A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell

In December we met at Kathy’s house to discuss my book which was

“A Woman of No Importance” by Sonia Purnell who is a journalist and biogtapher. Purnell did a lot of research and spent 3 years writing the book as many records were destroyed.

The book is a biography of American socialite Virginia Hall who became one of the few

female spies who worked with the French resistance against the Nazi regime.

Virginia was in the diplomatic service in Turkey where she accidentally shot herself in the leg

resulting in her wearing a prosthetic leg and a visible limp.

She managed to get an assignment with the British secret service stationed in France. She had extremely

great organizational skills paired with her charm and good looks. She recruited many volunteers to the cause and was able to command rebel cells that waged war on the nazis. She was also able to send information about the positioning and activities of the Nazis which changed the course of the war. 

Later when the Americans entered the war she worked as a spy for them in the same capacity as she did for the British.  She was free spirited and longed for adventure. She had a sixth sense in knowing who to trust and sometimes she had conflicts with other male colleagues who resented a woman being their superior. She spoke six languages. Many of her covert tactics were used in ensuing wars by the U.S.

She did not work for awards or medals and shied away from fame. She ended her post war career working for the CIA and married a fellow OSS agent who was not her peer socially.

Madeleine chose Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver for our next read.

 

In October we met at Molly’s home for a fun evening to discuss Kristen Hannah’s book, “The Women”.

We had a bonfire discussion of this well liked novel about the women who served in the Vietnam War.

These women who personally endangered their lives and saved many other lives were never acknowledged for their service. It was an unpopular war and when these veterans returned home they were spat upon and never given proper treatment for their post traumatic disorders especially the women. We all had personal stories about the period in history. Some of us had spouses who were actually in Vietnam.

Some of us had friends who were there. Maybe we should have discussed the book more but it was such a tumultuous time for us we all felt compelled to share. We made it fun by wearing sixties clothing and displayed some protest signs.

Molly had appetizers, chili, salad and lots of good wine. We were all chatty and enjoyed the evening!

I chose the next book by Sonia Parnell about a lady spy called Virginia Hall. The title is, “A Woman of No Importance”.

 

 In September we met at Laura’s home to discuss her book, “Wrong Place Wrong Time” by Gillian McAllister. This was a book about a woman who discovers that her son has murdered someone and she starts going back in time in order to find out why her son committed such an act and hoping to change the turn of events. Laura apologized as she had not read the book before recommending it.

We thought that the book was a thriller but that it went back too far in time. It does develop with a major twist at the end and shows the extent of a mother’s love and the sacrifices she will make for her family.

Laura fed us well as usual and there was lots of good wine to facilitate discussion. We got to play with Penny.

Molly chose “The Women” by Kristen Hannah.

In July we met at Julie’s home to discuss her book, The Nutshell by British novelist Ian

McEwan. The story is told through the eyes and ears of a fetus. This is a very smart fetus who learns

about current affairs, politics and literature via podcasts that his mother listens to. He is also a wine aficionado and has a preference for really fine and expensive wine. At some point he learns that his mother and her liver plan to kill his father and that his own future is unsure. There were allusions to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was a funny and witty read.

We had pizza salad and wine on Julie’s deck.

Next read will be, “Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister.
 

The Roaring Days of Zora Lily by Noelle Salazar

In June we met at Marsha’s home to discuss her book choice which was

“the Roaring Days of Zora Lily” written by Noelle Salazar.

This book captures the hazy, liquor soaked age of the jazz age, prohibition and the

speakeasies.

Zora Lily is a poor girl with amazing talent and passion for fashion design.. She even

Makes it to Hollywood and designs for Greta Garbo but she was never credited for her 

work till her label is revealed on some gowns in 2023 by a Smithsonian historian.

It was based on true events. It is a sweeping saga of family, love, ambition and self discovery.

Marsha made some fine pasta salads and led a good discussion.
 

THE GIRL WITH SEVEN NAMES by Hyeonseo Lee

 In May Carol hosted at her home to discuss her book, “The Girl With Seven Names” by

Hyeonseo Lee. This is an autobiography about a North Korean defector. We had a guest

speaker Sou Yeoung who grew up in South Korea.  She was able to share her experiences contrasting 

the propaganda from the North Koreans and the actual reality.

