Mr Doubler Begins Again - March book club

For kyalami

Q - I’d like to ask Seni if she has written her next novel yet & if she has ideas on the back boiler for others?

And sandrajoy

Q - This book was such a delight. Will there be a sequel? I certainly hope so.

A - I never intended to write a sequel to Mr Doubler Begins Again. But so many people are asking me what happens next, I might be tempted! My next novel, Growing Season, is out in 2020 and I have already started to write the book after that and am loving it! Neither of them revisit Mirth Farm. Growing Season is very different but explores some of the same themes because these are the issues that I can’t stop thinking about.

For itsmyfirstrodeo

Q - What a beautiful story, I was on tenterhooks with the different storylines,
Would his son get his dastardly way, Would Doubler be brought out of his shell, How is Percy!! But the ending. I was left on one huge cliffhanger. And wasn't expecting it at all. And I'm not sure if I liked that. My question would be - there are so many delicious cakes and breads mentioned, do you have a favourite recipe for yourself?

A - I’m sorry you didn’t like the ambiguous ending! I did this very deliberately as I wanted to give you the opportunity to continue thinking about the characters and imagine the outcomes you’d most like for them. I also thought the ending was a little like Mr Doubler’s gin and tonic, how you respond to it might say a bit about your level of optimism! And yes, I do quite a lot of baking. I think it is one of those things that is both mindless and all-encompassing, in that you can’t really do it well if you’re distracted or trying to do something else at the same time so I bake to switch off. My favourite cake recipe is a classic Victoria sponge made with eggs from my own hens which I believe makes all the difference to the flavour!

For teegle

Q - I loved this book. I thought the portrayal of the loneliness that more than one of the characters displayed in different ways was beautifully done... My question for the author is, I loved all the descriptions of the food, though they made me hungry! Are you a foodie? I would have thought so from reading your book but I may be wrong

A - I have always enjoyed food - cooking it, eating it, sharing it and I grew up in a busy household where family mealtimes were very important to us all. But I wouldn’t describe myself as a foodie, in that I don’t go out of my way to eat in the best restaurants. I strongly believe that the real pleasure that comes from food is in the sharing of it, and that the people you eat with and the conversations you have are always the best and most memorable parts of a meal.

For Cherrytree59

Q - Doubler had no pets. Farm dog? cats?
Was this because he lacked empathy with living things or it would just something to get in the way of 'Potato experimentation?' And - I did find the Apple information provided by Mrs Milwood interesting and went in someway to explaining the author's idea of the singleminded fruit or vegetable growers of the world, who are driven to producing The best tasting, disease free food such as Apples, Barley, Potatoes etc The question is are they doing it to help feed the world or a mention in the history books?

A - Mr Doubler didn’t have any pets because he was terrified of letting them down, particularly in the event of his death. He knew far too well what it felt like to be abandoned. (It’s a great shame he didn’t have a dog though, as a loyal dog to accompany him on his farm rounds would have been a wonderful companion and might have made him feel more brave about forming attachments.) And your comments about the motivation behind the world’s growers are the sort of questions that keep me awake at night, which is why I keep exploring these ideas in my books.

For Sarahmob

Q - I’d like to know if there’s to be a sequel - what happens to Mrs Milwood, does the Colonel master the laundry to save his marriage and does Camilla benefit from her father’s new insights?

A - I am not planning to write a sequel but I’m thrilled that so many people are thinking quite deeply about what lies in store for all the characters, not just Mr Doubler and Mrs Millwood.

For Jishere

Q - I would like to know: The book is left uncertain with the direction of Mrs Millwood and Doubter although we know he has asked her to be his wife, does she recover? Do they live happily ever after? Most of all I do think this is an ingenious way to leave the story because it's left to.the readers imagination and again when we know there is certainties in life there is also hope. A gem of book. Thanks for allowing me to read.

A - I am glad you enjoyed the ambiguous ending. I think, like you, that this allows the reader to bring a bit of their own personality to the characters and imagine the ending they’d most like to see. I also think it is a little like the properties of Mr Doubler’s gin… how you interpret it perhaps says something about your level of optimism!

For Mary51

Q - 1. Will there be a sequel? (I am wondering if Olive goes down under to visit).

2. Do you grow potatoes yourself?

A - I am not planning to write a sequel at the moment. My next novel, Growing Season, is out next year and though you’ll find some familiar themes, it is a very different book. (I quite enjoyed leaving the ending a little ambiguous as it allows you to continue thinking about it…. I’m so glad you are!)

