Pure was the 2011 Costa Book of the Year and is a story set in pre-revolutionary Paris. Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young engineer, is appointed to oversee the removal of an overflowing cemetery in the centre of Paris. It is a grim and formidable task and Baratte faces some opposition as well as finding friends. The cleansing of this tainted area is in more ways than one a sign of the times soon to come.

Everyone who read this book enjoyed it tremendously, praising the writing, the descriptions and details. We thought the author showed great skill in creating dialogue where there was a clear but unspoken sub-text running beneath the surface and also in allowing the reader to identify with characters who seem modern and yet were also firmly fixed in their historical period.

The Book Thief begins in 1939 in Germany when Liesel finds herself left with a foster family in Molching. Life for this young girl has already changed beyond understanding and changes again when her new parents hide a Jew in their basement. The books she steals are small acts of rebellion in a world of horrors and the words she comes to love are a way of surviving.

Again, everyone loved this book; particularly the way the story is narrated by Death, who is portrayed as a rather tender and deep-thinking figure. We thought Death’s sometimes ironic voice and his foreshadowing of events stopped the story from becoming overly sentimental and were impressed by the author’s storytelling skills.

I hadn’t read this book before because I thought it might be too harrowing; it isn’t, so don’t be put off by the subject matter. It is essentially a story of hope. The group had a discussion about the difference between allegory and metaphor and we left the meeting feeling enlightened and clever!

Next month’s choice is The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson and/or Toby’s Room by Pat Barker. As always, everyone is welcome.

Victoria Lamb will talk about her new book

‘His Dark Lady’

This is a follow up to Victoria’s very successful novel, “The Queen’s Secret” which was set almost entirely in Kenilworth.  It followed the story of Queen Elizabeth’s famous visit to Kenilworth Castle.

Victoria Lamb’s fictional character from the first novel, Lucy Morgan – the “Dark Lady” of the new title – grew up under the guardianship of a spy.  This second book follows her from Kenilworth Castle to the Elizabeth’s  Court in London.

London, 1583. When young, aspiring playwright William Shakespeare encounters Lucy Morgan, one of Queen Elizabeth I’s ladies-in-waiting, the two fall passionately in love. He declares Lucy the inspiration for his work, but what secret is Will hiding from his muse? Meanwhile, Lucy has her own secret – and one that could destroy her world if exposed.

No longer the chaste maid so valued by the Virgin Queen, she also bore witness to the clandestine wedding of Lettice Knollys and Robert Dudley, a match forbidden by the monarch. England is in peril. Queen Elizabeth’s health is deteriorating, her throne under siege from Catholic plotters and threats of war with Spain.

Faced with deciding the fate of her long-term prisoner, Mary, Queen of Scots, she needs a trusted circle of advisors around her now more than ever. But who can she turn to when those closest to her have proved disloyal? And how secure is Lucy’s position at court, now that she has learned the dangerous art of keeping secrets?

Victoria gave a fascinating talk to a big audience about her last book ‘The Queen’s Secret’ which was very well received. We look forward very much to hearing her again.

Tickets are free and available from Warwick Books and Kenilworth Books. Thanks to Transworld for helping us put on this event. Refreshments will be available.

John Sugden will talk about his book

‘Nelson : The Sword of Albion’

In his book which is the second in his life of Nelson, John Sugden brilliantly interweaves graphic accounts of Nelson’s famous victories at the battles of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar with his lesser-known yet equally gripping campaigns to liberate the Italian states from French domination and his role in the blockade of Malta, often snatching remarkable triumphs from crippling reverses. But behind his military prowess was a man riven with paradoxes and schisms at the very heart of his personal life. Nelson emerges as a strong-minded but vulnerable human being in constant need of affection and reassurance, whose relations with superiors, colleagues and friends were intense and stormy.

We meet the fighting admiral in search of ultimate military victory, and the glory-hunter skillfully manipulating his public image; the national hero and patron of merit, and the indigent commoner trying to secure his position in a society dominated by wealth, property and land; the family man, and the adulterer who scandalized society by his passion for the mercurial Lady Hamilton – yet whose ambition for domestic tranquility was destroyed by his untimely death at Trafalgar. The triumphant and the tragic lend an epic yet human quality to the life of Nelson, fully exploited here in a richly detailed narrative that teems with a glittering array of sailors and civilians, heroes and villains, husbands, wives and lovers.

