The Reading Group

by Elizabeth Noble

The Sunday Times Number One bestseller

A New Year. A New Page. A New Reading Group.

Five women meet for their first reading group, little realising this social gathering over books and glasses of wine might see them share more than literary debate ... and will, in fact, take each of them to places they'd never imagined.

Harriet and Nicole are the ringleaders, best friends who can't quite admit - to themselves or one other - they might be trapped in loveless marriages. While Polly, a determined single mum, finds herself tipped off course by an unexpected proposal. Susan, usually so carefree and happy, is forced to face a shattering reality and Clare, quiet and mysterious, plainly has more on her mind than next week's book choice.

Over the coming year their worlds will intertwine in delightful, unexpected and surprising ways. Stories will be re-written as dreams are made and broken, but through it all they'll have the Reading Group, with friendship, tears and laughter featuring in every chapter of their lives.

• ISBN10: 0141044713
• ISBN13: 9780141044712
• Publish Date: 25 February 2010 (first published 10 November 2003)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 576
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

The Reading Group follows the trials and tribulations of a group of women who meet regularly to read and discuss books.Over the course of a year, each of these women become intertwined, both in the books they read and within each other’s lives.

Inspired by a shared desire for conversation, a good book and a glass of wine-Clare, Harriet, Nicole, Polly, and Susan undergo startling revelations and transformations despite their differences in background, age and respective dilemmas.

What starts as a reading group gradually evolves into a forum where the women may express their views through the books they read and grow to become increasingly more open as the bonds of friendship cement.

In The Reading Group, Noble reveals the many complicated paths in life we all face as well as the power and importance of friendship.

I found The Reading Group a little slow to start off. I thought it would be an enjoyable read but in the end wasn’t really bothered. With so many characters, I wondered if I would be able to keep up with them all and for the first few pages I had to go back to check who was who.

Some of the original characters barely stayed through-out the whole novel – Claire, Elliott, even Cressida to a degree – and the main focus was on Susan, Polly, Nicole and Harriet. Susan was my favourite character but the rest I really couldn’t have cared less what happened to them. Polly and Harriet seemed incredibly spoilt. Nicole was wishy-washy and dull.

Harriet and Polly were incredibly annoying. Harriet has the perfect husband yet wonders – wrongly – if the grass is greener on the other side. Not only that but she tells her friend, Nicole, to leave her cheating husband and then contemplates cheating herself – she doesn’t go through with it though but that is beside the point. She got on her moral high-horse but had no right to.

I thought Polly was incredibly selfish and couldn’t believe Cressida so readily let her mother keep her child so she could go off to college. It seemed implausible to me. And the way Polly was ready to give up her fiance – wow.

I think the whole reading aspect could have been taken out – it was like it was only there for filler anyway – there was no real discussion on any of the books read by the group members just passing comments really.

It was a large book – almost 500 pages – yet we didn’t learn anything different from what we knew at the beginning. At the end I found myself skipping large paragraphs just to get the book finished.

I also knew straight away who the father of Cressida’s baby was – the whole belly-button-ring gave it away.

I think the only part of the story I enjoyed was Susan, her family and her mother. Susan seemed the only character present through-out who wasn’t spoilt or selfish. I felt for her and her mother through the illness and the choice to put her into a home. The letter from Alice to Susan and Margaret at the end was the only surprise of the whole novel.

Apart from that, I didn’t enjoy the novel. I also thought it was edited really badly. Some sentences did not make any sense and drove me mad. However I enjoyed Alphabet Weekends and do have Things I Want My Daughters To Know in my to-read list so I’m not giving up on Elizabeth just yet!

Rating: 2/5