JUNE BOOK

Our June selection is one of Mark Twain's least known works, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (wikilink), an 1896 historical novel recounting the life of Joan of Arc.  We'll be meeting the evening of Tuesday, June 10 at our usual time and place (Zawa Restaurant link at 7pm).  As always, all are welcome.  Look for us on the patio if the weather warms up.

From Wikipedia:  The novel is presented as a translation by "Jean Francois Alden" of memoirs by Sieur Louis de Conte, a fictionalized version of Joan of Arc's page Louis de Contes. He has the same initials as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain's real name. The novel is divided into three sections according to Joan of Arc's development: a youth in Domrémy, a commander of the army of Charles VII of France, and a defendant at trial in Rouen. They are entitled "In Domremy", "In Court and Camp", and "Trial and Martyrdom".

MAY BOOK

     Our book for May was Oscar and Lucinda (link) by Australian writer Peter Carey, one of only five authors to win two Booker Prizes.  (In addition to our current selection, his novel True History of the Kelly Gang was also a Booker winner.)  The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 1997, starring Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett.  A good time was had by all on a cool May 13th evening at our usual Zawa Restaurant location (link).  The weather continued to be uncooperative, but we hope to be on the patio next month.

From Wikipedia: 

The book tells the story of Oscar Hopkins, an Anglican priest from Devon, England, and Lucinda Leplastrier, a young Australian heiress, who are both traveling to Australia by ship. It explores their adventures on the large continent.  They meet on a ship to Australia, where Lucinda has bought a glass factory, having long been fascinated by the material. Oscar had grown up as the son of a fundamentalist Brethren of Plymouth minister and naturalist. He has used his observation of nature as a sign from God for something less severe, and believes he has joined a more compassionate church with the Anglicans.   The travelers discover that they are both gamblers, one obsessive, the other compulsive.