The Death of the Heart (Elizabeth Bowen) or The Colony (Audrey Magee)

Remember you only have to read one of the books, there will be a group to discuss each on the night.

At the end of every meeting we vote for two new books to discuss for the meeting after next. It would be great if you could prepare your own suggestions to nominate on the night. This could be any kind of book e.g. novel, non-fiction, biography, but ideally it should be less than 400 pages long.

August's books:

The Death of the Heart (Elizabeth Bowen): When sixteen-year-old Portia is orphaned, she is plunged into the sophisticated and politely treacherous world of her wealthy half-brother's home. There she encounters the attractive cad Eddie. To him, Portia is at once child and woman, and he fears her gushing love. To her, Eddie is the only reason to be alive. But when Eddie follows Portia to a sea-side resort, the flash of a cigarette lighter in a darkened cinema illuminates a stunning romantic betrayal - and sets in motion one of the most moving and desperate flights of the heart in modern literature.

The Colony (Audrey Magee): It is the summer of 1979. An English painter travels to a small island off the west coast of Ireland. Mr. Lloyd takes the last leg by currach, though boats with engines are available and he doesn't much like the sea. He wants the authentic experience, to be changed by this place, to let its quiet and light fill him, give him room to create. He doesn't know that a Frenchman follows close behind. Jean-Pierre Masson has visited the island for many years, studying the language of those who make it their home. He is fiercely protective of their isolation, deems it essential to exploring his theories of language preservation and identity.

But the people who live on this rock--three miles long and half a mile wide--have their own views on what is being recorded, what is being taken, and what ought to be given in return. Over the summer, each of them--from great-grandmother Bean Uí Fhloinn to widowed Mairéad to fifteen-year-old James, who is determined to avoid the life of a fisherman--will wrestle with their values and desires. Meanwhile, all over Ireland, violence is erupting. And there is blame enough to go around.

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We will be meeting again in September, when we will be discussing Dangling Man by Saul Bellow and Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges.