Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.
Penelope Lively's How It All Began takes one random event in the life of one person--the mugging of a healthy but elderly widow--and explores the tumble-down effect that event has on the people connected both directly and indirectly to her: family, friends of family, friends of friends, and a student she was tutoring in a class she taught as a volunteer. Readers get an intimate glimpse into all these varied personalities and the results of this one random event on their lives.
All the members thoroughly enjoyed the book, which was a light read after the past few months' selections. Discussion focused on the personalities of the characters and the right- or wrongness of decisions they made in the aftermath of the mugging. Should the widow's daughter have followed through on her love for her mother's student, whom she meets when he comes to her house for tutoring while her mother is staying there for recuperation? Who is truly evil, the mugger who robbed one person or the grasping solicitor and the amoral financier? How do the widow and the retired professor differ in their approach to old age?
How It All Began makes for an interesting and relaxing approach to some timeless human questions.
