A Year In Books (The Reading Group - Elizabeth Noble)

Member Name: t4mof

Product:	The Reading Group - Elizabeth Noble
Date:	05/07/04 (231 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Character driven novel, Introduced to 12 other novels

Disadvantages: Clare?s character not fully developed, spoilers on the books that are discussed

Clare, Harriet, Nicole, Polly and Susan make up the Reading Group. Each woman is different from the next and all have their problems and issues which form the basis of this debut novel by Elizabeth Noble.

Clare is married to Elliott and works as a midwife. Very early on it is noticeable that all is not well in the marriage. Communication seems to have broken down between the pair and before long the reasons why become clear.

Harriett is also stuck in a marriage in which she is not happy. Although her husband, Tim, clearly loves her deeply, she is not sure she can reciprocate those feelings. Throughout the story we see Harriett battling with her guilt and trying to figure out her real feelings, complicated by the fact she is a mother to two young children, Josh and Chloe.

Harriett?s closest friend is Nicole and in the real world she would probably be regarded as a ?yummy mummy?. Beautifully turned out with perfect make-up and hair at all times with a delightful, immaculate house to match, even though she is mother to twins George and William and their younger sister, Martha. She adores her husband, Gavin but all is not as it seems.

Polly has just been proposed to by Jack and is extremely happy in the relationship. Jack gets on well with her (almost) grown-up children, 20-year-old Cressida and 15-year-old Daniel, All is perfect in Polly?s world until Cressida drops a bombshell that changes everything.

Susan is Polly?s close friend and is happily married to Roger with 2 grown-up sons, Alex and Ed. Susan?s life is increasingly revolving around her elderly mother, Alice, and she finds more and more of her time devoted to caring for her.

The Reading Group is the peg on which the relationships between the five women hang and they meet
as a group once a month to discuss a chosen book. In between the meetings we follow the lives of each of the women outside the group as they overcome life?s common hurdles.

The story is organised into 12 chapters each starting with the Reading Group?s monthly meeting and their book discussion. The chapters then follow each character?s story in turn. One of Noble?s talents is that, although each main plot for the focussed character advances in amongst all the others, it is not difficult to follow the overall storyline as various sub-plots all overlap and intermingle. The chapters are quite long but split up into smaller sections, each one concentrating on one of the main characters and sometimes one of the more minor characters too. This makes the book easy to read and it can be left at convenient moments.

Noble has obviously researched the novels that are chosen by the group thoroughly as the conversations are portrayed realistically. However, be ready for the spoilers. The group often talk about the endings of the books, which of course would happen in a real reading group but this turned into a minor gripe for me as on a couple of occasions I actually liked the sound of the book under discussion and thought it may be one to read in the future. Unfortunately major events and endings were then given away. I?ve listed the books discussed at the end of this review in case you are wanting to read them. I suggest you do before reading this book!

A strong theme running throughout the book is life and death. This theme could be attached to most of the events that take place and can be applied to most of the relationships the women are involved in. There are also some good twists thrown in for good measure, a couple of which I didn?t spot and were a complete surprise. This added to my enjoyment as I feel a bit cheated if everything is predictable. The twis
ts also made me want to read on. Although I wouldn?t necessarily describe the book as ?unputdownable?, I did find myself caring about what happened to the characters and wanting them to sort out their problems.

As mentioned earlier, The Reading Group is the debut novel from Elizabeth Noble and I certainly wouldn?t hesitate in reading any future books by her. In this novel she has created realistic and identifiable characters and took me on an interesting journey delving into the issues in their lives. The only character I was disappointed with was Clare because I was really interested in her story yet it seemed to be cut short and I feel it could have been developed further.

It is hard to classify this novel. The front cover may suggest ?chick-lit? but I think this may be doing it an injustice. After all it doesn?t focus on one female twenty-something?s love life or career. Harriett and Nicole are in their thirties with Polly and Susan in their forties so I don?t think this is a novel aimed at the usual chick-lit generation. However, I definitely feel it is aimed more at a female readership due to the nature of the major issues explored. If you?ve got some lazy time on the beach planned and enjoy character-led contemporary fiction then this is one you would probably enjoy. At just over 450 pages, it is a relatively substantial novel to get involved in.

The Reading Group is currently in the bestsellers charts and its paperback RRP is £6.99. Amazon are selling it for this price although a second hand one can be picked up for less through the site. I have also seen it in Tesco for £3.73. Hardback price is £18.99.

The Reading Group
Elizabeth Noble
ISBN 0-340-73470-1

~ ~ ~ Stories discussed in The Reading Group ~
~ ~

Heartburn ? Nora Ephron
I Capture The Castle ? Dodie Smith
Atonement ? Ian McEwan
The Woman Who Walked Into Doors ? Roddy Doyle
Guppies For Tea ? Marika Cobbold
My Antonia ? Willa Cather
The Memory Box ? Margaret Forster
Eden Close ? Anita Shreve
An Instance Of The Fingerpost ? Iain Pears
Rebecca ? Daphne Du Maurier
The Alchemist ? Paulo Coelho
Girl With A Pearl Earring ? Tracy Chevalier

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