The Essex serpent (by Sarah Perry)

(Amazon UK link)

As is so often the case when starting a book for our local reading group, I had not heard of either the author or the title. Sarah Perry is a British writer who has had four books published so far. ‘The Essex serpent’ was her second novel, published in 2006.

It opens with rather a depressing prologue, following a young unnamed man going for a walk next to a river on New Year’s Eve. It doesn’t spell out what happens, but it’s clearly not something positive. We don’t learn more about this incident until later in the book.

The novel takes place over the course of the following year, and is set in Victorian England, towards the end of the 19th century. The main character is a woman called Cora whose husband has just died. She is somewhat sad, but also feels free at last; it’s evident that he was seriously abusive, though, thankfully, there are no gratuitous details. Cora is rather a strange character, possibly because she was married at a young age, and never really had the opportunity of developing her own style and personality.

The great omission (by Dallas Willard)

(Amazon UK link)

Several writers whom I respect have recommended books by the late Dallas Willard. He was an American Christian writer and thinker. I read one of his books some years ago, and decided to put a couple more on my wishlist. I was given ‘The great omission’ for my recent birthday, and decided to start reading it a few weeks ago.

It’s not the kind of book to read in one sitting - at least, not for me. And this book, as explained at the beginning, wasn’t written as a single book anyway; instead it’s a collection of articles or transcripts of talks. So while they’re grouped somewhat by subject, and set as chapters, there’s inevitably some overlap. Some chapters are slightly more formal in style than others, too. Most days I read one chapter - around ten pages - and found that was enough. Sometimes I read two chapters if they were shorter, but it wasn’t always easy to keep my focus.

The main premise of the book is that many Christians - at least, in the US, and when this was written - talk about Jesus as Saviour, and read the Bible, and attend Christian events or church services. But they haven’t understood that the ‘Great Commission’ tells us that we should make disciples, not just people who say the right things and get involved with nice groups. Disciples are those who learn from their teacher, and if we say we are followers of Jesus, then our aim should be to become more Christ-like.

Anne of Green Gables (by Lucy Maud Montgomery)

(Amazon UK link)

After finishing my re-reading of the ‘Emily’ books by Lucy Maud Montgomery last month, I decided I would reread her better-known series, starting with ‘Anne of Green Gables’.  I was slightly surprised to find that I reread this older children’s/teenage classic as recently as 2018, on my Kindle. But although I remembered the basic outline of the book - one I have read several times over the decades - and most of the characters, I had still forgotten a lot of the detail.

I hadn’t, however, forgotten the wonderfully written first paragraph of the book, describing a brook that twists and turns until it reaches Rachel Lynde’s house. There it runs entirely smoothly; not even a brook could misbehave in front of Mrs Lynde. It’s an excellent example of ‘showing’ rather than ‘telling’ a person’s character, although it could easily be missed: it doesn’t really make a very exciting start to the book, and is probably the longest single sentence I’ve ever come across.

Rachel Lynde isn’t the most important adult in the book. Her friends Matthew and Marilla, a brother and sister in their early sixties, are the real heroes. Marilla works hard to look after her house, Green Gables, while Matthew works on the farm. The story is set in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. He’s a reticent man, but realises he’s getting older and can’t manage on his own. So, after discussion with Marilla, they decide to adopt an 11-year-old orphan boy from an orphanage. In 1925, when this book was published, adoption was evidently a rather more straightforward procedure than it is these days.

For one more day (by Mitch Albom)

(Amazon UK link)

Some years ago, I read and liked two previous books by Mitch Albom - ‘The five people you meet in heaven’, and ‘The first phone call from heaven’. Not sufficiently that I added other books by this author to my wishlist, but enough that when I saw ‘For one more day’ in a thrift shop, towards the end of 2024, I decided to buy it. It then sat on my to-be-read shelf for nearly eighteen months…

I picked it up to read a couple of days ago, and finished it today. It’s a short book, quite small too, and just 160 pages. It’s set in the United States, introduced by someone who says they are a journalist, who happens to come across a former baseball player called Chick (officially Charles) Benetto. Then Chick decides to tell his story, beginning with the fact that he tried to take his own life…

He recounts the fact that he’s divorced, he lost his job, he’s become an alcoholic and he’s alienated from his beloved daughter. He didn’t even hear that she was getting married until she sent him a notification, after the event, with photos. He’s heartbroken to feel that she is ashamed of him, and deeply hurt - he didn’t even know she had a serious boyfriend. 

My best friend's girl (by Dorothy Koomson)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m very much enjoying rereading my collection of novels by Dorothy Koomson. Since I only previously read them once, and most of them fifteen or more years ago, they feel like new books. But there’s the added bonus that I know I previously liked them. 

I’ve just finished ‘My best friend’s girl’, which I first read in December 2011. As ever, I had entirely forgotten the people and the storyline, but I soon found myself hooked. The main character, who narrates the story, is Kamryn. She lives in Leeds and is single; we soon learn that this is due to her breaking up with her fiancé Nate less than two months before their wedding, due to his being unfaithful.

Kamryn has also totally lost touch with her closest friend Adele. She’s blocked her online, and refuses to read any of the letters she’s sent. But on her birthday, opening a large number of cards, she realises that one of them is from Adele, with an urgent note inside: Adele is very sick, and wants Kamryn to visit her.