The Aveyron Book Group

Keen readers gather around France for regular book readings and reviews, usually over a cup of tea or a glass of wine.

French News Online, in collaboration with one of these - The Aveyron Book Group - here introduces a regular book lovers' page.

The Aveyron Book Group was set up in 2003 with just 5 members and now with a full house at 14, it meets regularly in the afternoons for tea, visiting each other's homes on a rota basis. (For further information regarding the Aveyron Book Group - please click this link).

Members reviewed 3 books for French News Online: Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith and Frankie and Stankie by Barbara Trapido.

January's chosen book was The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

The Little White Horse
- to read a Synopsis, click the image above -

Anne Dyson, a member of the Aveyron Book Group writes:

Our book choice for January was The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, chosen by a member who had very much enjoyed it as a chid and thought others might enjoy it too.

It has been cited as one of E.J.Rowling's favourite books. It was not well liked!

There were some positive comments but not many, Most members felt it was just too sickly sweet and couldn't get beyond that and the over-use of several adjectives - notably "silver" which infuriated one member so much she took to counting the times it was used then gave up at 30 because as she said 'it just didn't matter any more'.

Although it was described as a fantasy story and won the 1946 Carnegie Medal for children's literature it was felt to be very dated and had not stood the test of time. Another member wanted to put the book in its historical context - a time immediately after the 2nd World War when life was hard and depressing for many, including children. Some of us felt that we would have hated it even as children when compared with Arthur Ransome, Malcolm Saville, Noel Streatfield, Lorna Hill and even Enid Blyton (do these bring back memories too?) Two members have passed the book on to 8/9 year old grand daughters for their comments.

The low scores for the book reflected the comments. The highest individual scores were 2 x 6, the total was 41%. The member who chose the book was thanked for making us read something totally different.

Selected Edition: Paperback. ISBN 9780745945781
Published 3rd July 2000

February's chosen book was Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

Child 44
- to read a Synopsis, click the image above-

February saw another very different book - Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. What a dark, chilling book that is. It is compelling reading with some horrific descriptions, a good first book by this young author.

The story is based on fact which makes it all the more disturbing. The descriptions of life in Russia under Stalin were well researched and the notes at the end of the book give credence to the background. It is the sort of book not many of our members would choose to read but were glad of the opportunity to broaden their horizons even at the expense of being horrified and disturbed by the book. Negative comments ranged from the characters not being sufficiently well drawn to the very contrived ending but some members pointed out that that is the nature of the genre.

The score was a very reasonable 70%

Format : Mass Market Paperback, 512 pages
ISBN-10: 0857204084. ISBN-13: 9780857204080
Published : April 2011 Publisher : Simon & Schuster UK

March's chosen book was Frankie and Stankie by Barbara Trapido

The Sheltering Sky
- to read a Synopsis, click the image above -

Anne Dyson, a member of the Aveyron Book Group writes:

March saw us reading Barbara Trapido's Frankie and Stankie. As usual the views on the book were very varied, part of the strength of our group I feel, together with the fact that every members comment is valued.

On the whole the book was well received, many members particularly enjoying the laugh aloud sections and the hilarious accounts of childhood and adolescence in the 50's and 60's - most of us being of a similar age and could relate well to the 'goings on'.

Those who gave the book a high score loved the style, found it atmospheric, beautifully written and analytically good. The 1950's were very well portrayed and the story of South Africa and the developing menace of racial tensions were well told. The story was largely autobiographical which strengthened the detail and added to the pleasure of the read. Those members who rated it lower were disappointed in the mass of detail and found that intrusive.

The book scored 73%

Format : Paperback ISBN: 9780747599593.
Size: 198x129mm. Pages : 336 Published : May 2009 Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing

All our meetings ended with our usual splendid teas - what a very civilised way to spend an afternoon!

Reviews: Anne Dyson, Aveyron Book Group
annedyson@wanadoo.fr

Anne Dyson

Anne Dyson, in cooking mode!

Anne Dyson runs the well known Greedy Goose cooking school which is associated with Maison Dyson, her charming retreat in an area bordering the Tarn and Tarn et Garonne. For further information about Anne and her two enterprises, The Greedy Goose and Maison Dyson, please click this link to pop-up a new window.

The Greedy Goose, Cookery School

Links

Greedy Goose Cookery School
Maison Dyson