Bicigran
This was my first book club read.
I particularly enjoyed the character of Alastair. The reparte both in his letters and with the other characters in the book were amusing and interesting. I wondered if Mr. cleave has a collie sitting by him as he wrote to try out these conversations.
The stuffing of the cat with newspaper was weird but funny weird. What happened to the cat in the end? I could taste the jam when Simomson finally sucumbed.
The semi drowning of Mary with the water being used to put out fires was scary and not something I would have thought of. Well written.
I always like being introduced to new/different authors and would like to thank Mr. Cleave for permitting his book to be recorded in spoken work for those of us who are unable to read a print copy. It was beautifully read. I was actually holding my breath over the drowning part and feeling sun beaten and hungry on Malta.
The February book is not available to me but I shall look forward to reading the comments of everyone else.
Delighted you enjoyed Alistair’s company as much as I did! I had fun writing the dialogue, and I will admit to doing the voices out loud to myself. I did have props: I put on a tie, and I found it useful to wave a pipe around for emphasis. Good times. Ah, and a good question. What did happen to the cat? That’s a loose end, I think. I remember Mary boxing up Caesar along with the rest of Tom’s things. So I should think he was sent to Tom’s parents. Goodness knows what his poor grieving parents would have done with a badly-stuffed cat. You could hardly display it, and you probably couldn’t bring yourself to throw it away either. It’s probably still in the box, in some attic in Surrey or Sussex. Future archaeologists will insist that it was used for magical or shamanistic purposes.