March meeting recap

Kathy K., Kathy T., Deb, Jan, Jeanne, Susan, Jackie and I (Mary T.) met at Deb's (a last-minute change of venue) to discuss Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. Jackie had recommended the book, and conversation lasted almost the whole hour!

The book is a fictionalized account of the true story of Beryl Markham, a woman who was born in England but was raised by her father in Africa. Her mother had traveled to Africa with them but quickly realized it was't her 'cup of tea,' and she fled back to England. Beryl grew up to be a very strong and independent woman, ahead of her time in many ways, but permanently scarred by her mother's abandonment.

Susan had read Beryl's autobiography, West with the Night, (as had Jeri) and a couple of other books about some of the other people in the Happy Valley group of British ex-pats. Several people also brought up the movie Out of Africa, based on the autobiography of Karen Blixner (writing under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen), the other 1/3 of the love triangle with Beryl and Denys Fitch-Something-or-Other. We talked about some of the differences between Circling the Sun and these other works. Jan wondered why the author would attempt to fictionalize an already well-documented life and we discussed the challenges of doing so. I questioned why, if Beryl was primarily known for her aviation accomplishments, was so little of the book devoted to that part of her life? We also psychoanalyzed why Beryl, who grew up as such a strong and independent child and teenager, spent her adult life in serial dysfunctional relationships with men.

We all agreed we liked the book -- the author provided vivid descriptions of the locations in Africa and well-developed characterizations of the many characters (in several senses of the word!) in Beryl's life, and piqued the interest of several of us in reading her autobiography and viewing Out of Africa (which was released in late 1985, starred Robert Redford and Meryl Streep and earned 7 Academy Awards).

April meeting will be at Deb's again (the cafe', not Debbie's home!) on April 17 and we will discuss Etta & Otto & Russell & James by Emma Hooper.

P.S.: I'd like to have a conversation sometime about the pros and cons of reading book reviews before reading a book and how that influences our perceptions and expectations.