Last year we offered reading groups advance copies of Penelope Lively's new novel, The Photograph (previously titled 'Photo Call'). We had an unprecedented responce and have replicated all Readers Groups Reviews here in full.

The Cotswold NCT book group
Maldon Booklovers Reading Group
A Readers Group from the Shetlands
South Hill Park Arts Centre Reading Group
Wakefield Reading Group
Individual Reviews

The Cotswold NCT book group

With the exception of one person in our group we all enjoyed this book

immensely.  It is well written, easy to read and extremely engrossing.

Lively has chosen a not unusual topic - the finding of a private artefact

from a deceased to reveal a hidden past.  however, the subsequent story

which Lively tells is both original and clever.

Kath, the central character in Photo Call, has an untimely and unexpected

death.  At the time of her death those close to her find many excuses to

avoid questioning themselves about why she died.  Eight years later, Glyn,

her husband comes across an envelope whilst searching for documents.

Written on the front are the words DON'T OPEN - DESTROY.  Inside is a

private photograph of Kath with another man.  The opening of the envelope is

the beginning of Glyn questioning the type of relationship he had with Kath.

He does this by involving other family members and friends.  So starts a

catalyst of emotions for all involved as they are taken on a journey into

the past.  Kath is still with them all, she is seen and heard throughout the

book.  Her omnipresence leaves each character feeling guilty as they realise

their failure in recognising and knowing the true Kath. During her life she

is taken as a superficial person and this view is not changed following her

death.  Whilst Kath does not 'allow' people to delve deeper into her true

self Lively clearly shows that it would not take very much for each

character to peel back the surface to reveal a deeper and more needy Kath.

Kath is truly the victim in the book and her words "you're not listening to

me" haunt them all.

The other characters in the book, Glyn, Elaine-her sister, Nick -

brother-in-law and lover, Polly - niece and Oliver and Mary - both friends,

are drawn in an extremely realistic way .  We felt this was really a major

strength of Lively in the book.  We could imagine them all doing the things

which Lively describes.  She gives a very sharp and accurate description of

each one.  Lively's narrative allows us to get inside their heads and

thought processes and gently we are allowed to see characters from another's

perspective.  This enables the reader to develop a fuller image of each

character, warts and all!  Lively clearly shows two things, firstly how

everyone can see someone differently and secondly as individuals we have the

power to reveal certain aspects of our character to different people.  Which

is of course what Kath does.

None of the characters are particularly 'nice' people.  Glyn clearly does

not love Kath, she just became an object to pursue and obtain.  We all felt

that he was rightly made a fool of and deserved to suffer.  Elaine, absorbed

in work, gives little time or compassion to Kath or other family members.

Polly adores Kath in a very child-like way but is unable to take the photo

revelation very seriously and is unable to grasp the changes this means in

her perception of her relationship with Kath.  Nick looks back at his time

with Kath as a bit of a whim, Kath was not the kind of person one became

serious with.

It is only Mary, who we meet towards the end of the book that Kath is able

to reveal her true self to.  No one went to see Mary after Kath died, it is

the photograph which brings them all to her.  Mary seems to be the only

character with dignity and wisdom.

Photo Call is an excellent book, both enjoyable and poignant and we were all

pleased that Lively avoided any clichéd happy ending.  Instead we are left

with the realisation that none, with the exception of Mary, got it right

with Kath and that this of course is part of human nature.

Maldon Booklovers

Maldon in mid Essex has a number of Booktalk groups, but until the beginning of 2002 the University of the Third Age was the only organisation there with groups meeting during the day.  This seemed a shame, so we set up the Booklovers.  So far the group has been small - average attendance 5 - but our meetings lively.  Like many daytime groups, we have a preponderance of ladies.  Perhaps one day a man or two will come forward to redress the balance!

At our first meeting we ran through individual members' favourite reads, and the ensuing sessions have been devoted to introducing these to the others.  This has resulted in some fascinating choices, from Dickens' Great Expectations to Bill Bryson's Neither Here Nor There, Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible and The Red Room by Nicci French - with the discussion usually ranging far more widely!