John will talk about his passion for Nelson, and will  show us why his books have been praised for their outstanding scholarship and for being ‘ a thumping good read’. This event is in partnership with The Historical Association.

Tickets FREE from Warwick Books or Kenilworth Books or The Historical Association. Thanks also to The Bodley Head for supporting this event.

David Johnson will talk about his book

‘One Soldier and Hitler’

This is the tale of two men. The first is Henry Tandey an ordinary man later deemed to be ‘a hero of the old berserk type’, born and brought up in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, who displayed extraordinary courage to emerge from the First World War as the most decorated British private to survive the war. The second is Adolf Hitler who was highly decorated in his service to Germany in the Great War and went on to become one of the most infamous dictators in history, later bringing the world to the brink of destruction during the Second World War.

It seems unlikely that their fates should collide. Yet in 1938 Hitler named Tandey as the soldier who spared his life on 18 September 1918 in the aftermath of the Battle of Marcoing – an assertion that came to the surprise of Henry Tandey himself. One Soldier and Hitler tells the story of Tandey’s and Hitler’s Great War, the moment when their lives became intertwined – if in fact they did -and how Tandey lived with the stigma of being known not for his chestful of medals for gallantry in service of King and Country, but as the man who let Hitler live.

DAVID JOHNSON is a passionate First World War historian and became fascinated by the story of Henry Tandey during a visit to Flanders Fields. He has spent many years tracing Henry’s life and family to uncover the man behind the myth. He lives in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire.

This event is being arranged in partnership with the Library Service, and with the help of the publisher The History Press. Tickets are FREE and can be obtained from Warwick Books, Kenilworth Books or the libraries….

Mark Forsyth will talk about his book

‘The Horologicon’

‘The Horologicon’ (or book of hours) gives you the most extraordinary words in the English language, arranged according to the hour of the day when you really need them. Do you wake up feeling rough? Then you’re philogrobolized. Pretending to work? That’s fudgelling, which may lead to rizzling if you feel sleepy after lunch, though by dinner time you will have become a sparkling deipnosophist.

From Mark Forsyth, author of the bestselling ‘The Etymologicon’, which was our most talked-about book of the year, this will be an evening of great humour and endless fascination. Just to give you a flavour

Ploitering is pretending to work. A wheady mile is an old Shropshire term, new to me, for a familiar experience: the “last bit of a journey that goes on much longer than you had planned.”

The rude-sounding poon, sexual slang in one guise, is also an old Winchester school slang term meaning to prop up a piece of unsteady furniture with a wedge — a poon — under the leg. Gymnologising means, marvelously, debating naked, while rhubarbing, which sounds like something else you’d do naked, is in fact “the standard word that actors use in a crowd scene when they wish to mimic the sound of general conversation”:

Nobody knows why rhubarb was picked for this purpose, or exactly when, but it’s etymologically perfect. ‘Rhubarb’ comes from the ancient Greek Rha Barbaron, which literally means ‘foreign rhubarb,’ because rhubarb was a strange oriental delicacy imported to the classical world via Russia from Tibet. ‘Barbaron’ was Greek for foreigner because foreigners were all barbarians. But the important thing was that the barbarians were called barbarians because they spoke a foreign and unintelligible language, which sounded to the Greeks as though they were just saying ‘bar-bar-bar-bar’ all the time (roughly in the way that we say ‘blah-blah-blah’ or ‘yadda-yadda-yadda’). Therefore, the ancient word for unintelligible mumbling has, after a journey of several thousand years, come straight back to its original purpose.

But it’s the way Mark talks about all this that is the real joy…if you heard any of his programs on Radio 4 you’ll want to come. Be sure to get your tickets early!

this is a book of weird words for familiar situations. From ante-jentacular to snudge by way of quafftide and wamblecropt, at last you can say, with utter accuracy, exactly what you mean.

Tickets FREE from Warwick Books or Kenilworth Books. Thanks to Icon Books for enabling us to put on this event .

will talk about their new book

‘Grammar For Grown-Ups’

Join Katherine and Rowena as they run us with great humour throughwhat we know and what we think we know, take part in their quiz and win a prize maybe. A fun night…all washed down with a nice glass of wine, with our good wishes…..

