Local news
Midlands Virtual Book Club
Cecily & Annie Garthwaite
Midlands Book Club members were excited to discuss the the novel Cecily with the book's author Annie Garthwaite, at their May book club meeting. The opportunity to meet with the author came about after book club member Dipka Patel, enterered a competition on Twitter to win 6 copies of the book and the chance for the author to attend the meeting to discuss the book.
To win the competition, Dipka had to explain why our book club is unique. It was a big selling point that the club was set up in lockdown, that we have never met and that we are all women. This tied in nicely with there being a strong female protagonist at the heart of the novel.
About the novel
Cecily is a fictionilsed account of the life of Cecily Neville, the wife of Richard Duke of York (parents to RIchard III); set during the War of the Roses in the 15th Century. It is a brilliantly well crafted telling of the story and the discussion that we had with the author was incredibly interesting. It is set in such a rich period of history that the author clearly finds fascinating; and that rubbed off on us too. Annie is currently working on a sequel, which picks up where the first book leaves off and we are looking forward to reading that one - Annie already has an invite back!
Book club origins
The Midlands book club was set up in lockdown by Regional Arts Development and Comms Officer Clare Snape. From very humble beginnings with two founder members, it has grown to include a regular group of 7 or 8, from different parts of Midlands.
The book club tend to meet every 5 or 6 weeks online and decide on each book collectively. Everyone has their own taste in books but the whole group is keen to try different types of literature, to broaden their reading experience and maybe even discover a whole new genre!
If you would like more information on book club and how to join, please contact Clare on comms.midlands@csscvolunteer.co.uk.
