Now in his 70s, Ondaatje reminisces about a London he knew in the late 1940s, bringing his extensive knowledge of the city to the fictional story of two children abandoned by their middle class parents and left in the care of  an eccentric and varied group of guardians, some of whom are minor criminals.

Through Nathaniel we see the underbelly of this city recovering from war. People scrabble to make ends meet:  travelling the Thames at night picking up contraband greyhounds; working in the laundry of a large hotel – Nathaniel starts to see the way adults organize their lives and abandons school to learn from life. Neither of the children realise their parents  work in the post-war  secret service and eventually the children are in danger from  their parents enemies.

Later in life Nathaniel tries to make sense of his teenage years and work out just what his mother did and why she left them. His isolation and loneliness seem to stem from these experiences and his abandonment of his teenage  girlfriend. Ondaatje explores the way memories of past experiences are unearthed and  explored when adults reflect on life seeking some understanding their behavior.

Lively discussions resulted from the very mixed responses to this book from our group.  

Our April book is Everything Under by Daisy Johnson. Anyone who has read it is welcome to join us in the Library at 2pm, Thursday 17th April.
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Meg Dillon

We read the 2018 winner of the Booker prize, Anna Burns, The Milkman  set in Northern Ireland  during ‘the Troubles’. Middle sister, the main character, struggles to manage her relationship with her maybe-boyfriend, while being stalked by an older man, the leader of the local paramilitary.

Her mother is a particularly bitter and resentful woman who has already lost two sons in the civil war and shows no sympathy for her daughter. The toxic environment of gossip and bitchiness that permeates this community weighs heavily on the girl. Despite all this some subtle humor can be found and towards the end there are small signs that some sort of improvements may help this community out of its hopelessness. 

A mixed response from the reading group, some enjoyed it, others found the prose style difficult. We will be comparing other books from the Booker Long List with this winner. Our book for March is Warlight by Michael Ondaatje and we will be meeting in the Benalla Library at 2pm on Friday 15 March. Anyone who has read the book is welcome to join us.
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Meg Dillon