And you have the opportunity to buy the book and get it signed by the authors for a wonderful Christmas present. “Grammar for Grown-Ups” guides you through the perils, pitfalls and problematic aspects of the English language, with fun test-yourself sections all the way. Whether you’re agitated about apostrophes? Struggling with spelling? Dithering over dangling participles? Stumped by the subjunctive? Relax. Help is at hand…For those who realise that there is more to good English than meets the eye, but don’t know where to start; for parents struggling to explain the finer details to their kids; and for English- language students everywhere …this is the only book you need.

Tickets FREE from Warwick Books and Kenilworth Books. Thanks to Vintage for enabling us to put this event on.

Lynne Williams will talk about her book

‘Warwick Then and Now’

Lynne will talk about her new book on Warwick which has been selling very well. It reveals the changes that the county town of Warwick has gone through during the last century. A town of many ontrasts, Warwick has undergone rapid and radical developments but still kept its historic heart. Those who know Warwick will be aware that life before the Second World War was not always a bed of roses; slum dwellings sat forlornly beside neighbouring streets of picturesque Tudor and grand Regency buildings. So some changes for the good, and some as everywhere not so good!

Featuring never-before-published photographs, accompanied by Lynne’s unique local knowledge, ‘Warwick Then & Now’ provides locals and visitors alike with a pictorial contrast of the sleepy town of yesteryear and the bustling tourist destination it is today. If you live in or just love Warwick an event not to be missed……

Tickets FREE from Warwick Books, Kenilworth Books and the libraries. Thanks to The History Press for enabling us to put this event on.

Derek Niemann will talk about his book

‘Birds In A Cage’

“In the summer of 1940, lying in the sun, I saw a family of redstarts, unconcerned in the affairs of our skeletal multitude, going about their ways in cherry and chestnut trees.” Soon after his arrival at Warburg PoW camp, British army officer John Buxton found an unexpected means of escape from the horrors of internment. Passing his days covertly watching birds, he was unaware that he, too, was being watched. Peter Conder, also a passionate ornithologist, hat noticed Buxton gazing skywards.

He approached him and, with two other prisoners, they founded a secret birdwatching society. This is the untold story of an obsessive quest behind barbed wire. Through their shared love of birds, the four PoWs overcame hunger, hardship, fear and stultifying boredom.

Their quest would draw in not only their fellow prisoners, but also some of the German guards, at great risk to them all. Derek Niemann draws on original diaries, letters and drawings, to tell of how Conder, Barrett, Waterston and Buxton were forged by their wartime experience into the giants of postwar wildlife conservation, making the RSPB what it is today.

John O’Connell will talk about his book

’The Love of Letters’

Remember letters? John is here to talk about his book ’The Love of Letters’ which is a celebration of letter-writing in all its guises  whether it’s the sly observational charms of Jane Austen, or Churchill’s loving and witty letters to Clemmie. As John O’Connell shows, the best letters have much to teach us – In this richly entertaining book, O’Connell puts forward a passionate case for the value of letter-writing in a distracted, technology-obsessed world. A properly crafted letter is something to be cherished, an act of exposure which gives shape and meaning to the chaos of life.

In the words of John Donne, ‘Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls;/For, thus friends absent speak.’

..a delightful evening in prospect.

Tickets FREE from Warwick Books, Kenilworth Books and the Libraries……

at The Unitarian Chapel Theodore Dalrymple will be talking about his latest book

‘The Pleasures Of Thinking’

‘The miseries of a vacant life were never known to a man whose hours
were insufficient for the inexhaustible pleasures of study.’
Edward Gibbon
‘When we read, we thereby save ourselves the greater part of the
trouble of thinking. This explains our obvious sense of relief when we
turn from our own thoughts to reading.’
Arthur Schopenhauer
Using these quotes as a starting point, journalist and prison psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple writes a light-hearted memoir of his lifelong addiction to thinking and how serendipity led him on a journey of discovery.

Theodore Dalrymple writes for the Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Express, and writes psychological profiles of murderers for British courts. For over a decade he had a column in the Spectator (If Symptoms Persist) on his work as a prison doctor. His most recent books include Spoilt Rotten and Litter. He lives near Birmingham.

This event is being organised by Warwick Books for Warwick Words. We are grateful to the publisher Faber.