Welcome Fall! We met at the Perham Library to discuss this month's selection, A Fall of Marigolds, by Susan Meissner. We had a good discussion and welcomed a new face~ all good things! Up next for November is When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi. We have an abundance of this read, we should have no trouble getting a copy to each of our members~ but to be even more efficient, please let us know if you don't need a copy. Thanks!
To the book!
September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York
Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the
man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then,
while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she
becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries …and
finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth
about the assumptions she’s made. Will what she learns devastate her or
free her?
September 2011. On Manhattan’s Upper West Side,
widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself that she is living fully,
working in a charming specialty fabric store and raising her daughter
alone. Then a long-lost photograph appears in a national magazine, and
she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died in the
collapse of the World Trade Towers … the same day a stranger reached out
and saved her. Will a chance reconnection and a century-old scarf open
Taryn’s eyes to the larger forces at work in her life?
The very first comment made about what we thought about this book was "Meh". That sentiment was instantly seconded by another member and with the exception of just a few, it seemed to be the overall feeling of the group. The parallel time lines were a little too similar for our taste~ it felt like we were reading the same story twice, just with different names, dates, locations and two different tragedies. We had trouble believing the story in a few places, for example, how Clara so quickly and hopelessly falls in love with Edward during a handful of elevator rides... and how the scarf itself had survived and traveled through 5 different families and several generations and remained in perfect condition. We also found Clara's seemingly constant indecision and emotional upheavals tiresome. It was noted we enjoyed her book from last year's reading list, The Nature of Fragile Things, far more than this.
We all agreed that we liked Meissner's writing, and felt she did really well at setting a scene that you could easily picture in your mind. It was said historical fiction is the way that history should be taught in our schools, as it does a much better job of "sticking" with a person. Those who really enjoyed this book said they liked the romantic story lines and kept waiting to find out whom Clara was going to choose in the end. They found the both tragedies, Ellis Island and 9/11, both moving and compelling. In fact, a fair amount of time was spent discussing 9/11~ where we all were and what we were doing when it happened, people we knew who were spared from either the buildings or the planes. It was said that part of the discussion was the best part.
Which did you like better in the end, The Nature of Fragile Things, or A Fall of Marigolds? Let us know below!
Did you enjoy A Fall of Marigolds? Fans of the book also enjoyed, The Paris Daughter, by Kristin Harmel, When We Had Wings, by Ariel Lawhon, and The Spectacular, by Fiona Davis. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!
Would we
recommend this to a friend to read?
"YES"
Would we
recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"NO"
