Mumsnet Talk

This is the thread to come to for April's Bookclub chat - we'll be kicking off at 8pm on Tuesday 29th April and discussing the brilliant Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie Macdonald.

And just a reminder that you can now vote for May's bookclub choice on our May Book of the Month page - we have six very prestigious Orange Prize shortlisters up there for the taking, so get voting now...

I panicked and thought today was Tuesday.

Haven't managed to finish it in time, and am struggling with the writing style (find it quite staccato) and the content (violence, the mother's mental state, and other stuff that I find generally depressing). Will read the chat with interest when I've either given up or finished it!

dp working late tonight. My plan is to be here for the discussion, especially as I missed the last one (damned M62 ) but if he walks in at 7.59 I may feel almost duty bound to make him a cup of tea or something before I ignore him for the rest of the night.

If I'm late, I'll be along later...

Hi there
I've not been a part of this whole book group thing but I love 'fall on your knees' - it's one of the best books I have ever read.

I'm here.

dp not home yet, so I may disappear, but I'm here

Evening all...

I thought I'd kick off with some proper reading group type questions, just for a change. Theres quite a few readers guides to this book (it was an Oprah pick and a big hit in USA) - here's the pick of the bunch

What do you feel caused the terrible pain and anguish that occurs through the Piper family? Did it all start with Mr Mahmoud abandoning his daughter? or was James's inherent nature to be incestuous? Or was it the isolation of the island setting, the Depression and the melting pot of religions/races that brought about unhappiness and eventual disaster?

James is a horrible but complex character. What drove him at times to protect his family and at times to destroy them? Did you feel you understood him at all or did you think he was pretty much a born monster?

Religion and skin color play a large role in separating and defining the characters in this novel. For example, Mrs. Luvovitz, Materia's only friend, is Jewish and married to the kosher butcher. James is Protestant and married to the Catholic Materia. Materia's father was Catholic but claims he took the name Mahmoud in honor of the Muslim woman who protected him from death. Also, Materia is Lebanese and dark. James is Gaelic and pale. James doesn't even realize that Albert, his best friend in the mine, is black because of the soot and dim lighting. Jameel who is Lebanese and married to Materia's sister Camille is "shit-scared of being seen as colored". What role do you think all these differences play in the interactions of the characters? And, how do you think these differences would be seen today as opposed to 100 years ago?

What did you think of the spiritual/magic elements of the book (Lily's sainthood, the visions, the ghosts)? do you feel it was a religious book?

Did the author surprise you with the plot twists? Or did you feel her structural style guides you into suspicions (did you guess who was going to be the father of Kathleen's twins?)

hello!
Can i just say that the last book club i did here was the one on To Kill A Mockingbird - what a difference this book was! From a loving and fair father to one who chose to express himself in such awful ways....

I am not part of the book club yet. I will be watching tonight and will get involved next month. Not sure I can read a WHOLE BOOK in a month though! Any tips on making time for reading that doesn't involve evicting everyone in my house?

I'm not sure whether I actually guessed who the father of the twins was, but I certainly wasn't surprised.

I didn't think the book was particularly religious, but it did obviously have religion running through it.

In answer to question one - I felt that perhaps some of James's problems were actually post traumatic stress from the war....

billybass - do you read in bed? I find that sometimes I only manage a few pages, but you soon get through a book if you do it every night.

strawberrylace: I thought he was quite an odious character before he went to war, tbh.

SquonkTheBeerGuru thankyou. I will try that. Did you all like this book?

I agree with squonk. I didn't find there were particular plot twists, but I found it confirmed my thoughts about what was going on. It was such a dark book that the denouement (poncey word, sorry!) about the father of the twins just confirmed my worst fears....

I only guessed who the twins' father was a few pages before we were told. I imagine it was pretty obvious to some other people, but it really shocked me! (The clues were there. Why was Lily white?)

I thought Mercedes was pretty dreadful too, not just James. What she did to Frances! It was so awful, I could hardly comprehend it. Drove Frances to a drawn-out suicide and finished off James.

I loved it, yes. It's not at all the kind of book I would ordinarily choose, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

billy - I liked the book, but it was a difficult read cos of the subject matter
Squonk - i agree he was a horrible character before he went to war, but it seems to me that he just got worse after he came back

I thought james was fairly damaged from the start - the fact that he falls in love with materia when she is twelve (I think that's right isn't it - definitely under 15 anyway) is strange. But he does seem to have a good heart at the beginning, and then becomes horribly twisted.

I read this book about 6 years ago and absolutely loved it. Wished I could write a book like it. And then I read it again this time and I felt completely different. I thought that the horror and the pain were just too much. I still think its a powerful, imaginative and unforgettable book, but I can't see it in the same light now that I have children. Ann-Marie doesn't have children, which is interesting.

strawberry lace, good point - we have gone from one extreme to the other! What did you think of the children in this book - did you think Frances was a bit like Scout? I thought she had some of the same courage and funniness.

billybass, nice to have you - have you voted for May's book? None of them are too long (unlike this one!) and all are great.

Cocode - were there actually any nice characters??
It was a wierd read as it was completely different in style and content to what I had imagined it was going to be from the description on the back of the book

he got worse and worse as the book went on, really, didn't he. You may have a point about the war. I wonder if he hadn't gone to war whether he would have continued the way he did.

Yes, James was just a peadophile, wasn't he? There was one point when shortly after he married Materia he suddenly saw himself and her through other people's eyes, and realized he looked like a grown-man with a child bride.

Tillybookclub - yes, I have voted in the May book poll.Its interesting to see what you are all saying about this one.

Lily was lovely

A bit spooky though

Tilly - good point about Frances/Scout. And definitely a more scary read if you think about it from the point of view of being a mother. I think Materia was in such an awful position of trying to protect her family from a monster, something which Mercedes and Frances both inherit, though of course they deal with it in such different ways