The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
Western Lane – Chetna Maroo
READ FOR BOOKERTHON
In this coming of age novel, 11-year-old Gopi takes up competitive squash as a way to cope with the grief of her mother’s death and the challenges of being an ethnic minority living in Britain.
● After some wordy novels on the Booker Prize shortlist this year, I very much appreciated the brevity and sparseness with which Chenta Maroo presented Western Lane. There is talent in being able to convey so much emotion and purpose not only with words used, but in words not used.
Like many others I had wondered how engaged I would be with a book about squash, but the characters drew me in from the outset and I appreciated how every move on the court represented Gopi’s outlook on life as she comes of age. The time spent on the squash courts is supported by a strong plot about Gopi’s family, in particular their attempt to overcome their grief, financial hardship and exposure to racism, to be a supportive and successful family unit. An uplifting read despite the sombre themes. – Rachel
I knew how to move on the court, and sometimes I hit beautiful, aggressive shots, but I was inconsistent. Ged had court sense. He knew where he was and where his
opponent was and he knew where to place the ball. In this way, he was an attacking
plater, but sometimes, when he had done the work, when he had set himself up to win, his mind wandered.
● Chetna Maroo’s story about Gopi, the youngest daughter of a grieving family navigating the pre-teen years, is both tender and subtle. Gopi and her family are aware of her special talents, but face the challenge of encouraging her to flourish against a backdrop of a disintegrating domestic environment. As a reader I felt myself strongly hoping that my own will would somehow help achieve Gopi get to where she needed to be.
The writing in Western Lane was without the often overwrought sentences of some of the other Booker shortlisters and somehow this often made it seem ‘less than’. However, as I reflect more on this I think its apparent simplicity was much more clever than I originally thought. – Suzy
Published 2023
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
160 pages
This Other Eden – Paul Harding
READ FOR BOOKERTHON
After inhabiting Apple Island for six generations, the small, multi-racial community face the authorities who decide its time to “cleanse” them. Real events that happened to the people of Malaga Island in 1911.
● While I appreciate that Paul Harding has educated the reading world about the plight of a group of people in history who were displaced and mistreated, I don’t feel like I heard from the people themselves. More, the story was about what happened to them, without their input on the physical, emotional and cultural consequences.
Some parts of the story were compelling but others were wordy and cumbersome and my attention waned, resulting in a bit of re-reading. I finished the book interested in the history and feeling sympathy for these people, but unsatisfied in the reading experience, as if there is still more story to tell. – Rachel
And it seemed as if by sending him off to paint his beautiful pictures they all might somehow unhouse homelessness, might somehow bankrupt poverty. It seemed to all of them that evening as if they somehow might even starve hunger itself.
● I’m looking forward to the research of this book as it definitely feels like the events are unconscionable enough that they could be based on real historical events. There was little solace and the island residents being seen as not quite human brought to mind the treatment of the Aboriginal people in Australia.
With novels like this I often think geez I wish the author could just give us a bit of joy, but any glimmer of hope in This Other Eden would have been misplaced. – Suzy
Published 2023
W W Norton & Co
224 pages
Prophet Song – Paul Lynch
READ FOR BOOKERTHON
Prophet Song is set in an alternative Dublin where a tyrannical government is weaving its way into people’s lives, and society is slowly collapsing. It focuses on one family who suffer in many ways and one mother, Eilish Stack, who is trying to hold her family together.
● Surely there is no more pertinent and relevant novel than Prophet Song right now. I am embarrassingly ignorant as to the history of the war that is currently dominating the hearts and minds of so many of us at the moment. I have read articles, I have listened to podcasts and I just can’t get my head around it.
While educating us on specific historical events isn’t necessarily Paul Lynch’s goal, what he has achieved is made the experiences of conflict and war as human and messy and relatable as possible. A devastating read that left me feeling nauseated and bereft. – Suzy
Sooner or later pain becomes too great for fear and when the people’s fear has gone the regime will have to go.
