book discussions

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      The next meeting of the Friends Book discussion Group is right around the corner, with a meeting scheduled for September 23 to discuss the best-selling novel “The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans.

      The novel explores the life of Sybil Van Antwerp, a retired lawyer who is losing her eyesight. Through a series of letters and emails written over the course of a decade, she navigates grief, aging, estranged family relationships, and unexpected late-life romance.

      Then, the group will discuss “The Bog Queen” by Anna North on October 21. Using a dual timeline format which is becoming increasingly popular in modern novels, the story alternates between a modern forensic anthropologist in England and a young druid leader in Iron Age Europe.

      The story explores themes of land exploitation, climate crisis, and the connection between women and the earth across millennia, weaving together three distinct narrative perspectives.

      In the penultimate discussion group meeting of the year on November 18, the group will discuss “The God of the Woods” by Liz Moore. This is a gripping mystery and family drama set in the 1970s Adirondacks, when the disappearance of 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar from her family-owned summer camp triggers a massive manhunt. 

      Her disappearance mirrors a haunting local tragedy: Barbara’s older brother, Bear, mysteriously vanished from the exact same region fourteen years prior.  The story unfolds across multiple timelines and perspectives, exposing deep secrets, corruption, and the intense class divide between the wealthy Van Laar family and the impoverished local community that serves them. 

      No preregistration is required for attendance. The book club normally meets at 10 am on the third Wednesday of the month from September through May in the library’s Wisner Center.

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