What they say about it Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Born a poor black tobacco farmer, her cancer cells — taken without her knowledge — became a multimillion-dollar industry and one of the most important tools in medicine. Yet Henrietta’s family did not learn of her ‘immortality’ until more [...]
Filed under: America, Biography, Book review, Culture, Death | Tagged: Rebecca Skloot | 1 Comment »
The February meeting discussed Penelope Lively’s novel Family Album. The novel held the interest of those who attended as it seems to effectively present, through the recollections of various members of a family, a realistic impression of life as it really happens, a series of events, reflecting the dynamics of family life, which although unremarkable [...]
Filed under: Book review, Children, Death, Family, History, New Cross reading group, Women | Tagged: Penelope Lively | Leave a Comment »
What they say about it: Renowned Canadian artist Rachel Kelly – now of Penzance – has buried her past and married a gentle and loving Cornish man. Her life has been a sacrifice to both her extraordinary art and her debilitating manic depression. When troubled artist Rachel Kelly dies painting obsessively in her attic studio [...]
Filed under: Book review, Death, Depression, Family, Gay/Lesbian | Tagged: Patrick Gale | Leave a Comment »
What they say about it Michel Houellebecq’s dark and disturbing novel Atomised sees him establish himself as a unique and important voice in European letters. With his first work, Whatever, Houellebecq had created a sassy, street-wise bulletin of disaffected existentialism, and here that voice brilliantly extends its range. Atomised (from the French Les Particules élémentaires) [...]
Filed under: Book review, Death, Family | Tagged: Michel Houellebecq | 1 Comment »
October’s group discussed Alice Sebold’s novel The Almost Moon. The Almost Moon focuses on the experiences of it’s central character, Helen, whose drastic reaction to the effects of her upbringing by an unsympathetic and narcissistic mother, who has reached her dotage sets the scene to reflect its dark theme. Helen’s unravelling of her past relationships [...]
Filed under: America, Book review, Death, New Cross reading group | Tagged: Alice Seebold | 2 Comments »
What they say about it When newly-wed Angela Vicario and Bayardo San Roman are left to their wedding night, Bayardo discovers that his new wife is no virgin. Disgusted, he returns Angela to her family home that very night, where her humiliated mother beats her savagely and her two brothers demand to know her violator, [...]
Filed under: Book review, Death, Family, Latin America, Postcolonial | Tagged: Gabriel Garcia Marquez | Leave a Comment »
What they say about it As a blizzard of warehouses and amusement parlours and slums descends on the small town of Macondo, the inhabitants reel at the accompanying stench of rubbish that makes their home unrecognisable. When the banana company leaves town as fast as it arrived, all they are left with is a void [...]
Filed under: Book review, Death, Family, Latin America | Tagged: Gabriel Garcia Marquez | Leave a Comment »
What they say about it: When Ariel Manto uncovers a copy of The End of Mr. Y in a second-hand bookshop, she can’t believe her eyes. She knows enough about its author, the outlandish Victorian scientist Thomas Lumas, to know that copies are exceedingly rare. And, some say, cursed. With Mr. Y under her arm, Ariel [...]
Filed under: Book review, Death, Fantasy | Tagged: Scarlett Thomas | Leave a Comment »
What they say about it: Jack worships luck and decides his actions by the flip of a coin. No risk is too great if the coin demands it. Luck brings him Jess, a beautiful singer who will change his life. But Jack’s luck is running out, and soon the stakes are high. As chance and [...]
Filed under: Book review, Children, Death, Spooky | Tagged: Nicola Morgan | Leave a Comment »
What they say about it Vernon Gregory Little has secrets – but none of them, or so he assumes, have anything to do with the recent massacre of sixteen students at his high school. What he cannot see is that the quirky Texan backwater of Martirio is unable to face its role in the tragedy, [...]
Filed under: America, Book review, Culture, Death, Satire | Tagged: DBC Pierre | 1 Comment »
