Book clubs

A few weeks ago I visited a meeting of a book club. Not something I often do. It was in the wonderful Schrödinger’s bookshop in Petone. Mary Fawcett, the owner, hosts several book clubs in the shop and this one was reading my Sea Change.

The club members all read the same book which they purchase from the shop (good marketing ploy!). Each session a different club member hosts the event, brings wine and nibbles and asks questions to get things going.

I found it fascinating and very heartwarming to hear them discussing these characters which I had invented – surmising what had driven them to do this or that, correcting each other if they got some fact or foible wrong.  They would turn to a page and read out a sentence or two ‘ No look. She didn’t think that; she  said …. ‘

And they challenged me on why I had written various scenes and whether the characters were based on people I knew. I had to be on my toes because I had written it some time ago and their memories were fresher (and younger).

The first question the person chairing the session a sked was ‘ If a managed retreat was mandated like in the book, would you stay or leave?’ I was surprised to hear that most of them said ‘stay’.

‘But what skills could you offer’ was the next question. I was not convinced that their skills were practical enough to be of use when there is no power, no internet, no water and no way out. But nice to hear them siding with my very practical characters.