● One of the first stylistic things I noticed in Prophet Song is that while chapters and section breaks exist, this author is not a fan of the <enter> button, even during dialogue. There are also no speech marks or other notations to indicate speech or a change of speaker. I was concerned momentarily, but actually it provided a new kind of reading experience. Firstly, it made me slow down and really read every word. And it simulated the non-stop, rolling events, propelling me from one scene to the next.
As well as the style, I also admired Lynch’s way with words and character development. He has lovely phrasing that can endure or devastate so cleverly. I rollercoastered through the emotions with Eilish as she had a small win or a new tragedy. There is one scene in particular that I think will stay with me forever.
It’s probably obvious I absolutely loved this book. I was completely immersed in the story, and was impressed at how it was stylistically put together. I also appreciated how it made me further consider current world events. – Rachel
Published 2023
One World Publications
320 pages
The Bee Sting – Paul Murray
READ FOR BOOKERTHON
An Irish family saga based around Dickie Barnes, his failing auto dealership and his wife and children who are each dealing with huge issues of their own. A 600+ page drama that investigates each character’s plight indepthly.
● I didn’t connect with The Bee Sting in the first few pages, well the first 100 pages. The story felt menial and I just didn’t care about a teenager, her privileged life and her beautiful friends. If it wasn’t a Booker book I would probably have DNF’d it.
However, persevering proved how important and relevant every part of the novel is to the whole story; to the final package. It’s interesting how each character is built to be a part of the family drama but also their own person struggling with their own issues. Their voices are distinct. The story builds and builds and has one of the best endings. Reading through the wordy lives of the individual characters, and accepting some chapters don’t have punctuation (???) is worth it for the ending.
The book covered off a lot of current issues and it feels like a work of this time and place. I think it will have longevity. Though I don’t consider it perfect by any means, I think it could be a contender for the Booker Prize win. – Rachel
Maybe every era has an atrocity woven into its fabric. Maybe every society is complicit in terrible things and only afterwards gets around to pretending they didn’t know.
● This novel began innocuously enough with a bit of light teenage drama and angst. Yes, I thought to myself, I can handle this. However, The Bee Sting gradually builds the tension, and as secrets were revealed I felt increasingly stressed about how each character was going to find a sense of peace and resolution amidst the increasingly complex layers of their existence. The tension of the final pages was nearly unbearable.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Bee Sting. More than anything it was a ripping yarn and you don’t always get those on a Booker shortlist! – Suzy
Published 2023
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
656 pages
If I Survive You – Jonathan Escoffery
READ FOR BOOKERTHON
A series of linked stories about a Jamaican family in Miami, centered around younger son Trelawny and his determination to survive racism, financial woes and Hurricane Andrew.
● I am privileged in that I have generally always had a pretty strong sense of belonging. Whether it has been a new town, a new job or something else entirely I can nearly always guarantee that I’ll soon enough feel at ease and that I’m with my people.
If I Survive You is a masterclass in what it’s like for someone when that sense of belonging is hard to reach and the heartbreaking reasons for not necessarily achieving it. The author did a great job at bringing us along with Trelawny and his experiences felt raw and uncomfortable, as they should. – Suzy
‘Are we Black?’ you ask your mother.
‘Chuh. I was never asked such stupidness before coming to this country. If someone asks you,’ she says, ‘tell them you’re a little of this and a little of that.’
● This book was touted as linked short stories which, to be honest, put me off it from the outset. However, I was proved wrong in my estimations as I was immediately drawn to Trelawny, his life, wry sense of the humour and the weird and wonderful situations he got himself into. I liked the way he analysed situations and people, including himself.
There was never a dull moment in these stories, which did not feel like short stories, it seemed like a novel with each chapter focusing on a new character. Each of them offered a new perspective about acceptance, community, displacement and battling. Some stories are very funny, albeit heartbreaking. In the end I loved it and would recommend it widely. – Rachel
Published 2022
MCD
260 pages
Study For Obedience – Sarah Bernstein
READ FOR BOOKERTHON
A woman moves to the countryside to become a housekeeper for her brother, whose wife has recently left him. Soon after her arrival, several unexplainable events occur and she feels the community’s suspicion towards her growing.
