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From the creative team that brought you: - The Girl With A Pearl Hearing Aid - The Girl With All The Grits and - The Girl With The Edinburgh Tattoo comes this haunting tale.
Christabel Christington is a keen marathon runner but has terrible problems with her knees. Before long, and in mid-race, both knees fall off simultaneously. Handsome Simon Surgeonton to the rescue. Not only is he a knee specialist (and he has a few spares in his medical bag) and ravishingly handsome, but he also has a line of church kneelers designed for just such problems as Christabel's. That adventure can be yours if you read The Amazing Doctor Knees by Randy Tentpole.
Instead, you could pass your opinion on this month's book choice: A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier.
I have a permanent earworm of Winchester Cathedral by The New Vaudeville Band since starting this.
https://youtu.be/jKc1OCJ7iXk
You will now, too. No need to thank me.
The main character, Violet Speedwell has begun a walking holiday from Winchester to the Isle of Wight*, via Nether Wallop and Salisbury. I think she would have made and excellent Fetchie. I have been following in her footsteps via Google maps and streetview.
So far she has stopped at the John O' Gaunt in Horsebridge (which remains open today) and the Five Bells In Nether Wallop which has been closed since 2013. In 2019 the local council ordered the owners to carry out emergency repairs to ensure the preservation of the historic facade and maintain the building's weathertightness.
I have also learnt a bit about embroidery.
*She plans to get a ferry across to the island, she's not that good a walker
nicola wall 2.0 out of 5 stars Because I can't read this Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 January 2020 Verified Purchase I can no longer see this on my Kindle!!! The book didn't arrive on my Kindle!!!
I think it would only be fair for Tracy Chevalier to come around to Nicola Wall's house and read the book to her
I was a bit 'meh' about this at first as I found the writing style a bit simplistic and almost aimed at the YA market. So that annoyed me a bit. And continued to annoy me.
But I got really carried away by the subject matter and the historical detail. The portrayal of the position of a woman at that time was frankly horrifying and brought it home to me a lot more than just reading about or knowing about the historical situation. It's meticulously researched (as far as I can tell) and that pleased me. The references to the wider political situation were also interesting. The mother reminded me of mine...
I enjoyed it very much in the end, and have recommended it to my Mum and sister. I was between a 7 and an 8, so I've given it an 8 as I'm feeling generous.
It seems that, from my scan of the Amazon reviews, TC does write some YA stuff. I wonder if the marketing is taken out of her hands and the publishers are keen to exploit the 'By the author of The Girl From Pearl Harbor With The Dragon Tattoo' angle, so they downplay the YAness?
I don't really think it sits comfortably in a pigeon hole, and nor should it have to. I really don't like the YA tag. It's nearly as bad as "women's lit." At least they don't call it ChickLit any longer.
From the creative team that brought you: - The Girl With A Pearl Hearing Aid - The Girl With All The Grits and - The Girl With The Edinburgh Tattoo comes this haunting tale.
Christabel Christington is a keen marathon runner but has terrible problems with her knees. Before long, and in mid-race, both knees fall off simultaneously. Handsome Simon Surgeonton to the rescue. Not only is he a knee specialist (and he has a few spares in his medical bag) and ravishingly handsome, but he also has a line of church kneelers designed for just such problems as Christabel's. That adventure can be yours if you read The Amazing Doctor Knees by Randy Tentpole.
Instead, you could pass your opinion on this month's book choice: A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier.
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Book Group
Feb 2025