Penelope Lively is a new author to most of the group, although one or two of us had read her Booker prize-winner, Moon Tiger.  One of the group who had read more of her work told us that Photo Call exhibited characteristic Lively traits - the minute examination of the interplay between characters, and the way that a seemingly trivial event has repercussions which affect the lives of a number of people.

From the outset Photo Call has us questioning who the mysterious Kath is.  What is her relationship with Glyn?  Has she left him?  Is she dead?  That first chapter poses many intriguing enigmas, some of which remain unresolved at the end.  Why did Kath leave the photo where Glyn could find it, for instance?  Was it an act of sheer absent-mindedness, an accident?  Was it a cry for help?  Or, perhaps, was there a touch of malice - revenge being too strong a word - foreign as such a suggestion seems to be to the picture we are given of the living Kath?

This led on to a discussion of Kath's character.  The living protagonists - Glyn, Nick, Elaine and the rest - are presented in the round, although they do tend to be defined by one or two outstanding traits, like Nick 's impracticality and Elaine's brisk, no-nonsense, work-centred outlook.  Kath we see only through the eyes of others.  It transpires that they all had a superficial view of her, with the exception of her unsung friend Mary, defining her mainly in terms of her unusual physical beauty.  At the end of the novel, we felt, we are little further forward in our knowledge of Kath, which was especially frustrating in view of the number of times her name is invoked!

What is beyond question is that Kath's act in leaving the photograph amongst Glyn's papers is one of the factors that propels the plot forward, the other being Glyn's hunt for posthumous clues about the wife he effectively pushed to the side of his existence while she was alive.  That this takes on obsessive proportions tells us a lot about the man, who is quite ready to reflect, in an almost aggressively defensive way, on his own dalliance with Kath's sister.  On the other hand, the detached tone of the narrative allowed us to play with the possibility that he is simply intrigued - one can imagine him spending almost equal amounts of energy following up a clue about landscape history.  (This choice of profession is interesting, as Penelope Lively has been involved with this subject and has written informatively about it elsewhere.)

Just as the outset of the novel engendered speculation so, we found, did the ending.  Although the "obvious" trigger for what happened to Kath was that she had remained childless, a variety of other explanations were put forward.  One member even wondered if she had discovered she was pregnant by Nick, her sister's husband.

We all agreed that Penelope Lively's use of language is masterly, with a choice of words that persuaded us that no others would do.  When a novel is as beautifully and economically written as this one, it takes on some of the qualities of poetry.  Another intriguing feature, a Lively characteristic, was the present tense used in the narrative.  This is often introduced to gain a sense of immediacy, yet somehow it seemed here to have a distancing effect.  Ultimately, the story appeared, despite the turbulent emotions described, to be well ordered, genteel even.  One ached, at times, for a confrontation between Kath and one of the other characters, to hear her given her own voice, but that would have altered the nature of the whole book.

An already enjoyable experience reading Photo Call was enhanced, for us, by the novelty of handling the manuscript.  Manuscripts are rarely noted for their aesthetic appeal, and one member of our group did complain that it reminded her of the fourth draft of a NHS business plan!  However, the consensus was that it was exciting to be given the chance to read a brand-new work six months before the rest of the world, and refreshing to be presented with nothing in the way of publisher's blurb - allowing us complete freedom to make up our own minds about the contents.

A Readers' Group from the Shetlands

November's book was The Photograph by Penelope Lively. Very few of the group had read a Penelope Lively book before so few of us had any idea of what to expect, apart from a few preconceptions. It was also very strange reading a book without any cover image or blurb so we all started the book with very little idea of what it was about and I for one certainly felt a bit lost.

Everyone at the meeting had basically enjoyed the book; the mystery of the  'affair' and how Kath had died soon hooked everyone in and kept the pages turning.

Most people found it difficult to sympathise with any of the characters, even Kath, and found them a bit clichéd, the dry academic, the earth mother figure and the middle-aged man who refuses to give up his youth. We did agree, however, that our perceptions of the characters subtly changed as the book went on. Most of us were sympathetic towards Glyn at the start of the book but something about the way he pursued his interest in his wife's past revealed a darker side. How we felt about Glyn sparked an animated debate with some people trying hard to see the good in him while others felt he was a 'typical man'. Kath was also a difficult character to decide how we felt about. While we recognised she hadn't had a happy young life, her tendency to float through life and not really touch it was quite annoying and some people felt she could have made more of an effort to tell the other characters how she was feeling. Most people did however find her death scene both poignant and realistic.

