Before I will give
a brief description of the session in itself, I would like to quickly mention below
some of the incredible benefits, in my opinion, a book club holds:
- For book lovers and not only, a book club offers a healthy intellectual stimulation
- It gives a sound sense of belonging to a community of likeminded people
- It allows for a good break from the daily routine
- It offers the freedom to be honest in sharing your views about the material you’ve read
- It is a welcoming environment, where one could make lifetime friends
- It is a good place to practice self-expression & it could increase confidence
- It helps decreasing stress & it builds teamwork
- It could aid gaining new perspectives
- It gives a push to finish the reading on time, which would facilitate a meaningful participation to the subsequent discussions.
Summarizing here my rather brief points on the matter, without any doubt a good book club could be a nice, healthy, inspiring addition to any life style.
- For book lovers and not only, a book club offers a healthy intellectual stimulation
- It gives a sound sense of belonging to a community of likeminded people
- It allows for a good break from the daily routine
- It offers the freedom to be honest in sharing your views about the material you’ve read
- It is a welcoming environment, where one could make lifetime friends
- It is a good place to practice self-expression & it could increase confidence
- It helps decreasing stress & it builds teamwork
- It could aid gaining new perspectives
- It gives a push to finish the reading on time, which would facilitate a meaningful participation to the subsequent discussions.
Summarizing here my rather brief points on the matter, without any doubt a good book club could be a nice, healthy, inspiring addition to any life style.
So, dear friends, please Read, Lead & Succeed!
Now, specifically speaking, for the
opening session of my book club, I’ve selected the novel called “Behold the
Dreamers”, by Imbolo Mbue, which is a book “about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the
American Dream – the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a
new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy.”
In order to give you a better sense of it, in the comments section below I am including the literary summary as well as a number of book reviews.
I was really glad to see how my group of friends deeply delved into many extensive comments, as in a way or another this book touched on a number of familiar similarities and interesting conclusions surfaced.
I was really glad to see how my group of friends deeply delved into many extensive comments, as in a way or another this book touched on a number of familiar similarities and interesting conclusions surfaced.
Many questions were raised and answered
by each participant, revealing personal perspectives about many aspects of
life, and the final thought to ponder upon was:
“What really makes life a
success?”
An autumnal sketch – a traditional
‘taste’ of Romania
On the other hand, because the quince fruit it is the ‘perfect autumnal ingredient’,
our dear friend Camelia was kind to offer us all some quince jam, which I
was truly glad to present it to all participants that night in a Romanian
traditional setting. It was such a culinary delight, we all loved tasting!
Also, from a cultural stand point, under the concept of "Tales from my native land", in Romania there is a very well-known (old) folk song called "Galbena gutuie" ('Yellow Quince'), which I find appropriate sharing here...please enjoy it!
Also, from a cultural stand point, under the concept of "Tales from my native land", in Romania there is a very well-known (old) folk song called "Galbena gutuie" ('Yellow Quince'), which I find appropriate sharing here...please enjoy it!
As usual, we wrapped up the evening in a very pleasant manner, committed to
continue with our reading as well as sharing in this setting.
Once again, I would like to thank again
all the book lovers who joined me that night – their enthusiasm, kindness and support always
give me wings to prepare the next project. Until next time, to all and each of you, my best greetings for a beautiful rest of the autumn!
Alice
30 comments:
“Behold the Dreamers”, by Imbolo Mbue
~ Detailed literature summary ~
PART 1:
Jende Jonga arrives at Lehman Brothers for a job interview for a chauffeur position. He is an immigrant from Limbe, Cameroon and with the help of his cousin, Winston, hopes to secure a good job for Clark Edwards, an investor with Lehman. Despite his anxiety about his language and job skills as well as his immigration status as an asylum applicant, Jende makes it through the interview and gets the job a few days later. He shares the news with Winston and they discuss his immigration lawyer, Bubakar. Meanwhile, his wife Neni goes shopping for designer knock-off bags with her friend Fatou. She reminisces on her arrival in America, three years after Jende with their son Liomi, on a student visa. She and Jende both have high hopes for their future in the United States.
