Tettenhall Readers’ Group

Tettenhall is one of the leafier suburbs of Woverhampton and the Tettenhall Regis Reader’s Group is one of its most exclusive clubs. With only twenty members, there is always a waiting list. We meet in the library on the third Monday of the month at 6:30pm for a glass of wine and to talk about our latest ‘read’.

Kate, the librarian, started the group in November 1998. Kate is the Vianne Rocher of the library (Chocolat, Joanne Harris, was our choice for May 2001). She knows what we all like and what will please us. Kate put word about that she was thinking about a readers’ group – the library service would buy the books, arrange a monthly meeting, a glass of wine and some book-chat. Anyone interested? You bet!

The inaugural read in November ’98 was Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. The Newsletter records that it:

Was a very casual and happy affair. A glass of wine to loosen the tongues – not that anybody needed a glass of wine to help them speak.

Just like ‘Weams Weekly’ in Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café (Fannie Flagg: an early Reader’s Group choice, May 1999), our Newsletter is central to our group. Newsletters include a review of the book of the month; a record of our discussion; information about the author and a recommendation – or otherwise – to other readers. There is a Newsletter folder in the library which has frequent ‘hits’ – by those who on the waiting list – and those looking for a good read.

People say: ‘What do you do in Readers’ Group?” “Well… we gravitate to the room at the back of the library; we sit in a circle – newsletters and wine-glasses go round, then Kate says: “Who wants to start…” and there isn’t a moment’s silence for the next hour or so. Readers Group is not ‘A’ level English: a balanced, well-documented view is not required – we say what we felt about the book, what it meant to us: the best bits and the worst bits. We link it to our experiences. Someone volunteers to write the review – usually the person who chose the book. More chat and we melt out into the night with our next book secreted about our persons.

We are a fairly mixed bunch. Of our twenty members, 8 were at the first meeting. About half are retired from paid work: most of the group are women but we have some men, too. Looking back through the Newsletters, one of the themes of our discussions is are there ‘men’s books’ and ‘women’s books’? The distaff side includes: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (Feb 00); ‘male’ books include Amsterdam by Ian McEwan, where the newsletter records that someone said: “It isn’t Barbara Cartland.” Enough said.

Irrespective of gender, we have two benchmark books: Cold Mountain, Charles Frasier (July 1999) and The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver July 2001). What made them so good was a combination of characters we believed in and cared about; interesting settings and good stories. We also like books where we learn something new – about the American Civil War in Cold Mountain and the Congo in The Poisonwood Bible.

We have had our notorious books, too especially An Instance of the Fingerpost (Iain Pears, April 1999). Usually we reach consensus—saying that even if we had not liked a book when we read it, we changed our opinions on hearing other people’s views. But, with The Fingerpost, opinion was divided between those who loved the interleaved narrative and those who thought it repetitive and gruesome. The Newsletter says:

Several members of the group enjoyed this book, but I think the majority found it quite difficult to read. In fact, some people hated it.

Books that have produced a universal ‘thumbs down’ often give rise to our fondest remembered discussions – Stolen Marches by David Crackanthorpe for instance. We said about it: ‘… we had one of our most hilarious discussions. In summary, not a book we enjoyed reading but we did enjoy discussing.’

We like to extend ourselves by choosing books we would not usually read and so have read a number of stylish contemporary European and Australian novels: The Seville Communion Arturo Reverte Perez; Eucalyptus, Murray Bail.

There have been our ‘Big Reads’ when we tackle something grand: Germinal by Emile Zola, which inspired one of our best discussions and Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowolf. This was approached with some trepidation but dispelled ghosts of the classroom for some of us who were surprised to find a good story, well-told.

And then there was Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters (December 02). We agreed that it was, in essence, an old-fashioned love story – with a difference. We felt we had learned something about what it was like to be lesbian, but had also enjoyed it as a good yarn. There were quite a few ‘well, I nevers…’ during the discussion.

So what’s the future? At our May meeting, in a change from our usual pattern, Tim Bowler -–author of River Boy and other novels marketed for young adults – came to speak to us. Tim was in Wolverhampton on an Arts Council residency which included workshops at our local comprehensive school. We are planning a joint venture with some of these children, keeping an eye on the next generation of Reader’s Group members perhaps. We talk about going on-line. And, of course, there will be more good quality fiction to look forward to.

The Reader’s Group is an important and enjoyable part of our lives. It pushes our boundaries; makes us more sophisticated readers; we learn a lot more about the world and the human condition. We discuss the usually taboo subjects of politics, religion, sex, racism, war, and death. We have informed ourselves about subjects as varied as the politics of the Congo; lesbianism, we know how to butcher a kangaroo, thanks to The True History of the Kelly Gang (April 2003). In the balance of things, what could be more interesting that that?

The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene
True History of the Kelly Gang, Peter Carey
12 Bar Blues, Patrick Neate
Austerlitz, WG Sebald
Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters
Eucalyptus, Murray Bail