Daily Archives: 9 February 2022

Book Review Where the Crawdads Sing

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Summary

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life – until the unthinkable happens.

Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Celeste Ng, Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

Comments

We all thoroughly enjoyed and recommend ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’. We loved the descriptive writing, the poetry, the imagery and the recurring use of the firefly motif. There was an understanding of nature and our connection to it. The central character exhibited resilience in the face of undeserved prejudice and mistreatment. She bore no malice but did what she had to to survive. The importance of education to her and the empowerment it gave her also resonated with us. This book made us angry in parts, made us cry in others and gave us a deeper appreciation of disparity and entitlement and left us all moved.

Read by MJ Readers Book club

Book Review The Good People

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The Good People by Hannah Kent

Summary

In the year 1825, in a remote valley lying between the mountains of south-west Ireland, three women are brought together by strange and troubling events.

Nóra Leahy has lost her daughter and her husband in the same year, and is now burdened with the care of her four-year-old grandson: a boy who suffers from a mysterious malady and can neither walk nor speak. Unable to care for the child alone, Nóra hires a servant girl, Mary, who soon hears whispers in the valley about the blasted creature causing grief to fall on the widow’s house.

Alone, hedged in by rumour, Mary and her mistress seek out the only person who might be able to help Michaél. For although her neighbours are wary of her, it is said that Nance Roche has the knowledge. That she consorts with Them, the Good People. And that only she can return those whom they have taken …

Comments

Chosen for our book club this is Hannah Kent’s second novel and like her first, ‘Burial Rites‘ it is a grim read.

Set in the remote area of south-west Ireland in 1825 it tell of the events leading up to the downing death of a very disabled four year old boy. His grandmother has been his carer after the death of her daughter and more recently her husband. She hires a young teenage to help with his care and other duties. Some of the people in the village believe in ‘The Good People’ (fairies with the knowledge to ‘sweep’ people to join them in their realm and replace them with a ‘changeling’). Because of the boy’s strange behaviour, they are convinced that he has been ‘swept’ by the ‘Good People’ and seek help by Nancy Roach, an old woman who is said to have knowledge to heal people.

Around these three main characters are many villagers all of whom are poor, illiterate and living in rudimentary huts, which are often shared with a milking goat. From the beginning Kent sets up an atmosphere charged with menace, superstition and destitution in a cold, wet environment. Kent writes brilliantly about this setting which is a critical part of the novel.

Not a happy read but one has to admire the skill of this author to keep her audience reading what is a perfectly awful tale….

6/10 – Read by Dundas Readers Book Club

Summer Reading Wrap Up Dec 2021 to January 2022

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A big THANK YOU to all of those of you who participated in both our Young Adult & Adult Summer Reading Programs this year! You and your families made both these programs a great success. We hope everyone enjoyed participating and found some amazing new reads along the way.

Congratulations! We have drawn our winners and everyone has now received their $75 dollar gift cards. 

You can find the solutions to all of the puzzles below.

Once again thank you all! We look forward to planning an even better Summer Reading Program for next summer.

Puzzle Solutions

Adult Puzzle solutions 2021 (1)

Young Adult Puzzle solutions 2021