Schedule and Meeting Attendance

The Meeting and Discussion Schedule

Tuesday, 16th September 2025 Clear by Carys Davies (Irene)
Tuesday, 21st October 2025 Question 7 by Richard Flanagan (Mary)
Tuesday, 18th November 2025 North Woods by Daniel Mason (Kevin)
Tuesday, 9th December 2025 Christmas Literary Event at The Alex

Details of each of these meetings are listed further down this page ---->>

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Tuesday, 16th September 2025 Clear by Carys Davies (Irene)

Clear by Carys Davies Suggested by Irene 20/05/2025

Paperback – 27 Feb 2025

317 pages

Amazon 4.3 / 5 £4.92 +

Goodreads 3.9 / 5

WINNER OF THE ONDAATJE PRIZE 2025

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE

WATERSTONES WELSH BOOK OF THE MONTH

WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE MONTH

"Tender, riveting and inventive is Clear, the newest offering and masterpiece from the brilliant Carys Davies. It will take your breath away" Sarah Jessica Parker

"An exquisite, hopeful masterpiece" Rachel Joyce

"A poignant, profound depiction of both solitude and connection. Carys Davies has written a masterful, discreetly sublime book" Hernan Diaz

1843. On a remote Scottish island, Ivar, the sole occupant, leads a life of quiet isolation until the day he finds a man unconscious on the beach below the cliffs. The newcomer is John Ferguson, an impoverished church minister sent to evict Ivar and turn the island into grazing land for sheep. Unaware of the stranger's intentions, Ivar takes him into his home, and in spite of the two men having no common language, a fragile bond begins to form between them. Meanwhile, on the mainland, John's wife, Mary, anxiously awaits news of his mission.

Against the rugged backdrop of this faraway spot beyond Shetland, Carys Davies's intimate drama unfolds with tension and tenderness: a touching and crystalline study of ordinary people buffeted by history and a powerful exploration of the distances and connections between us. Perfectly structured and surprising at every turn, Clear is a marvel of storytelling, an exquisite short novel by a master of the form.

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Tuesday, 21st October 2025 Question 7 by Richard Flanagan (Mary)

Question 7 by Richard Flanagan

Suggested by Mary

Paperback – 1 May 2025

304 pages

Amazon 4.4 / 5£10.91 +

Goodreads 4.2 / 5

**Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize 2024**

From one kiss comes a chain reaction – a masterpiece of memoir from the winner of the Baillie Gifford and the Booker prize

By way of H. G. Wells and Rebecca West’s affair, through 1930s nuclear physics, to Flanagan’s father working as a slave labourer near Hiroshima, this chain of events culminates in a young man finding himself trapped in a rapid on a wild river, not knowing if he is to live or to die…

‘The strangest and most beautiful memoir I’ve ever read. Magnificent' Tim Winton

‘Flanagan’s portrayal of his quiet, brave father and his loving, resilient mother is exquisite. His evocation of the texture of life in rural Tasmania is masterful’ Daily Telegraph

‘A beautiful, unclassifiable novel-cum-memoir… That it is a masterpiece is without question’ Observer

‘Sometimes a book is an experience felt almost in the body… A celebration of all life, it is also a reckoning with the 20th century... It is intimate, beautiful, unsparing and profound' Anna Funder

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Tuesday, 18th November 2025 North Woods by Daniel Mason (Kevin)

North Woods by Daniel Mason

suggested by Kevin 01/09/2024

#1 Best Seller Amazon Earth Sciences

A SPELLBINDING MASTERPIECE. READ IT ONCE, REMEMBER IT FOREVER.

'North Woods is a monumental achievement of polyphony and humanity. Relating the narrative of an entire country via a single plot of land, it sweeps the reader through hundreds of years and an array of protagonists with a deft, heartbreaking, idiosyncratic zeal' Maggie O'Farrell

OVER FOUR CENTURIES,

'This is a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic . . . The only constants are the land and Mason's genius' Washington Post

A SINGLE HOUSE DEEP IN THE WOODS OF NEW ENGLAND

'Dazzling . . . weaves a Cloud Atlas-style narrative of humanity under pressure and nature under threat . . . Brave and original . . . intimate and epic, playful and serious' Guardian

IS HOME TO RUNAWAYS AND VISIONARIES, INSEPARABLE TWINS, A LOVELORN PAINTER, A DESPERATE MOTHER AND A RUTHLESS CON-MAN.

'It seems almost a magic trick, the way in which Mason knits his lives into a single tale' Sunday Times

IT WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE THE WORLD.

'North Woods has been heaped with praise and hype, and deservedly so. This is a book that treats life as a miracle and demands the proper awe from its readers' The Times

Paperback – 29 Aug. 2024

384 pages

Amazon 4.3/5 £8.49 +pp

Goodreads 4.1/5

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Tuesday, 9th December 2025 - Christmas Literary Event at The Alex

Meeting Attendance

Meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. Please be cautious of months where the 1st day of the month is actually a Wednesday. This can be confusing.

Admin will send out a Meeting Reminder via email, without fail, at least 3 days before the meeting day.

2 days before a meeting, members will be prompted via email, to indicate if they will be attending or not.

Out of simple courtesy to the group, if you are unable to attend a meeting please send in an apology before the meeting so we are not holding up the meeting for your arrival. A simple NO in the subject line of an email will be sufficient. No excuses, please, are necessary. If you haven't sent an apology before the meeting, you will not receive the Minutes of the meeting you didn't attend as it will be assumed you were not interested in the content of that particular meeting. Three no-shows/no-apologies in a row and your position in the group will be marked as Vacant.

You will need to try to commit to attend around 9 of the 12 sessions a year.

Life never goes as planned and your circumstances or priorities can change. In this case let us know as soon as possible so your position can be offered to someone on the Waiting List. You will always be welcome to re-join the group.

Once a year, after the February meeting, you will be asked via email to confirm your interest and commitment to the group. This will give people a chance to review their circumstances and bow out gracefully, if this reading group no long is relevant to you.

If less than 5 members say they will be attending a meeting, then the meeting will be disbanded due to lack of interest.

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