And yes, I have grown potatoes in the past and plan to grow them in the future, I think growing vegetables is one of those life skills that improves with every mistake and every triumph so I would hope that by the time I can dedicate a proper amount of time to it, I’ll have got a few years of practice under my belt!

Well, I just want to add that I got to the end of the book the other week, and enjoyed it immensely. I found it a gentle, thoughtfully written book. The ending has left me guessing a bit, but perhaps that was the authors intention.
As I said in my earlier post, it took me a while to get going with it, but I'm so glad I persevered.

This book was such a delight. Will there be a sequel? I certainly hope so.

This is not the type of book that I would normally choose to read as I like my story lines to be fast paced and exciting. This is why it's taken me so long to get going with it and post. I concur with those who found it slow going so haven't finished reading it yet. It is charming and evokes emotions and the main character reminds me of a person I know. I haven't read any of Seni Glaister's other books to make a comparison but I've concluded that it's not my 'cup of tea'.

Thank you for the book. Although not the usual type of book I’d read, it grew on me as I progressed. At first I thought Mt Doubler had autistic tendencies but realised it was depression as the story continued. The characters were interesting but homely. The story was a little tame but it did make me smile a couple of times. I’d like to ask Seni if she has written her next novel yet & if she has ideas on the back boiler for others?

I struggled to get into the book at first, but found that as I read on the characters started to become more appealing, and made me want to learn more about them. The story unfolded at a steady pace, but I thought the last chapter was too rushed and the ending made me feel quite unsettled.

I also found it a bit hard to get into the groove of this book, but, once I did the pages flew.
What a beautiful story, I was on tenderhooks with the different storylines,
Would his son get his dastardly way,
Would Doubler be brought out of his shell,
How is Percy!!
But the ending. I was left on one huge cliffhanger. And wasn't expecting it at all.
And I'm not sure if I liked that.
My question would be
There are so many delicious cakes and breads mentioned, do you have a favourite recipe for yourself?

I loved this book. I thought the portrayal of the loneliness that more than one of the characters displayed in different ways was beautifully done. I found the book amusing in parts and moving in others and very different to anything else I have read. I have recommended it to lots of people. My question for the author is, I loved all the descriptions of the food, though they made me hungry! Are you a foodie? I would have thought so from reading your book but I may be wrong

I found this book took a while to get going with, and kept putting it down, as the first few chapters were hard going, I felt. However, I'm persevering, and although I'm not at the end yet, I am enjoying it.
I would like to ask Seni is "Mr Doubler" an amalgamation of people she has encountered?
I would like to say a big thank you for the book.

At first, I have to admit, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book, but after a few chapters, I settled into it and really enjoyed the story opening up. I loved the way Doubler finds confidence in his new found worth helping others at the shelter, all inspired by his conversations with Mrs M.

Thanks for sending me this brilliant book. I really enjoyed to read it. I have Aspergers (mild autism) so reading is my passion. I enjoy when book characters come from the autistic spectrum too. It makes our life easier when other people can see our problems and our funny life from inside through a fiction. Thanks a lot, Seni Glaister, for writing this book. Am I right Mr. Doubler has autism? Did you make researches about autism to write this book?

Having just finished reading this book I must admit I found it very slow to start with but it picked up midway and then I began to enjoy it a lot more. I found the ending very sad and would love to know if we were meant to presume that Mrs M sadly died. I hope not and I so hope Doubler found happiness in later life. The descriptions of farming life read very well and I can see that the author actually lives on a farm, which explains a lot.
I hope we will have more from Seni Glaister soon.

Thank you for my book, sorry couldn’t get into it really, persevered though but not my cup of tea. Glad that others enjoyed it.
My question for the author, did she base Mr Doubler on someone she knows and how did she choose to make him obsessed with growing potatoes?

Thank you for my copy which I have just finished. I am still trying to decide whether I enjoyed it or not! In my opinion it was well written and was easy to read. I also felt that the Mr Doubler at the end of the book bore no resemblance to the character at the beginning although I appreciate that, perhaps, that was the point of the book, it just seemed to happen very quickly. Wouldn’t it be lovely if there were more Mrs. M’s in this world. I think I would like there to be a follow up book.

The main theme of the book is potato growing and Mr Doubler's research over a long period of time. Somewhat slow but the characters do evolve enough to be reasonably interesting, some more likeable than others. Is it really about starting over or endings? I found his quite sudden transformation to be a little unbelievable given that he (Mr Doubler) had been a recluse for many years. No satisfactory conclusion either, did he discover the wonder potato or not? Points for discussion perhaps?

This was a book I wish I'd won it looks and sounds my type might drop a hint for. Mother's Day!