● Well, regardless of whether it wins the Booker or not I am giving my own award to this book for “Most Likely to Induce Nightmares”. The deep sense of unease I felt while reading Study For Obedience has yet to completely leave me and it’s been a good few weeks now since I finished it. It was sometimes just one small moment that would have the nails-down-a-blackboard effect, but there were so many of them in this book. So many! Sarah Bernstein has done a phenomenal job and I would not be surprised if she takes out the win. – Suzy
In the mornings of those first few weeks at my brother’s house, I cherised the silence. I stood at my bedroom window and watched the greens emerge, the trees, the mountains. How to describe how I felt then, pacing the floorboards in my bare feet, unable to tear my eyes away from the world outside, unable to leave the porch, and finding it impossible to stay still.
● Beneath the surface of Study For Obedience is a seductive tale with uncomfortable undertones of a woman meandering around her brother’s property and community, always there, always opinionated and guiding events and never properly engaging with anyone. She is unreliable and as such there is an interestingly paced reveal of key information throughout. I felt like I was always grimacing expectantly as I turned the pages, wondering what was coming next.
However, these undertones were smothered by the surface which is painfully verbose. Clearly language is a theme of the book but even still, this wordiness – whether intended to be the author’s or the narrator’s – was too much for me, dragging out events unnecessarily and providing a stilted reading experience. For example: ‘In short, the state of extreme precarity to which I had been accustomed up until this point, the state of permanent although latent terror that had characterised my existence until then, had prevented me from believing my current situation was anything other than provisional, and as my desire increased to stay in place forever, to remain at the mercy of the weather on the edge of the forest, so did my conviction that something, yes, something would intervene, something terrible would happen.’
Or, to summarise: ‘I thought something terrible would happen.’
This book could have been exceptional if the author didn’t try so hard to be linguistically clever. – Rachel
Published 2023
Knopf Canada
208 pages
Cocoon – Zhang Yueran
READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Jo
Li Jiaqi and Cheng Gong recall their childhood friendship under Chinese communist rule, living with extended family and in wonderment about what really happened that rainy night in 1967 in the abandoned water tower where Gong’s grandfather was attacked. A story of family, mystery and intergenerational guilt, of China’s recent history and politics creeping in and taking over people’s lives.
Grandpa once told me he just went with the flow; he studied hard at school, and did his best as a doctor. He joined the army at the right time, and then joined the Party at the same time. He made sure to put his feet in the right place. The times were changing so quickly, one false step and you’d find yourself no longer on solid ground, plummeting into the abyss. Going with the flow was actually very difficult. Like a signal operator patiently adjusting the frequency, one needed sensitive ears and a still heart to correctly tune into the era.
● This book was filled with heartbreaking themes – generational trauma and grief, inherited guilt, child abandonment with a little bit of domestic violence thrown in there, too. Interestingly, it wasn’t a miserable read but instead intriguing and powerful. I was gripped from the start and the understated bombs that went off through the book really shocked me. The vegetative grandfather added another element of interest and I’m still thinking about him being both alive and dead at the same time. The characters were complex and well developed. I really enjoyed this and would recommend it. – Jo
● Cocoon leads the reader assuredly through two families’ intertwining lives. It feels gentle at times, as well as grounded and deliberate, however there were also many moments that I know will sit with me uncomfortably for some time. The more I reflect on this novel the more I realise how clever and special it was. – Suzy
● This beautifully crafted novel reveals how the two protagonists Li Jiaqi and Cheng Gong’s history and fate were shaped by the Cultural revolution and the generations before them. I really enjoyed the complexity of the plot and characters. Their alternating stories weave together to make for an intriguing and complex plot. There is a lot of bleakness and sorrow and not a lot of true happiness, but I never felt dragged down by this. Zhang Yurean had a way of portraying an underling hopefulness. I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone. – Jodie
● Despite themes of guilt, tragedy, shame and loss, Cocoon is a page-turner with a well-constructed cast. The main plot line focuses on Cheng Gong trying to discover who injured his grandfather during the revolution leaving him in a vegetative state. It was impressive how, even in his barely alive state, Zhang managed to make the grandfather such a personality in the story. But there is so much more to the book than this plot. Characters relay their own histories and struggles as well as weave in and out of the main plot line. Just when you think something is covered off, one character appears again providing a new angle to the intrigue. I loved all the characters, was invested in their plights and enjoyed the Chinese history lesson adeptly built in. This was a fantastic read and I think most readers would enjoy it. – Rachel
Published in Chinese 2016
Translated by Jeremy Tiang in 2022
World Editions Ltd
323 pages
The Last White Man – Mohsin Hamid
READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Suzy
Anders, a white man living in a fictional town, wakes one morning to discover his skin has turned brown. Confused and ashamed, he experiences change in the attitudes of the people in his family and community. Yet he is only the first to transition. A magical realist novel about racism, isolation, loss and new beginnings.
