I'm so glad you found this interesting, Trish and Shell. Trish, it wasn't one of my favourite books from last year either, but I thought it might throw up quite a lot for us to discuss. Having said that, my memory of it is rather blurred. That's the trouble with choosing something you have read a bit too early. The business of choosing books for others to read is quite difficult, isn't it? Left to myself I would be very predictable and either choose a mid-twentieth century novel or a biography of someone I'm interested in or whatever, or on the other hand try to please some on the list who prefer very recent books, mysteries or whatever. I thought this would be something a bit different, though having embarked on it, it did in a way remind me of the Red Tent, which we read on Bookworms, because of the close-knit community of women and the way they never stopped working while the men sat on their arses. I thought it had a similarly timeless quality too. It could almost have been written in Old Testament times, like the Red Tent. I thought she did a marvellous job of conveying a very distant time, while not shying away from earthiness. I also liked the characterisation. Joanna seemed quite a familiar type, but Martha had a very unusual voice, but I felt she worked very well. Clare