Jende’s first weeks as a chauffeur for the Edwards are marked by his obsessive attention to detail and his attempts to keep Clark and his wife, Cindy, satisfied with his work. He keeps quiet while driving, but listens to Cindy’s distressed phone conversations with Clark and her friends about her eldest son, Vince, who canceled their vacation plans. He meets Clark’s secretary, Leah, who drills him for gossip on Clark and warns him that Lehman Brothers is facing trouble. The two laugh over Jende’s ignorance of Enron. That night, Neni helps Liomi with his homework before turning to her own. She is studying to become a pharmacist and stays up late many nights to study – something that the American students she encounters do not seem to do. Unlike Jende, her outlook on cultural differences is not as lighthearted and she is frustrated by the lifestyle of her American peers.
The Jongas are eating at Red Lobster when Jende gets a call from his brother in Cameroon and learns that his father has malaria. He sends them money and his father survives, but a few days later Jende learns that his asylum application has been denied. Neni struggles through the week, especially after a parent teacher conference in which she learns that Liomi has been joking around in class, and after she gets a B-minus on a precalculus exam. Her mood lifts soon after when she realizes that she has become pregnant, but Jende stays down, upset at the possibility of returning to Limbe. Bubakar reassures him that the deportation process can take up to thirty years, however, and he begins to relax.
Neni meets with her precalculus professor to improve her grade. When Fatou meets them at the café he reveals he is gay – much to Neni’s surprise. Fatou warns her to be honest with Jende about her whereabouts. That week, Jende is driving Cindy to work when he gets a call from his brother asking for money for his children to go to school. Cindy asks about it and gives Jende enough money for his brother and then some. Jende hesitantly decides to keep the extra money. He and Neni attend Winston’s birthday celebration at the Hudson Hotel several days later, and Neni feels extremely out of place among the white attendees. She asks Jende to leave and they walk to Columbus Circle and sit together.
“Behold the Dreamers”, by Imbolo Mbue
~ Detailed literature summary ~
PART 2:
Trouble begins to arise in the Edwards family as Lehman Brothers starts to go downhill and Vince decides to leave law school to move to India. Despite the trouble, Cindy decides to spend the summer at her vacation home in the Hamptons with her youngest son, Mighty, and hires Neni as a maid. Neni works hard and develops a strong bond with Mighty. One morning she discovers Cindy unconscious, apparently overdosing on drugs, and wakes her up after calling her friend Betty for advice. The following day, Cindy tells Neni about her poor upbringing and asks her to keep the drugs a secret. The summer continues without incident until Vince tells his parents he wants to go to India. Neni listens to Clark and Cindy fight in the kitchen and consoles her after he leaves. While his wife is away, Jende spends his time with Liomi.
Clark’s business and family life get worse and Jende starts to drive him regularly to the Chelsea Hotel. On one occasion, Jende picks him up and drops him at a pier. Clark asks him to come sit with him and the two watch the sunset together before Clark recites a poem. Neni continues to work occasional catering jobs for Cindy with another housekeeper, Anna. At a brunch event, Anna approaches Neni and asks her about Cindy’s alcohol use. She tells Neni to go alert Clark, but Neni backs out. Vince and Liomi come to the Jonga’s home for a Cameroonian dinner and they promise to spend more time with Liomi soon.
Lehman Brothers declares bankruptcy and Neni and Jende’s relationship becomes tense as her pregnancy advances into the third trimester. Jende listens intently to the conversations of his clients, who are worried about the economic recession and what it may mean for their lifestyles. Clark goes to the Chelsea hotel more often to meet escorts, and when he returns to the car without his tie one evening, Jende is worried that Cindy will notice. A week later, Cindy approaches Jende and asks him to log Clark’s whereabouts in a notebook, threatening his job if he does not comply. He consults Neni and Winston, who encourage him to blackmail Cindy about her drug use. Instead, he tells Clark about the notebook and he agrees that he can write down everything except the Chelsea Hotel. Clark and Cindy’s marriage grows stronger and Cindy happier until a tabloid article comes out that exposes Clark’s infidelity.
“Behold the Dreamers”, by Imbolo Mbue
~ Detailed literature summary ~
PART 3:
Neni gives birth to a baby daughter, Timba, three days before Jende gets a deportation order in the mail. Distressed, Neni goes to a church called Judson Memorial and, although initially disappointed, bonds with the congregants and the pastor, Natasha. She tells Natasha about Jende’s immigration case and the pastor offers her support. When she tells Jende about the encounter later that night, however, he becomes enraged at her for telling a stranger about his status. After Christmas Jende picks up Mighty for school, and the boy starts crying and telling Jende that his parents are fighting and trying to “get rid” of someone. Clark calls Jende into his office later that day and fires him. Jende finds two dishwashing jobs within the next weeks, but works twice as many hours for half the pay of the chauffeur job. His feet begin to hurt.
