by Christian White
Discussion led by KE
Some background links to get you started:
- Author's website: https://www.christian-white.com/
- Publisher's page for the book: https://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/the-wife-and-the-widow/ (includes book club questions)
- Audio: Christian White at Booktopia chatting all about the book with Ben Hunter and Shanulisa Prasad: https://www.booktopia.com.au/blog/2019/09/30/listen-christian-white-on-the-wife-and-the-widow/
- Article at The New Daily: 'Christian White’s amazing journey from porn to a bestseller – and now Netflix' by Stephen A Russell: https://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/books/2019/10/11/christian-white-bestseller-netflix/
- Review: Michael Rowland review in Domain: https://www.domain.com.au/domain-review/book-club-michael-rowland-reviews-the-wife-and-the-widow-by-christian-white-902003/
- Analysis by Robin Storey, Author: https://www.storey-lines.com/2020/03/03/the-wife-and-the-widow-christian-white-review/
- Video: Facebook Live with Christian White at Better Reading: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/v=278883776761855&ref=watch_permalink
- Video: trailer for the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJUVeTSCgyU
- Podcast: So you want to be a writer: Australian Writers' Centre, Episode 307: Meet Christian White, author of The Wife and the Widow https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmZlZWRidXJuZXIuY29tL1NvWW91V2FudFRvQmVBV3JpdGVyUG9kY2FzdA/episode/MjE3NjNhZTEtZTIyYi00OGY3LWE1OGYtYWIwYzAwNDk2Zjlh
What we discussed about the book:
- Is this a 'thriller'? What is the definition of a thriller? Does it require the main character to face jeopardy in real time?
- Theme: how well do we know those we love? Which relationships is this theme explored through and how?
- Theme: monsters under the bed. What were the monsters for each character?
- The setting - did it give us a real sense of place? Could we identify it and/or identify with it? Examples of internationalization of the setting - e.g traffic lights, the local store. How would we describe the local island community?
- How could this book be turned into a TV series or movie? What would be the difficulties in adapting it to a visual medium?
- Did we see the twist coming? How did it impact us?
- What was the role of the moth imagery?
- What was going on in the Prologue? Different interpretations of it.
- Was Abby's character credible? How did we feel about her at various points in the novel?
- What was 'spiritual distress'? How did it manifest? What was its cause?
- Was John's career specialty a conscious choice? If so, for what reason/motivation?
- Did the last line of the novel meet JP's exacting standards?
- How was sexuality dealt with in the novel?
- Was justice served in the end?
- Were any of the characters evil? Or just caught in circumstances?
- Are there any good parents in this novel?
We were sidetracked into discussing:
- To what ends would you go to protect your children?
- The characteristics of genre fiction vs literary fiction
- Can crime fiction be literary?
- Does the reader need to suspend disbelief at points in crime fiction in order for the plot to progress?
- The importance of reading generally - and how different books resonate at different times of your life, or states of mind
- How do you 'rate' a book? By its performance within its genre, or by your own experience/enjoyment of it?
- Is there such a thing as a 'bookclub book'? Is it chicken/egg? i.e. which comes first - 'this is written as a bookclub book' or 'this book will appeal to bookclubs, so we'll market it to them'?
- What is a 'bookclub' - is there a stereotype?
In other news:
- We marveled at how we've maintained our regular bookclub meetings for over 21 years, even mastering Zoom to do so!
- However, one downside of lockdown is how those of us working from home are feeling 'a bit Zoomed-out' at the end of each day.
- We caught up on KM's new job news.
- We discussed the impact of Covid-19 on hospital environments with our members who are medical workers.
- We pondered why KFC features in several lockdown restriction fines?
- Masks? Pros and cons about wearing them, making them.
- KE enlightened us about rbdigital (https://www.rbdigital.com/thelibrarynetworkmi/service/magazines/landing) and how it may be available through our library cards to borrow magazines online (including The New Yorker and Hello!)
- We noted the brilliance of sports commentator, Andrew Cotter who commentates his dogs Olive and Mabel during iso (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjBbISPrZy7SWtiy8Ta8lnA)
Ratings:
Range - 5 to 8
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