Book Chat Issue #43
Just follow the instructions
Hello reading friends
One morning last week I woke up to find that a whole bunch of new people had subscribed to this newsletter. It was thrilling and puzzling. I couldn’t work out what had happened and how all these readers had found me, but I was very happy that they had.
It turned out that my fellow book enthusiast Gayla Gray, who writes
had included Book Chat in her round-up of bookish newsletters, which was lovely of her.
Then this morning I woke to find that my friend
who writes Dash of Prosecco, had given me a shout out too. How lovely! Her newsletter is perfect for foodies and readers.
So if you arrived here via one of these newsletters, welcome! I hope we can be reading friends. If you arrived here by accident or someone shared this newsletter with you, please subscribe so you can get regular updates.
What I’ve been reading
I’m not a great re-reader, but this month our book group selection was Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell, a novel I read ten years ago, so I was interested to see whether it stood the test of time.
Instructions for a Heatwave is set in London in 1976, just a year after I lived there, so it has particular resonance for me, but I think most people will enjoy the story-telling and well-rounded characters.
It fits neatly into a genre I love: stories about families forced into situations where they have to resolve old differences and misunderstandings. My favourite films in this genre are This Is Where I Leave You and The Family Stone.
In Instructions for a Heatwave, Gretta Riordan wakes on a hot July morning to find that her husband of forty years has gone to get the paper and vanished, cleaning out his bank account along the way. Gretta's three grown children converge on their parents' home for the first time in years: Michael Francis, a history teacher whose marriage is failing; Monica, with two stepdaughters who despise her and a blighted past that has driven away the younger sister she once adored; and Aoife, the youngest, now living in Manhattan, a smart, immensely resourceful young woman who has arranged her entire life to conceal a devastating secret.
Aoife goes back into the apartment and stands on the landing of the studio clasping and unclasping her hands, knuckles whitening through the skin. She shuts her eyes for a moment or two, enough for the chambers of her heart to contract one and expand again, taking in the returning blood. A reprieve. For now. Got away with it one more time - and a phrase of her sister’s pops up in her head: by the skin of her teeth.
I won’t spoil the ending, but let me just say that this is one of those books where you catch yourself wondering how the characters are going now and hoping they are happy. So yes, it was absolutely worth re-visiting.
What I’ve been eating
Years ago, in the days when mothers were expected to make homemade goodies for the school fete, my friend Lyn made a highly successful batch of lemon curd, or lemon butter, as we used to call it in Australia. When I commented that it was brave of her to attempt a tricky recipe (it can split and curdle if you’re not careful), she said she didn’t realise it was hard to make, so it never entered her head to worry about it not turning out well.
Last week my beautiful daughter-in-law whipped up a batch of lovely crunchy meringues for dessert and was surprised when I said she was brave because they can be hard to make, especially if the eggs aren’t room temperature or the weather is humid.
She didn’t know that many cooks experience meringue disasters. (I am one of them). She simply followed the instructions and it was 100% successful.
Meringues (recipe here) are the perfect summer dessert, requiring only a few basic ingredients and a decent oven. And confidence. And maybe the ability to follow instructions.
Oh, and you can make lemon curd with the leftover egg yolks and serve it with your meringues. A match made in heaven.
Book club
In the last issue of Book Chat I included a little poll to see how many people were interested in joining an online book club, so thank you everyone who responded. About eight people said they were interested, which is a great number to get things rolling. If you’re new here and think you’d be interested, just flick me an email and let me know.
I’m planning to announce the first book in January so look out for that, but I want to stress that this is intended as a free, low-key activity for people who like reading and talking about books (just about my favourite activity, along with eating). I’ll choose the first book, but I’m happy for people to make suggestions about books they’d like to read and discuss.
We will meet online (via Zoom or something similar) in late Feb or early March when I get back from New Zealand. I’m really looking forward to it. My friend
suggested we might also swap recipes. That would be fun, don't you think?That’s all for this edition.
You’ll hear from me again in two weeks, but until then, happy reading.
Warm wishes,
Marg xxx
Thanks for the shoutout Marg. I'm so happy that more readers have discovered your newsletter. We have such a great bookish community on Substack.
I think I might start a notebook for book recommendations instead of my usual: scratched on a bit of paper lurking near the computer and then thrown out because I can't remember what it is. So 1976, is the year we lived in London and the year my daughter was born so it is significant for me. Pity I didn't draw her in the family Secret Santa because that would have been a brilliant gift for her.