Neni goes to Cindy’s apartment and shows her a picture of her passed out on a bed, surrounded by pill bottles. Cindy tries to call the police, but Neni stands her ground and leaves the apartment with $10,000 in a paper bag. She tries to email Mighty after Anna tells her that Cindy spent the night crying, but it bounces back. Five weeks later, Cindy dies from asphyxiation related to drugs in her apartment. Jende attend the funeral and tries to console a guilty Neni. Her spirits are lifted when she receives an invitation to Phi Theta Kappa, even when the Dean of Students denies her scholarship nomination and discourages her from pursuing pharmacy.
Jende’s father dies in August and he sends money to Cameroon for the funeral. He develops severe pain in his back and goes to see a doctor who tells him it is stress related. He decides that he wants to return to Limbe, despite his wife’s wishes. Neni researches ways to stay in the United States and considers marrying a U.S. citizen and even putting Liomi up for adoption. She and Jende argue about leaving constantly, and one night he becomes so angry he beats her. Vince calls Neni from India and asks if she can help take care of Mighty, but she declines. As Jende’s voluntary departure is approved by an immigration judge, the family prepares to leave the United States. The novel ends as the family arrives in Limbe. Liomi wakes up in the back seat of their truck and asks if they are home.
BOOK REVIEWS:
PART 1:
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
• Behold the Dreamers (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel Paperback – June 26, 2017, by Imbolo Mbue
A compulsively readable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream—the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy
New York Times Bestseller • Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award • Longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award • An ALA Notable Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
NPR • The New York Times Book Review • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Chicago Public Library • BookPage • Refinery29 • Kirkus Reviews
Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses’ summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future.
However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades.
When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.
Praise for Behold the Dreamers
“A debut novel by a young woman from Cameroon that illuminates the immigrant experience in America with the tenderhearted wisdom so lacking in our political discourse . . . Mbue is a bright and captivating storyteller.”—The Washington Post
“A capacious, big-hearted novel.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Behold the Dreamers’ heart . . . belongs to the struggles and small triumphs of the Jongas, which Mbue traces in clean, quick-moving paragraphs.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Mbue’s writing is warm and captivating.”—People (book of the week)
“[Mbue’s] book isn’t the first work of fiction to grapple with the global financial crisis of 2007–2008, but it’s surely one of the best. . . . It’s a novel that depicts a country both blessed and doomed, on top of the world, but always at risk of losing its balance. It is, in other words, quintessentially American.”—NPR
“This story is one that needs to be told.”—Bust
“Behold the Dreamers challenges us all to consider what it takes to make us genuinely content, and how long is too long to live with our dreams deferred.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
“[A] beautiful, empathetic novel.”—The Boston Globe
“A witty, compassionate, swiftly paced novel that takes on race, immigration, family and the dangers of capitalist excess.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Mbue [is] a deft, often lyrical observer. . . . [Her] meticulous storytelling announces a writer in command of her gifts.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
(Source: https://www.amazon.com/Behold-Dreamers-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0525509712)
BOOK REVIEWS:
PART 2:
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
• KIRKUS REVIEW
The American dream is put to the test by the economic disaster of 2007.
Among the spate of novels forged in the crucible of the previous decade, Mbue’s impressive debut deserves a singular place. This diversely peopled and crisply narrated story follows the trajectories of two Manhattan families, one at the top of the social heap and the other at the bottom. In the foreground is Jende Jonga, an immigrant from Cameroon, his wife, Neni, studying to be a pharmacist, and their young son. When Jende, who has been working as a dishwasher, scores a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a muckety-muck at Lehman Brothers with a troubled wife and similarly aged son, the fates of the Jongas and the Edwardses become entwined. Except for a nagging immigration problem being handled by a lousy lawyer, things go very well at first. Jende loves dressing up in a suit and driving a Lexus while Clark conducts endless cellphone conversations and laptop machinations in the back seat. Neni excels in school and becomes pregnant with a child who will be born a U.S. citizen. Then, during her summer hiatus in the Hamptons, Mrs. Edwards hires Neni to help with child care. One day she finds her employer disheveled and crashed out at midday; around this time, Clark starts having Jende take him for one-hour visits to the Chelsea Hotel. Cracks in the Edwards marriage are paralleled by trouble for the Jongas, too. Yet the magnitude of the catastrophe makes itself clear only slowly—particularly to immigrant eyes, dazzled by everything from shopping at Pathmark to the presidency of Obama to the freedom of Occupy protesters to demonstrate without being rounded up and thrown into prison. They will learn.
