Mary’s Book Club have also recently
read Boys in the Boat written by Daniel
James Brown. It is the true story of 9
students from Washington University,
sons of loggers, farmers and miners who
overcome the many disadvantages of
their impoverished circumstances to row
their way to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The
story is told against the back drop of the
Great Depression and the rise of Hitler
with the help of his propaganda minister
Goebbels, who hold the 1936 Olympics to
showcase the rise of the German nation
whilst hiding the horrors taking place.
Brown interviewed one of the rowers Joe
Rantz shortly before Rantz’s death in
2007. Joe insisted he wanted the book to
be about the team not about him. This
was made more poignant by the fact that
Joe was abandoned by his family at the
age of 15 and showed such strength and
tenacity to not only get a place at
University but also a much sought after
place on the rowing team.
Brown’s
research for the book was faultless and he
writes so convincingly and with such detail
that at times it felt like a white-knuckle
ride of excitement and fear, despite most
readers knowing the outcome of the
story. Some of the group found the details
of the rowing quite laborious while
others felt part of the unique and almost
spiritual experience of being a member of
a racing crew. The book begins quite
slowly, but persevere, as it won’t be long
before you are struggling to put it down.
Another recent read was Saint Maybe by
Anne Tyler. The story is about an
optimistic, middle class family living the
American dream and how a single tragic
event can transform all their lives forever.
Ian the youngest son blames himself for