We also came to the conclusion that Penelope Lively didn't like men very much, as all the men in the book seemed to be quite detached and not very nice really! They all viewed Kath as a possession in one way or another, even Glyn who she married because 'he loved her'.

On the whole, none of us regretted having read the book but few of us would seek out another Penelope Lively book. 

South Hill Park Arts Centre Reading Group

About Us

We're a relatively newly-established Readers Group (only six months old!) and meet monthly at South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell, Berkshire.  We're a diverse group, of varying ages and with a range of other experiences, interests, and ways of life.  We concentrate on reading contemporary fiction and are an animated group with plenty of ideas and often conflicting views about the books we read.  This makes for lively and interesting discussions!   Books we've read recently include The Way I Found Her by Rose Tremain, Atonement by Ian McEwan and The Siege by Helen Dunmore. We were really excited to be invited to read Photo Call.

The Story

"Photo Call" is the story set in motion when a widower discovers an old photograph of his wife, Kath, with her sister and some friends.  In the photo, visible only to the photographer and not the other characters in the photo, Kath is secretly holding the hand of her sister's husband.

The discovery of the long-hidden photo causes chaos and confusion in the lives of many of Kath's family and friends as Glyn, her widowed husband, tries to discover the truth behind the photo.   As the plot develops and unfolds, it becomes increasingly difficult to put the genie back in its bottle and facts of Kath's life, previously unknown to her husband, are released. 

The Characters

Each chapter of the novel is written from the point of view of one of Kath's relatives, friends or acquaintances.   The true nature of the dead Kath is explored, as the characters individual and unique relationships with her are gradually picked to the bone.  It becomes increasingly obvious that none of them really knew or understood Kath - she is constantly looked at and admired from afar but nobody really sees her, especially her husband who is constantly looking at landscapes or her sister who is constantly looking at garden vistas.  Likewise, despite the fact that the lives of the various central characters are all related in some way, none of them seem to really know or understand one another.  In fact, the photo actually proves to be the catharsis by which all the characters have a chance to learn about both themselves and each other.  But will they accept the challenge?  Or will their head-stuck-in-the-sand conditioning prove too strong? 

Each character provides a mirror for all the others - only it's a fairground mirror.  Some of the images are flattering; others less so.  The reflections kaleidoscope away into a tragic event that nobody saw coming.

What We Thought

We agreed that "Photo Call" was an extremely cleverly constructed story and was easy and quick to read. However, we were unable to agree on whether or not we actually enjoyed the book.  Some members of the group found it a fascinating and skilful book, others called it a hugely enjoyable read and a "compulsive page turner", which hooked you in right from the beginning, as the story was so believable.  As one reader said "the book exposed the alarming lack of communication which can occur, even within close families, long marriages and apparently warm friendships".

Several readers enjoyed the way in which the book was constructed - leading you through and out - and found it interesting to discover the way in which the different characters experienced unfolding events.  As one reader pointed out, this was particularly neatly developed in the 'Mary Packard' chapter, where Glyn sees "a limestone cottage with mullioned windows"; Elaine sees "two little hedges of Lavendula Augustifolia" and Oliver sees "that shock of hair, that cool, calm manner".  This reflects the various characters' interests brilliantly.

However, other members of the group found that the novel wasn't as extraordinary or as memorable as they had hoped.  Some found the characters difficult to sympathise with even though they were well-drawn - whilst readers felt sorry for Kath, they didn't feel that the anguish and sorrow she must have felt came across and she remained a rather slight character even after readers discovered important things that had happened in her life.  In fact, as the jigsaw gradually came together, some readers felt that they found out less about the fractured personality of Kath than about her friends and family.

A number of discoveries about particular things that had happened in Kath's life and the way in which she died also divided the group.  Some felt that the discoveries came as a complete shock whilst others had worked out what had happened to Kath long before the end of the book and weren't sure whether or not this was what the author had intended.  They felt that the way in which Kath's family/friends found these things out was, therefore, rather contrived and didn't have any impact.