Realistic, tragic, and still remarkably kind to all its characters, this is a special book.
(Source:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/imbolo-mbue/behold-the-dreamers/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=DSA&gclid=CjwKCAjwvNXeBRAjEiwAjqYhFnyVoQOceH299MTvMXZhr5WKkp0DR9xCCriYJL6Us5zAiqdOC4XYCBoC8DsQAvD_BwE)
BOOK REVIEWS:
PART 3:
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
• Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue review – an impressive debut
This is not a story of noble immigrants versus the evil banking class: it is about people who have no room to manoeuvre
So charged has the word “migrant” become that I hesitate to call Imbolo Mbue’s impressive debut a migrant novel; yet all the ingredients are there. The protagonist Jende Jonga is, like Mbue, a Cameroonian migrant to America along with his wife Neni and their six-year old son Liomi. And Clark Edwards, Jende’s boss, an investment banker, is also a migrant, coming to Wall Street from the American hinterland; his ancestors were once newcomers with funny accents and funnier customs.
The novel begins with an interview. Clark needs a driver and Jende needs a job. In this opening exchange, power, the central theme of the novel, is laid bare. For Clark, the interview is a blip in his busy day. To Jende, in his carefully chosen clothes and with his carefully doctored CV, it is the only way to sustain life for him and his family.
Yet Jende is not the naïf he appears, despite his gauche green suit and wide-eyed reaction to office furniture. If the American immigration system is a powerful machine, those trapped inside it are not entirely powerless. The system can be played. Along with his immigration lawyer, Jende has decided to seek asylum and concoct a tale to go with his application, complete with a father-in-law who is trying to kill him.
While Jende is waiting for the result of his asylum application, he settles self-effacingly into his job, offering up stories of his homeland for his boss’s amusement (“Limbe is very special, Mr Edwards. In Limbe, we live simple lives, but we enjoy our lives well’). Jende is a small man at work, at the beck and call of Clark, his wife Cindy and their two sons; but he is a big man at home. The humiliations of being a driver allow him to pay his wife’s college tuition and send money back to Cameroon.
But it is 2008 and Clark works for Lehman Brothers. Clark too is trapped in a powerful system, this time a financial one, and there is little room for manoeuvre. The reader foresees the gathering storm but is powerless to stop it.
This is not a story of noble immigrants versus the evil banking class: Mbue is too skilful for that. The Edwardses are self-absorbed and selfish but slim bridges of genuine affection exist between them and the Jongas. On the other hand, the Jongas are not simple Africans who eschew materialism and can teach the Edwardses how to live a contented life. Both Jende and Neni rejoice in the consumerism of America and grasp at all that capitalism has to offer.
Sometimes, the pace becomes sluggish as yet another set piece scene of cultural exchange occurs. In one episode, the reader laughs at Jende’s expense as he ponders over the phrase “cooked books”. In another, Jende tells the Edwardses older son that in Cameroon he would be whipped by his parents for wanting to quit law school.
Mbue’s prose is mostly straightforward and unadorned but her characters are complex, with contradictory motivations, which provide the story with depth and quiet power.
The novel was called The Longings of Jende Jonga when it sold for seven figures. There’s a jaunty catchiness to this discarded title, yet Behold the Dreamers is a more fitting name. Who are the dreamers? Jende and Neni, who believe that through hard work and luck they can force their way into the American dream? Or we, the readers, who close our eyes to the Jendes in our midst, lulling ourselves into inertia with dreams of peace and security?
(Source: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/04/behold-the-dreamers-imbolo-mbue-review)
Dear Alice,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of such great and interactive event.
I really enjoyed beeing there , among those wanderful ladies.
The book was a great choice!
It transported all of us, back in time , at the beginning of our life in Canada !
The opinons that we had about the characters of the book, about Imbolo’s way of describing them ( cameruninens and Americans)
Made the time fly!
Maria Marcu’s mémoires reading , was a very pleasant surprise as well! Let’s hope she is going to publish them soon!
The little touch of Romanian Autumn ��,was as well , one of yours great ideas!!
Thank you and Camelia Gligor ! Your Quinces “Dulceata” was delicious !
Once again,dear Alice , you prove to be a great organizer !
