Ideas for intimidatng book club please

[Vulture]

I joined a book club a few months ago and the books they choose whilst enjoyable are a bit worthy - things like The Other Hand about a Nigerian refugee or Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I want to bring a bit of light relief in and was thinking about suggesting A Woman of Substance as it has just turned 30 and I remember my Mum reading it when I was little - do you think they will laugh at me or welcome a bit of light relief. They are all middle class, university educated yummy boden mummy types.

I hated both 'the other hand' and 'lovely bones' so I'd definitely be recommending something different. I'm not a boden mummy though so my opinion might not be valid.

I read your thread title and thought you had a book club that needed whipping into shape and thus you wanted a text to intimidate them with! I was all ready to weigh in with Ulysses, The Dead School, Anthills of the Savannah...

But surely book clubs usually read books of some substance in order to stimulate ideas worth discussing - isn't A Woman of Substance really just chick-lit of the 70s or am I doing it a disservice (never read it so don't know)? Why not look for something which is a fairly straightforward read but provocative with it - many of Atwood's fall into this category, for instance. The Handmaid's Tale is fantastic, as is Oryx and Crake. Or something like Alan Bennett's Talking Heads is unusual but very readable. Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber - short stories offering a feminist twist on the fairy tale - is fantastic.

If you want something more lighthearted, look at something like Evelyn Waugh or the short stories of Dorothy Parker.

lovely bones -a pile of shite imo
not worthy

how about something like
Wilkie Collins -Woman in White.Good story ,lots to talk about.

I think they might enjoy Lace as an end of term treat...isn't it the one with the goldfish?

I read that article about Tim Brannigan - an amazing story.

I think that I need to explain myself a little more. I want something interesting but not too depressing in subject matter. I haven't read Woamn of Substance but I have read articles about it and I don't think it is all bodice ripping bonk-buster. Barbara Taylor Bradford wrote it at the height of the feminist movement - she herself has made a success in a what was then a male dominated industry. It inspired lots of women in the 70s to be entrepreneurial. On the other hand it may be terribly dated and clunky. It is also massive.

Don't get me wrong. I read widely and have read most of Attwood, all of Dorothy Parker but I like a bit of light relief sometimes and delve into Katie Fforde but stop at Mills and Boon. I am currently really into the Persephone Books - rereleases of forgotten female authors - Dorothy Whipple, Dorothy Canfield.

My alternative choice would be Dorothy Canfield's The Homemaker which was written in the 1950s but is unusually feminist for its time.

I just want a change from miserable subject matter. I am the last to choose in the circle so thought it might be nice for some light relief.

I think its an excellent idea to go retro, using a novel that was contemporary in its time. It would add another dimension to your discussion, talking about how views and so on have changed.

You may also consider re reading some 60's/70's childhood favourites depending on the age of the DC of the mums, maybe books that their DC would be a few years' off.

Some stuff now seems astonishing ( different media, but for eg I vividly remember loving Zippideedoodah ( or however it is spelled ) and the whole Song of the South film in general, but now its considered so shockingly racist it will never be on DVD. In my defence, I was very young and belive my parents had no idea about the racist overtones as they were always very careful about this )

Just recommend a really corking book. Fingersmith, Sarah Waters (owes something to Wilkie Collins as cited before) is unputdownable at points!
Agree Lovely Bones is crap.

I'd like to recommend Zoe Heller's The Believers, published last year.
It is a very good read and at times laugh out loud at the atrocious attitude of the main figure( the mother) There is also a rather sweet love interest, family dynamics,sibling rivalry, betrayal.it also has a sort of happy/reconciled ending.
Lots to talk about!

alternatively try A Small Island by Andrea levy
Wonderful drawn realistic characters still living in my head 3 years on

Good Luck

ps i hated The Other Hand
and i'd love to hear what you choose

What about The Little Stranger, Sarah Water's latest?

Not as good as Fingersmith, but good, and plenty of scope for discussion.

Our book group read Lady Chatterley's Lover and had loads to say about this! None had read it before, and all thought it an unexpectedly good read.

Retro/Fluffy on the surface: Valley of the Dolls or Peyton Place - lots to discuss about changing status/expectations of women but I also found both of them to be page-turners

Humour: Too many people might have read this but I keep meaning to read it again so it's on my mind - Cold Comfort Farm (and it's nice and short too!)

SleepingLions and Vulture - you have both reminded me to re-read The Handmaiden - such a good book that so thank you