This defector had to travel via China, Cambodia, and Thailand in order to arrive in South Korea.

Her childhood under the communist regime was a struggle and she was brainwashed like millions

of others.

She eventually helps her family to escape the repression of the dictatorship. She eventually marries

a man from Wisconsin and currently lives in the United States. She has been giving lectures and

Podcasts about her story which is very inspiring.

Carol had a great meal and we had a very good discussion.

Marsha chose a book called

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

 In early March seven lucky members met at Betsy’s home to discuss her book

“The Reading List” by Sara Nisha Adams. This book is set in Wembley, England.

and is a heartwarming novel about a list of recommended novels mysteriously found in a

library book which is circulated among the diverse patrons of a small library.

The novel celebrates the old school joys of reading and getting emotionally involved

with fictitious characters and learning from them.

The novel develops a friendship between lonely Mukesh Patel and Aleisha a teen summer

worker at the library.  Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone in order to combat 

loneliness and depression. We discussed the role of a library and the importance of

keeping them open in this digital age.

It turns out that  Mukesh’s deceased wife, Naina, was the one who distributed the list around 

the neighborhood. She was able to share her love of reading not only with her family but

with the community at large. The author created a second reading list of novels and Kathy gave

us a printout of that list, We had a lively discussion not only about the book but about what being

a member of our reading group does for us on a personal level.

Now the reason I said we were a lucky group of seven was because of Betsy’s culinary delights.

We had a delicious Ina Garten inspired seafood chowder and a wonderful mixed salad followed by

Strawberry topped cheesecake. There were cocktails to start, wonderful dinner wine and a fine

Cognac finish. The bar was set very high by Betsy who used her fine chinaware and cutlery.

Carol sent in her choice, “ The Girl With The Seven Names” by Hyeonseo Lee.

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

For our January 2024 read Sarah chose the Dictionary of lost words written 

by Pip Williams, an Australian author..

It is a historical fiction novel about the compilation of the Oxford dictionary, the suffrage 

movement  for women’s voting rights, and World War I.

Some of the characters are real and others are fictitious.

As it turns out the project was male dominated and also excluded words used by the lower class. Many

words  associated with women and common people were left out.

In the absence of computers it was a very tedious process .

The place where the compilation took place was called a scriptorium.

Esme is a child who picks up word slips dropped on the floor, usually ones

that are left out of the dictionary as they are deemed inappropriate. She saves these in a chest

and eventually they are published in the dictionary of lost words.

We all agreed this was a unique find on Sarah’s part and it shed a lot of light on

what is entailed in the opus of compiling a dictionary. 

We finished the evening with two kinds of soups, hearty bread and plenty

of wine both red and white.

Betsy chose “The Reading List” by Sara Nisha Adams

The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts

In December we met at Kathy’s home to discuss her book entitled

“The Ride of Her Life” by author Elizabeth Letts.

This is a story based on true events based on the life of Annie Wilkins.

At age 63, Annie a single woman is diagnosed with tuberculosis and is

hospitalized and was given just a few more years to live.

She owns a failing farm in Minot, Maine and owes back taxes and was offered a 

spot in a charitable state institution.

Rather than just give up, Annie prepares to ride west on horseback

to fulfill her dream of seeing the Pacific Ocean.

Annie has one horse and her dog and very little funds. It’s the early 1950’s.

Towns were becoming cities and roads were turning into highways.

Annie is met with many acts of kindnesses from strangers and is offered food, lodging, and 

veterinarian services for free. Due to TV coverage she becomes somewhat of a celebrity

and ends up on the Art Linkletter show in Hollywood.

This is a story of bravery, courage and faith.Annie completes her journey fraught

with many perils and hardships only with the help of strangers who

became life long friends.

 She lives for many years beyond her diagnosis aided financially by the money

she made on the Art Linkletter show.

Many people liked all the historical facts and all admired the strength that

Annie possessed and felt she was inspiring.

Kathy had great pizza and salad and led a good discussion.

Sarah chose a book called, “The Dictionary of Lost Words” by Pip Williams.