Comments from the Book Discussion Group at DeSoto Library regarding our September 2013 selection:

On Canaan's Sideby Sebastian Barry
Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.

On Canaan's Side is the fictional memoir of 89-year-old Lilly Bere as she seeks to explain the act she is about to commit—that of taking her own life. This is a sweeping account that begins in Ireland where Lilly recalls living with her father and siblings after her mother died. Of growing up expecting a life of marriage and children. When her life is suddenly threatened by the violent political unrest in her homeland, arranges her escape to America with her first love, who has also been marked for death by the opposition. And so her story becomes a saga of overcoming loss after loss, of the redemption of work and friendships, and of grace and endurance. In the course of Lilly's life, she experiences the ravages of many wars through the men in her life: her father, brother, husband, son, and grandson. Somehow Lilly manages to accept these repeated blows from life and love with with her own acquired wisdom which she now imparts through this account of her journey from girlhood to old age.

Although members said the book gets off to a slow start, they all agreed it was well worth the effort. They felt Lilly's voice came through clearly and they were able to emphasize with her struggle to persevere through all the turmoil and grief contained in her story. All said they would recommend this selection to others.

Comments from the Book Discussion Group at DeSoto Library regarding our August 2013 selection:

Red Hook Roadby Ayelet Waldman
Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.

While some members found the beginning of the narrative disturbing, everyone agreed they liked Red Hook Road and could relate to the two families—the Copakens and the Tetherlys—when the young couple, John and Rebecca Tetherly, are killed in an auto accident less than an hour after taking their wedding vows. Ayelet uses the storyline to reveal both the fragility and endurance within a marriage and to expose class differences between the year-round and summer residents of a coastal community where both groups have deep roots over several generations. The discussion explored the complexities of the relationships between the characters and Ayelet's skillful use of metaphor to illustrate how seemingly separate events are, in fact, interconnected in ways we cannot predict. All would recommend this book to others. It's an excellent selection for book groups.