Warwick Book group met on Wednesday 1st September at The Punchbowl Inn at 6.00pm,  We were discussing ‘The Lacuna’ by Barbara Kingsolver.

We had enjoyed “The Poisonwood Bible” when we read it last year and with this new novel by Barbara Kingsolver we all felt we had found another gem.  Everyone in the group agreed it was very atmoshpheric and a good choice for a bookgroup if, perhaps, rather long.  It covers an interesting period from recent history and cleverly interweaves real and fictional characters.  Penny, a new memeber of the group was so entranced by the images of Mexico portrayed in the book that she has bought a travel guide to Mexico and is planning a holiday there!  Lydia found herself checking on whether the narrator, Harrison Shepherd, really had existed , as he seemed so well established in the plot.  He is in fact the fictional character Kingsolver uses to pull together the disparate parts of this big novel, which covers a period of political and social upheaval in Mexico and the United States.  Diego Riviera, the celebrated Mexican artist, his wife, the regal Frida Khalo and the exiled Lev Trotsky are among the real characters portayed.   Un-American activites  and the fear engendered among artists, musicians and many thoughtful academics as well as the shabby tratment of American War Veterans  are the main themes running through this powerful, provocative and readable novel.  Definitely one to recommend.

Our next book is “White Woman on a Green Bicycle”by Monique Roffey (£7.99 paperback).  Set in Trinidad it tells the tale in retrospect of a white couple who settle in Trinidad in the 1940s.  Sabine, the wife, longs for Europe and “civilisation” but her husband, George, falls in love with the island the moment he sets foot on its soil. 

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