The vote is evenly divided amongst those who loved this book and those who only forced themselves to read it for group discussion.
Whilst some of us found it hard going the book raised interesting issues about family life then and now, country v city life - the similarities, the differences. How accepting his family, and most families of that era, were of quite serious medical conditions and their neighbour's unusual lifestyles and quirky characters. They just got on with it - it would be interesting to know if their lives, his dad's depression and his mum's burns, would have been improved by the use of today's drugs and counselling. Some members were able to talk to us about their own close association with epilepsy, thanks for sharing.
The point was also raised that this is Peter's (the youngest in the family) view of the family life, do all the siblings have the same reflections? I think we nearly all agreed that this is a book Peter Fitzsimmons wanted to write to put on record his love of family and most of all his mum ... another "Fortunate Life". An excellent discussion.
In some ways the book has not been a good influence on the group with talk of rubbing garlic on our feet (was this to ward away vampires/husbands?) and not washing our hair for months (definite cost benefits here) and even going barefooted- if this trend continues we may have to have an extra special general meeting on appropriate hygiene standards to be convened at the Tubulgum coffee shop.
March meeting - Sue's choice "Gang of Four" to be held at Lyn's home.
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