We did agree that the author's eye for detail made an important contribution to the book.  The story is interlaced with descriptions of beautiful gardens and in some ways the gardens mirrored Kath herself - they are viewed as a whole with a long lens, but not appreciated in detail.

All in all, in some ways the novel is a desperately sad story, in others it is a tragi-comedy of errors.

Quotes From The Group

"A cleverly constructed story"

"Pure enjoyment"

" A compulsive page turner"

"A fascinating and skilful book which exposes the alarming lack of communication which can occur, even within close families, long marriages and apparently warm friendships".

"This is a book about looking and seeing.  Hearing and listening."

"A 21st century study of the human condition - loneliness."

"This is a book of reflections and refractions."

A book of "monologues, dialogues and diatribes".

"The terrible results of chance and circumstance conniving and contriving to

create a wormhole back to the future."

"It's multiple layers of the eternal triangle - only here the apex of each

triangle is only present in the form of a memory of the other two".

"Lively gives us a tantalising glimpse of a happier future for both Kath and Oliver.  If only he had answered her question "Are you happy?"."

Wakefield Readers Group

As this manuscript needed to be read and discussed within three weeks I decided to schedule an extra readers group for any members of the four readers groups I run to attend. Some members from all four chose to put all their other reading on hold and take part. So there were 14 of us meeting one unseasonally cold evening at Drury Lane, with members from Horbury, Outwood and Drury Lane daytime and evening readers groups attending. I anticipated that, as we would only be discussing this one book and we'd have coffee as we talked, the meeting would take about 45 minutes. However, 75 minutes later we finally broke up after an incredibly stimulating and satisfying discussion. This is a fantastic book for any readers group to select as there is so much 'meat' in it.

It seems ridiculous to box this novel in by saying it's about this and that, because it is about so many things but I suppose it is largely about relationships, especially family relationships, the nature of memory and the burden of beauty.

Glyn, a meticulous, workaholic historian, discovers a photograph of his dead wife in a cupboard. The photo has been placed inside an envelope that is labelled 'Do not look. Destroy.' Well, would anyone really do so? Nope, neither does Glyn. He has a look, sees his wife holding hands with another man, assumes the worst and sets out on a quest to discover how many lovers she has had.   

As he contacts family members and old friends his wife is brought back to life via the recollections of each character he encounters. Each recall her according to their perception of her, but did any of them really know her? Her beauty seems to have acted as a surface layer that most of them couldn't be bothered to dig beneath.

It would be easy for this storyline to slip into sentimentality and cliché, but this is surely impossible in the hands of an author such as Penelope Lively?

Our group consisted of Jim, Margaret, Pam 1, Ruth, Marion, Pam 2, Michael, Jill, Audrey, Phyllis, Lynn, Alyson, Paul and me (Julie). 

Given the nature of the novel (about relationships) I wondered whether the three male members of our group would view the book in a different light... Read on to find out.

We all agreed that this was an incredibly easy read, but the ease belied the deeper nature of the novel. We agreed with Pam 2 when she commented, " It's a really subtle book that is easy to read, but I wouldn't imagine it was easy to write." The style of writing is slick, intriguing and deceptively simple. Some felt that the way the past and present are intermingled made it difficult at times. But almost all of us agreed that the style and quality of writing was excellent. The way the chapters were structured meant that the reader was always aware of who was speaking, so was able to follow the path of Glyn's quest.

Glyn is actually quite a shallow character and most of the women felt quite hostile towards him, feeling that he'd viewed Kath as a possession rather than a person. Michael commented that we weren't meant to like him and added (jokingly I'm sure) that the book is written by a woman and wondered whether it isn't usual for many women authors to view all men as contemptible.

We had a long discussion about guilt - I won't tell you why as it would give away an important aspect of the story. How far are we responsible for the welfare and well being of those we are supposed to love? How much do we owe them? We felt these questions were especially relevant to the relationship between Kath and her sister, Elaine. Phyllis felt the way Elaine behaved was typical of many families - not having enough time for each other. We all agreed when Jill commented that families are a breeding ground for guilt feelings!