Thank you all and I am looking forward to the Next One!
Also, I promise to come up with a book title soon!
Take care all of you ,keep well and, enjoy this beautiful season!
Alice darling, a wonderful evening, again! And what a great choice for our first book! Full of surprises, of challenges, of introspective questions...I really enjoyed the evening, and I'm looking forward for the next one.
Ligia Oancea
Dear Alice,
Thank you so much for your kind invitation at your book club and once again my most sincere apologies because I couldn’t join you all that night.
Reading your beautiful event description and looking at the expressive photos you published I can tell you all had a great time.
Nonetheless, even though I couldn’t make it in person, I’ve read the book, which was such a great choice. I really, really enjoyed this book you suggested and I could highly recommend it to anyone willing to learn more about life.
My dear, I wish you a beautiful autumn and please stay in touch!
Leah
Dear Alice,
I would also like to thank you for inviting me to the group! I really enjoyed the night and I really liked the company of all the ladies from the group. It was nice to discuss with everyone about the content of the book. It was a pleasure to read the book.
I would also like to thank Maria for accepting to read to us from her memories since she traveled to Canada. It was very suitable for the night!
I am looking forward to read the next book!
Daniela Secu
I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to your nice book club, Alice. I’ve checked your website, like I often do, and I like a lot the coverage you made for the reading club you just opened. Knowing you for years, I’m fully aware of how exquisitely creative and gifted you are, so I can tell that your myriad of skills serve you well in all what you put your mind to. I love it!
Anyhow, even if I wasn’t able to come in person, the book was great, and I appreciated at least we’ve got the chance to chat about it after your event. As you said, it is a true page turner. I’m glad I’ve went through it, because it holds lots of interesting perspectives about life in general. Yes, I truly liked it!
All the best, my dear friend and keep up the good work – you are awesome at it!
Mireille
We had spent a very good quality time discussing the book protagonists personalities, their experiences and actions, discovering the debuting author, sharing some of our own life experiences...
Everybody was wonderful and I enjoyed every second of the evening.
Thanks for all, Alice!
Thank you, dear Alice for inviting me to the book club. I'm very sorry I could not attend, but I read your chronicle on your website and I feel like I was present and part of the dialog about the “Behold the Dreamers”. What a great choice, what a powerful story! What an unfair sad ending!
Missing this gathering I missed meeting everybody who was attending and Maria Marcu’s reading about her own immigration experience. Another powerful immigration story, a true story, but with a happy ending. Her story deserves to be published and hopefully Maria will decide to send the manuscript to an editor.
Dear Alice, your idea to have the quince and quince jam as an autumnal ingredient for the evening was so appropriate. I’m happy I could send them in time and I want to thank you for the amazing Romanian setting you presented them.
I love your “Alice and Friends Circle Book Club” website, you have amazing taste and talent in presentation and publishing and equally remarkable clarity in the core content and meaning of the ideas you’re presenting.
I’m looking forward for the next book club meeting and next book title.
Until then, best wishes to everyone.
Dear Alice,
I’ve enjoyed very much attending your book club, because there were lots of interesting comments and opinions about life. Each time you will invite me, I will be more than happy to come.
Also, the book discussed was written by the author in a very creative way, because she really managed to stir the interest of the reader.
It was sad to see that despite of all what they had to go through, the couple had to return back to their home country, Cameroon. Perhaps if they would’ve persevere a bit more, they might’ve end up staying in United States. Too bad their dream didn’t come true.
On the other hand, personally, I was very happy to share with you all the experience I had travelling for the first time to Canada. I will never forget it.
Maria
Alice,
I’ve visited your website – great job! I haven’t read this novel yet, but I went over the summary and the reviews you published. I like the way you presented the book and I will give it a try.
Also, knowing how busy you are with your professional life, I’m totally impressed that you still find the time and mostly the energy for your community projects. That’s something I salute with a great deal of respect. Keep up the good work!
Cheers,
Tom
Hi, Alice:
I like your creative zest! Awesome work, lovely website. I am sure your book club will grow well.
The book was good. Unbelievable what some people had to go through!
Stay in touch.
Cheers,
Justin
Lovely Alice,
What a beautiful work you put together with this website. Kudos!!!
Yes, I liked the book. Lots of emotions in it, and a lot of resemblance with life in itself.
Also, I listened to the song with the yellow quince, and I really enjoyed that soft music; I was glad you linked it. I couldn’t understand the words, but regardless, I think it was a nice touch.
