Every month, GWL team members and volunteers share what we’ve read at our Book Picnic. Here’s what we’ve been reading recently:
The Magic Lantern by Judith Bowers
Anna recommended this novel by Judith Bowers, who is also known for her work campaigning for the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall in Glasgow. The Magic Lantern of the title was a way of showing moving pictures before the invention of film. It’s about a gang of orphaned boys who regularly go to the theatre in the year 1908.
Anna thought it was fabulous, the main character is Sandy who provides ghost tours of the theatre in the present day but travels back 100 years in time. It goes at a fabulous pace but Anna wondered if you might need to have an understanding of the history of Glasgow to understand it.
Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in with Unexpected Resilience and Creative Power by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone
Aileen recommended this non-fiction book which tackles the difficulties we are facing with the climate crisis, war and social injustices.
It’s easy to feel despair at how things are at the moment but this book reassures us that for those of us feeling depressed or hopeless, we are not mad, we are just perceptive. It also offers a more helpful way to tackle the current situation with courage and in community with others. In combination with free online courses via the website www.activehope.info and the many people who gather around the world forming groups to talk about the Work that Reconnects, it offers a way out of despair and into action. Aileen thought everyone should buy, borrow, read and share this book with others.
The End We Start From by Megan Hunter
Gaby recommended this short novel set in London. It’s told from the point of view of a woman who has just given birth, when a flood comes and tens of thousands of people need to flee London and go north. She is dealing with being a mother and a refugee, there is an urgency and an anonymity to it, there is real hope for the future coupled with the fact that they are in a refugee camp.
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Gaby has also been reading this novel about a girl who has a child at the age of 16 and her parents are massively disappointed in her, the boyfriend is then left to look after the child. It tells the story of a black American family and the unfolding of its history, as relationships form, families are brought together and break apart again.
It’s a short novel and Gaby thought it would be quite an easy read.
Women Who Blow on Knots by Ece Temelkuran
Wendy has been reading this novel by Turkish writer Ece Temelkuran that has been translated into English, as part of her exploration of literature by Turkish women.
It’s about women who hit the road during the Muslim spring, they meet in a hotel in Tunisia and share a bottle of whisky, then go on the road with Madame Lila. She has started the book but not yet finished it. The book has been described as ‘a feminist magic realist trip’.
Ece Temelkuran also wrote a guest post about this book for GWL – the Abracadabra of a Novel
Theatre of Marvels by Lianne Dillsworth
Elaine has been reading this historical novel, which is set in the world of variety theatre in the 1840s. It’s written from the point of view of Zillah, who is on the stage and feels like she has made it, when another act comes on and she finds herself wondering if she’s in the right career. She finds herself wanting to help a woman and her baby who may be in danger.
The novel looks at the injustices of the threatre world at that time. Elaine thought Zillah was a good character and when you read the book you feel like you are on her side.
Hilda Matheson: a life of secrets and broadcasts by Kate Murphy and Michael Carney
Pauline has been reading this non-fiction book which tells the life story of Hilda Matheson, who is best known as the first Talks Director of the BBC. She was part of MI6 during the first World War and she had a very stormy relationship with the first head of the BBC.
She was putting on programmes when women first got the vote to encourage them to vote and get involved in politics. She was pushed out of the BBC in the 1930 and died at the age of 52 during a routine operation.
Home is the Hunter by Helen MacInnes
Pauline has been reading this play by Helen MacInnes, who originally wrote spy novels.
The play is loosely based on Homer’s story of the homecoming of Odysseus and the difficulties faced by the Gods and Goddesses. Odysseus returns to find his wife Penelope is plagued with potential new suitors. Stella, a goddess, is getting annoyed with the humans because they keep changing their minds. Although this is a play, Pauline found it enjoyable to read as a book.
