The new season opened with members meeting online last night, to talk about the books they had enjoyed reading this summer. Here is a list of the books that were discussed with a brief outline of the book itself.
Operation Mincemeat — Ben Macintyre
The extraordinary true story of the Second World War deception operation that persuaded Hitler that the Allies would invade Greece rather than Sicily. Macintyre brings together espionage, ingenious planning and some wonderfully improbable characters.
Songbirds — Christy Lefteri
Set in Cyprus, this moving novel follows Nisha, a Sri Lankan migrant domestic worker who disappears without trace, and the people left behind searching for her. A story of love, loss and the hidden lives of migrant women.
The Romantic — William Boyd
Presented as the autobiography of Cashel Greville Ross, an Irishman whose restless life takes him across nineteenth-century Europe and into love, adventure and political upheaval. A richly detailed fictional life story that deliberately blurs the line between biography and invention.
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent — Judi Dench
Judi Dench reflects on a lifetime spent performing Shakespeare, drawing on conversations with actor Brendan O’Hea. Part memoir, part masterclass, it offers an entertaining and illuminating insight into Shakespeare’s plays and the business of bringing them to the stage.
Guilty by Definition — Susie Dent
A witty murder mystery built around words, dictionaries and the world of lexicography. When a murder takes place at a literary festival, language itself becomes a clue as the characters try to uncover the culprit.
The Odyssey — translated by Emily Wilson
Wilson’s acclaimed, vividly contemporary translation of Homer’s epic follows Odysseus on his long journey home from the Trojan War. It brings freshness and clarity to a foundational work of Western literature while retaining its strangeness, humour and violence.
The Divine Comedy — translated by Clive James
Dante’s monumental journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, transformed into an accessible and engaging modern English verse translation. Clive James combines literary ambition with conversational wit while preserving the power and complexity of Dante’s vision.
Windswept: Why Women Walk — Annabel Abbs
A blend of memoir, travel writing, history and literary biography exploring women’s relationship with walking and the outdoors. Abbs introduces a fascinating succession of women writers and thinkers who found freedom, creativity and independence through walking.
And Quiet Flows the Don — Mikhail Sholokhov
A sweeping epic centred on the Cossack community of the Don during the upheavals of the First World War and Russian Revolution. Through the turbulent life of Grigory Melekhov, Sholokhov explores love, loyalty, war and the destruction of an entire way of life.