Margaret felt it was strange that the main character of the book is dead and we never hear her point of view. It seemed odd that she is never really there at all and so can't change anything that happens. However, we decided that that was an apt reflection of the way in which Kath was treated by the other characters - they never really engaged with her on a deeper level; so the style of writing matched the experience of Kath. Ruth appreciated the irony that Kath, who is dead, seems the 'real' person, whilst the other characters are essentially shallow, trivial people. The kind who would probably be judged as admirable by today's standards; we were forced to reassess what success and failure might really comprise. This is a very modern novel dealing with modern standards and questioning them - especially the materialistic 'me' culture.

We did find ourselves relating to, and even understanding, the other characters despite their indifference to someone who clearly needed them more than they needed her. They were very real characters and Nick, a weak man, actually engendered a lot of sympathy.

Paul was so affected by the book's theme of family secrets that he found himself watching his friends at a meal out, wondering what secrets they might be hiding in their lives.    

Jim asked us whether there was a sense of resolution at the end of the book and whether we felt it was an optimistic or pessimistic book in regard to human nature. We certainly felt it was cathartic for the characters, rather than ultimately resolving, but this made the book more realistic. Some felt that there is resolution as they have all learnt more about themselves and each other. Thoughtful rather than sad was the mood many of us felt by the end of the book. It's difficult to class it as optimistic or pessimistic, but we would err on the side of optimistic because there is a certain humanitarian warmth for the characters (except Glyn) throughout.

Lynn commented that she felt it is all about perception - how we view the world and each other. It is ironic that the only people who see the real Kath are not family members, but friends. Roles are allocated in families, people are placed in a particular role and are then perceived as that person for the rest of their lives by family members.

The way that characters were actually forced to reconstruct their memory of Kath was a source of much debate. The way the book deals with the nature of memory was something that we all felt was dealt with extremely well.

Pam 1 loved this book and had to be persuaded to stop hugging her manuscript and hand it over. Alyson had read her copy in record time and Audrey and Marion really enjoyed settling down with the book.   

At the end of all our meetings we vote for how many stars the book should be awarded. We have recently changed it from a maximum of 5 stars to a max of 6, since one member pointed out that market researchers never have an unequal number of choices as people will usually opt for the middle one. So here is our rating system:

1 star - Don't waste your energy picking this up.

2 star - Only read if you have read all the cereal packets.

3 star - Okay. A good read.

4 star - You'll find yourself looking forward to getting your work done so you can get back to the book.

5 star - As you get near the end you'll read slowly because you don't want this to finish.

6 star - Put your life on hold until you have read this book.

No one voted below a 3 star. Taking an average score the book was allocated as a 5 star read. It must be noted that there was an astonishing 7 people voting for the book as a 6 star read.

And did the men view it any differently from the women? Not really, although all three of them only gave it 4 stars. And no, the book does not decline into cliché and sentimentality.

I guess our conclusion would be that we would highly recommend this book. 

Individual Reviews

Had very low expectations of this. Previous encounter with Ms Lively was 15 years ago when a lot of fuss was made over ‘Moon Tiger’. Singularly unimpressed then and had consigned her to the ‘No Need To Bother with Anymore’ list of authors. Didn’t help initially that one of the main characters in this new book was that dreaded icon of modern fiction - the university lecturer. Surprised to say was proved wrong. Writing, often in short sentences, has a pleasing, and almost poetical, rhythm. Particularly liked her observations of the characters’ occupations, be it gardening design, computing, researching into the history of landscapes or just sponging off their spouse. The ‘plot’ is slight and developed using the well-worn device of flashbacks. However by changing these flashbacks into short visual memories she brings some freshness into this mechanism. A book of this nature has to stand or fall on the success of its characters. And while they come from a much over-used area - the contemporary English middles classes - they are interesting, alive and three-dimensional. Overall an enjoyable, intelligent and well-written story. It can be recommended for reading groups being of reasonable length(!), very readable and containing sufficient ideas, for example about the role of memory and the relationship between past and present, to give group members plenty of opportunities for discussion. (Reviewed by Simon Goodwin)

When Glyn finds a photo of his wife, Kath, in a cupboard, a whole sequence of events is set in chain. He feels compelled to share this photo with those people who were closest to Kath at the time, with the result that people's lives are changed.

