Christmas 2012 - Tuesday December 11th

Venue: Cay Tre, Soho
Present: Jen, Nic, Carl, Jane, Gill, Mark

A good turn-out, which would have been better if Shubha didn't still have post-pregnancy brain and hadn't been at home in her jimjams at the appointed time!  We shared a selection of delicious, fresh and full flavoured Vietnamese starters and mains between us and demolished a round of cocktails and 5, possibly 6, bottles of white wine and a carafe of red while we decided the following:

1. General attendance this year has been dismal; we need to pull our socks up next year.
2. Some of us had barely read the book group books this year; more socks needing to be pulled in an upwards direction - you know who you are.  I wouldn't shame you here, Mark.  Oops.
3. Votes on the night (so far as I can decipher) were as follows:

Book of the Year:
Great Expectations took it by a nose but it was a hard fought contest with votes for Giovanni's Room, Revolutionary Road, The Sheltering Sky and The Tortoise and the Hare too.  So many contenders makes 2012 a better book year than 2011!

Blooper of the Year:
Naked took it but there were votes for The Sheltering Sky and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.

Best (nicest) Character:
Joe, Great Expectations

Best (worst) Character:
Ignatious, A Confederacy of Dunces, with votes for Magwitch and for someone (could be practically anyone) from Sheltering Sky!

Most Shocking Moment:
Magwitch in the graveyard with Pip, Great Expectations.

Most Disappointing Book of Promise:
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher

Best Improver:
Giovanni's Room

Best (most apt) Venue:
The Clarence, Suspicions of Mr Whicher

Best Venue (other)
Aldwych, Great Expectations (for unlimited Prosecco)

Best Members:
Gill and Nic - the "turning up" award

Most Apathetic Member:
Shubha - the "declaring you are back then forgetting to come" award.  (Oops and we said we wouldn't shame anyone.)

Honourable Mention:
"Proud to have finished" - Great Expectations and Titus Groan (not a lot of people can say that).

Dishonourable Mention:
"Still the worst book of all time" - Spring Snow.

#69 - The Tortoise and the Hare - Elizabeth Jenkins (Choice: Nic) (Venue: Vivat Bacchus, Farringdon)

29th November 2012
Present: Jane, Gill, Nic

Despite the low turn out we had a prolonged and heated discussion about this one.  We all loved it, despite different takes on the morality of the characters.  We were fascinated by this glimpse of a (mostly) by-gone era and wholly agreed on our distaste for Evelyn.  Our thoughts and loyalties were divided over Imogen and Blanche, however.  Imogen was very much a product of her time: reserved, lacking confidence, deferential, overly concerned with her looks.  In short, lame: a fading beauty with seemingly little else to offer.  Undoubtedly, she was kind, gentle, well-meaning but, also, she was dull; dull, dull, dull, while Blanche, in contrast, proved it was possible to be educated, opinionated and capable - albeit at a price; spinsterhood.

Questions:

Who, then, could blame Blanche Silcox for grabbing the opportunity for physical and emotional closeness with, ahem, both hands.

What loyalty did Blanche owe Imogen and why?  Because they were both women?  We discussed this at length, with some feeling that Evelyn was the only one who owed a duty of loyalty to Imogen and some feeling that Blanche too should have had regard to his married circumstances.

Seeking a more modern context, we compared Imogen with Lady Diana Spencer - conventionally attractive, doe-eyed, dutiful, none-too-bright, considered "appropriate" for The Family and allowed by her family to marry a much older man and a position and responsibility beyond her years - and Blanche Silcox with Camilla Parker Bowles - less attractive by conventional standards but intelligent, forthright and with an unspoken hint that privately, she is happy, nay, raring to, go at it like a rabbit.

We can't help who we fall in love with, "whatever love is" (sticking with the Charles and Di theme!) So, is it wrong for a married person to fall in love with someone else and leave?  We decided no, that is not wrong, that is human but, if the eventuality arises, how one extricates oneself is what counts.  We all know spouses who have left in unbecoming ways, with spiteful and unnecessary words.  Dignity and courtesy at all times, we counsel.  Evelyn did not have that.  Although, in fairness to him, a state that did not come naturally to us, we did recognise that Imogen had given him every reason to believe she would accept another woman in his life, albeit if the affair were conducted discretely and at a distance, neither of which Evelyn managed.

So, Evelyn was a barrister, Blanche and Imogen were women, the cast feasted in London, where cheese was a feature of the meal and so, by protracted argument, we justified our restaurant.  We three are women, Gill is a barrister and there is a magnificent cheese room and turophile at Vivat Bacchus in addition to a splendid wine list, which Evelyn would have adored.

And there we have it, another fabulous night!