… and the more he looked, the less white he seemed, as though looking for his whiteness was the opposite of whiteness, was driving it further away, making him seem desperate …
● I enjoyed the premise of The Last White Man. Mohsin Hamid has written in a way that feels like what’s happening to Anders is actually pretty plausible rather than absolutely impossible. The rolling sentences at times lead the reader relentlessly forward, however there was also something about the writing that made me feel like I was being kept at arm’s length. Not my favourite novel of Hamid’s but still an enjoyable read. – Suzy
● The Last White Man is a reminder of how bias continues to reign in society and what its flow on effects are. There is the obvious racism theme, but the book also reminded me of the pandemic, where people were terrified about what afflicted others and feared any social contact. There is a steady pace to the book and long, propulsive sentences, but it is not climatic. I was not disappointed by this as I felt the styling was reminiscent of The Metamorphosis, which obviously provided some inspiration for this book. – Rachel
● The first line of the book had me captivated: ‘One day Anders, a white man, woke up to find he had turned a deep and undeniable brown’. Unfortunately, as the novel progressed it didn’t really pack much punch and I’m not sure I got the key take away from the book. I feel Hamid had great intent but it was lacking in depth for me. In saying that it was certainly thought provoking and puts to the reader questions about the acceptable treatment of one other. – Jodie
● The Last White Man was a strangely subdued story with no real peak – I kept expecting one but it never came. This perhaps gave me an overall sense of being underwhelmed. In saying that I did enjoy aspects of the book, especially its themes around racism. The long sentences had me rushing along at a frantic pace and I thought this was a clever way of creating tension. – Jo
Published 2022
Riverhead Books
192 pages
Diary Of A Void – Emi Yagi
READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Jodie
A translated work in which a Japanese office worker fakes a pregnancy to avoid menial cleaning and tidying jobs that her male counterparts are never burdened with. However, the hoax becomes all-absorbing, and the boundary between her lie and her life begins to dissolve. A novel which examines gender roles and societal traditions in Japan.
Once I started wearing dresses to work I was now unmistakably pregnant. When I walked around the office, arms full of paper core samples, coworkers from other sections would come up and offer to carry them. When I was waiting for the elevator, they’d stay back and let me get in first. I even had an old woman, a complete stranger, offer a prediction. The baby, she said, would be arriving “next week”. “Um, the due date is May,” I said to her.