Kath never has her own voice in the book, we only know her through other people's impressions and memories. Nonetheless she is a strong presence and we gain the impression that she spent her life struggling with not being heard, and having to fit in with other people's definitions of her.

By the end of the book, everyone's memories have been altered; of Kath, and of their relationships with one another. More questions and doubts are raised than can be resolved.

This was an absorbing read; the tactic of presenting events from different people's point of view means that we never have a certainty of what the truth is, and we as readers have to keep questioning the conclusions being drawn.

As well as working on the level of being a mystery story - what does the photo mean? - the book works on a deeper level of questioning memories and our perceptions of people; it also raises the matter of whether it is better to leave some questions unasked in case we get the answers we don't want and are forced to face unpleasant truths. The fact that Kath turned out to be all that people thought she was and more besides also means that the people remembering her have to revise their opinions of one another and themselves. Very satisfying. (Reviewed by Nancy Plowes, Bradford)

Every so often a reader is lucky enough to find a book that seemingly requires no effort to read, yet so illuminates your view of the world/people that you are compelled to pause and reflect upon the nature of life. This was one of those books for me. Yes, thinking about the ways of the world is a headache-inducing trauma that most of us will only attempt when drunk (everything always seems so much simpler then). But an exceptional book can invite the reader in and pave an easy, entertaining pathway to those big truths we all prefer to avoid. If the writer is really good they can make it seem so simple that you are not at all daunted by this task. Penelope Lively is such an author.

This book deals with profound ideas - the nature of love, the burden of beauty, the constructs of memory, the values we unthinkingly embrace. But with Lively's light touch, a heavy subject is made as light and easily digestible as a Malteser. She is blessed with that wonderful combination of gifts - a storyteller who also writes beautifully.

As I read this book I felt that there was a wonderful bridge being constructed between myself and the writer; a bridge between the real and the fictional world where the reader can pause to peacefully contemplate the nature of life. She was inviting me in to a world of her creation and trusted me enough to only show, and not feel she had to tell. I valued her trust and respect. This story unfolds like a flower and leaves behind it a beautiful scent that lingers for days.

A photo found in a cupboard of his dead wife in an intimate moment with another man sets her husband on a quest to establish the truth he has concluded - that she had many lovers. As a research historian he has the ability to carry out meticulous investigations and he devotes his skill to establishing what he has presupposed about Kath, his wife. However, this search overflows into other lives and each character is compelled to review their relationship with Kath and each other in a new light. Some lessons are painful, but they are still worth learning. Kath has touched their lives - but did they ever try to touch hers? This is a novel that deals with so many things, not least the role of families and the allocation of roles within families.

This book is going on my Top 10 list for this year without a doubt. A book to recommend to anyone without any nagging reservations. (Reviewed by Julie Walker, Wakefield)

I hope the following review could be useful for Penguin Readers Group Website. I enjoyed the book very much and I hope this what you want. If it is not and you would like to use me again I should appreciate some outline guidance.

"Photo Call explores a series of interpersonal relationships. Between Elaine, the sensible, efficient and successful garden designer and her younger sister Kay who is beautiful, disorganised and never taken seriously. Kay's husband Glyn is an archaeologist interested in vanished landscapes. He too is successful but too pre-occupied to listen to Kay. Elaine's husband is Nick who is all talk but achieves little; he thinks he knows how to handle Elaine but she is not taken in. Their daughter Polly is much loved by Kay and of whom Kay is equally fond. Within the group there is also Nick's one time business partner Oliver and Kay's only real friend Mary who makes a late but wise appearance.

Glyn is furious to discover that Kay and Nick had a brief affair and although Kay is long dead he determines to discover more. He tackles this, in his own ego-centric way, and using the same approach as he uses in his archaeological research. Elaine takes the discovery of Nick's past unfaithfulness as an opportunity to throw him out.

Slowly as Kay invades their consciousness at every opportunity, they learn much about themselves and about the Kay they never bothered to understand. The characters are real and their actions completely credible. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to discover how it would all turn out." Reviewed by Dorothy Atkinson, Ilkley, West Yorkshire