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Grace Book Club
is reading:-
"The Wasted
Vigil" by Nadeem
Aslam.
"Described as a
devastatingly moving and
beautiful novel, this
dazzling novel takes
place in modern-day
Afghanistan. A Russian
woman named Lara arrives
at the house of Marcus
Caldwell, an Englishman
and widower living in an
old perfume factory in
the shadow of the Tora
Bora mountains. It is
possible that Marcus's
daughter, Zameen, may
have known Lara's
brother, a Soviet
soldier who disappeared
in the area many years
previously. But like
Marcus's wife, Zameen is
dead; a victim of the
age in which she was
born.
In the days that follow,
further people will
arrive at the house,
David Town and James
Palantine, two Americas
who havespent much of
their adult lives in the
aread, for their
respective reasons;
Dunia, a young Afghan
teacher; and Casa, a
radicalised young man
intent on his own path.
The stories and
histories that unfold-
interweaving and
overlapping, and
spanning nearly a
quarter of a century -
tell of the terrible
afflictions that have
plagued Afghanistan. A
work of deepest
humanity, The Wasted
Vigil offers a timely
portrait of this region,
of love during war and
conflict. At once angry,
unflinching and
memorably beautiful.
Joondalup Readers have
been reading:
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Middlemarch
by George Eliot |
The Red Tent
by Anita Diamant |
Purple
Hibiscus by
Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie |
|
Chimney
Sweepers Boy
by Barbara Vine |
Rhubarb
by Craig Silvey |
Grace
by Robert Drewe |
Joondalup Readers
are reading: A
Thousand Splendid Suns
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set
against the
volatile events
of Afghanistan’s
last thirty
years—from the
Soviet invasion
to the reign of
the Taliban to
the post-Taliban
rebuilding—that
puts the
violence, fear,
hope, and faith
of this country
in intimate,
human terms. It
is a tale of two
generations of
characters
brought
jarringly
together by the
tragic sweep of
war, where
personal
lives—the
struggle to
survive, raise a
family, find
happiness—are
inextricable
from the history
playing out
around them.
Propelled by the
same
storytelling
instinct that
made The Kite
Runner a
beloved classic,
A Thousand
Splendid Suns
is at once a
remarkable
chronicle of
three decades of
Afghan history
and a deeply
moving account
of family and
friendship. It
is a striking,
heart-wrenching
novel of an
unforgiving
time, an
unlikely
friendship, and
an
indestructible
love—a stunning
accomplishment
For further information
please speak to Mary or
Jan -
also see the
Events Calendar.
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