Stay well, my dear!
Linda
You are most welcome, dear Ioana – I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the chosen book, the event setting, my organizational ideas, as well as being with us all!
I totally agree that Camelia’s jam was truly delicious....I sent her an email to this regard.
Also, many thanks for your support and appreciation!
Yes, please, once you have a new title in mind for the following gathering, please send it along...I will collect all suggestions and we all will vote upon...the book with most votes will be the one we all will read and discuss next time.
Warm regards,
Alice
My dear Ligia,
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed our evening together, and I’m truly glad you find the book interesting.
Thank you so much for joining us and I also will be looking forward to our next gathering.
Best wishes,
Alice
You are most welcome, dear Leah, and I was sorry too that you couldn’t make it this time around.
Glad to hear you liked the book and my related coverage!
I think it is awesome that you are willing to recommend this novel to other readers as well, because I truly believe that is a great read.
Yes, of course, we will continue to stay in touch.
Until next time, my best regards!
Alice
Dear Dana,
You are most welcome and please do know that I was truly happy to have you with us.
Yes, it was great to chat with the other avid readers; I’ve enjoyed it tremendously as well!
Also, I totally agree that Maria’s sharing was truly great.
Soon we will decide which book we will read next.
Meanwhile, all the best to you & yours!
Alice
Dear Mireille,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this comment, which I appreciate very much!
It would’ve been nice to have you with us, but I understood your reasoning.
Anyhow, as you said, it is good at least we’ve got the chance to see each other after and chat a bit about the book; I’m really happy you liked it.
Again, thank you for your appreciation!
My warmest regards back to you!
Alice
You are most welcome, dear Lidia! I’m really glad you enjoyed our first book club session and please do know that with much anticipation I will be looking forward to our next gathering.
Best regards,
Alice
You are most welcome, dear Camelia and please do know that I was sorry myself that you couldn’t join us this time, but I understood why! For sure I will be very, very happy to have you with us next time.
I’m glad the book summary I’ve published was of a good service. As you said, the novel make it for a pretty powerful reading.
Regarding Maria’s story: we all truly hope that one day soon she would agree to publish all the wonderful material she holds.
Yes, once again: many thanks for the delicious quince jam – we all loved it!!
And, also, many thanks for the compliments regarding the autumnal setting I’ve put together…I’ve really enjoyed doing it.
Until next time, my warmest regards to you and yours!
Alice
Dear Maria,
It was great to have you with us, and once again many thanks for your genuine sharing – I truly hope that one day you will put all your nicely hand written notes in a book, which I’m sure will make it for a great read.
Yes, I also agree that the author of this novel is a good writer.
Regarding the lives of the characters Imbolo (the author) was describing: I think that each person is different and even though the start might look the same for everyone, it boils down to the strengths that each person brings along, and that is completely different for every case.
On the other hand, as I’ve said that night too: I was truly happy to have you with us there because your story of hard work and perseverance is of inspiration to many.
Until next time, my best wishes to you!
Alice
Tom,
How nice of you to ‘visit’ & compliment…. knowing what a big community contributor you are, I find your remarks about my work here quite flattering – thank you!
On the other hand: awesome you are going to read the book; once you are done, it would be nice to have a chat about it, perhaps around Christmas time.
Meanwhile, my best regards to you and yours!
Alice
Hi, Justin!
Thank you for your lovely comment & encouragement – very kind of you!
Good to hear you enjoyed the book. Yes, I agree that at times, for some, life could present harsh situations.
Absolutely… we will continue to stay in touch.
Meanwhile, all the best,
Alice
Dear Linda,
I’m sincerely touched by your comment – many thanks for your kindness, which is well received at this end.
On the other hand: good to hear that you liked the book, and yes, I agree that it portrays life quite well.
Also, I think that’s truly awesome that you enjoyed the song of the yellow quince; I like it too as it reminds me tremendously of the childhood and of the smell of the yellow quinces, which my grandma used to place sometimes around the fireplace…needless to mention that I will never be able to forget that specific fragrance, which for me resemble “home”.
Anyhow, my warmest regards to you, dear Linda & I will looking forward to meeting with you fairly soon!
Alice
You are most welcome, dear Alice, and thanks a lot for your warm regards!
Also, once you choose the next title for your book club, please pass it along.
Have a nice day!
Linda
For sure, Linda – once we will select the new title I’ll send you an email.
Best regards,
Alice
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