● Emi Yagi’s attempt to write a quietly political novel about the inequalities women face in Japanese society was funny and engaging. The protagonist’s impulsive decision to lie about a pregnancy to get out of tasks at work grows into a personal rebellion against society. Yes there is a new life growing inside of Shibata, her own life, of which she has more control over during her fake pregnancy. I loved this novel and am pleased Yagi chose to highlight the injustices Japanese women face every day. – Jodie
● Diary of a Void initially felt quite playful and fun as Shibata engaged in a lie that meant she was no longer responsible for so many of the menial tasks that came with being the only female at her workplace. While her colleagues, new friends and the reader were pulled deeper into her deception I felt my smile become a bit more forced as the good humour at the start of the novel gave way to some uncomfortable observations about women’s role in Japanese society. – Suzy
● Diary of a Void started off as a bit of a lark. Ms. Shibata has a dry, cutting sense of humour and I laughed at her inner thoughts and the lengths she went to to fake a pregnancy. But once the author has captured you with humour she throws a few contemplative curve balls to ponder. There’s moral questionability, objectification and judgement of women, and the consequences of loneliness. This transition from lark to societal and political is so well done, as is the soft genre shift from realist to surrealist to a magical realist. I finished the book in a different mindset as to how I started it. I loved the journey and every part of the story, including the shocking and appropriate ending. – Rachel
● Shibata, the main character in Diary of a Void, is funny and sweet and unfortunately desperate to relieve the awful gender expectations of her demanding work role. The crazy idea to pretend to be pregnant slowly seems more and more real as time goes on. I questioned whether she really was pregnant which, as it turns out, was one of the author’s goals. This book has a brilliant ending to a social challenge of Japanese societal expectations of women. – Jo
Published in Japanese 2020
Translated into English by David Boyd & Lucy North 2022
Penguin Random House
213 pages
Tender Is The Flesh – Agustina Bazterrica
READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Rachel
Dystopian fiction about a world where humans are farmed for meat after animals become diseased and unfit for consumption. Told through the eyes of Marcos, a slaughterhouse official, who is disgusted at what society has become but remains stuck in the cogs of ultimate control. A metaphorical look at how groups in society “consume” one another through dehumanisation.
Don’t be an idiot. Can’t you see they’re controlling us? If we eat each other, they control overpopulation, poverty, crime. Do you want me to keep going? I mean, it’s obvious.
● Agustina Bazterrica has written about her disgust at consumerism and capitalism and how groups in society are willing to objectify and depersonalise each other for power and control. The message is portrayed in the most graphic of ways with detailed passages of human beings being treated as “meat”: on ropes in the barn, slaughtered at the abattoir, hunted for sport, sacrificed for religious reasons, experimented on in laboratories, eaten alive, stolen from mortuaries. The content in this book is the most disturbing I have come across; sometimes it was distressing to even look at the words. But beneath the horror is a well constructed and poignant story making this one of the best and one of the worst books I’ve read. I enjoyed the complexity of Marcos, someone who can reveal the horrors of “transition” to us in honest accounts but who is still willing to manipulate the system for his own benefit. And I loved the ending – horrifically perfect. – Rachel
● I found this novel very disturbing, and even more so knowing that every horrific treatment being meted out on the fictional humans (or ‘head’) is regularly administered to animals in real life. Even though promoting animal rights wasn’t the author’s primary motivation, I deeply appreciated a book highlighting the realities of slaughterhouses and scientific testing on live subjects. Was this an incredible book? Yes. Would I recommend it to anyone other than my worst enemy? No. – Suzy
● I have never read such a disturbing, disgusting, relentlessly horrifying but truly fascinating book as this one. I dreaded picking it up each night but once I was reading I couldn’t put it down! Cannibalism is not a new literary topic so this in itself wasn’t a particularly hard thing to stomach. But what was difficult to read, was the farming and commercialism of humans as meat for consumption and the horrifying way this was executed. If you do decide to read this book, be prepared to have your mind blown! – Jodie
● I’ve never read anything as horrific but fascinating as Tender Is The Flesh. I would think I’d reached the pinnacle of horror as each chapter finished, but the horrors just kept coming. Eating people is not the worst part either, it’s only the beginning. It is all the awful infrastructure around it and details of all the hideous things you can, apparently, do with a human that makes it truly disturbing. Yet, I couldn’t stop reading – this book is a real page turner. I’m still thinking about it, especially how people can live in a society lacking in basic humanity. – Jo
Published in Spanish 2017
Translated into English by Sarah Moses 2020
Scribner
209 pages
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