April 2026 reading (to be discussed first Thursday of May)

Reading # 4: Due Preparations for the Plague by Janette Turner Hospital

For our next meeting, we will be discussing Due Preparations for the Plague, a psychologically rich novel that explores how violence, memory, and moral responsibility echo across generations. The story centers on Lowell Hawthorne, a graduate student in Boston who becomes drawn into the lives of people marked by a mysterious act of political violence from decades earlier. As fragments of the past gradually surface, the novel moves between personal relationships and larger historical forces, examining how individuals struggle to make sense of trauma, secrecy, and the consequences of ideology. Both suspenseful and reflective, the book invites readers to grapple with difficult questions about guilt, forgiveness, and how societies remember—and misremember—their past.

We'll meet in the evening at Café Bassam in Bankers Hill, a relaxed café that serves coffee and wine and is well-suited for conversation. You're very welcome even if you didn't finish every page. Please RSVP if you plan to attend, as attendance is capped to keep the discussion intimate.