Our book club members were very excited when we were approached with a proposal for a meeting between a book club in Jersey and ourselves.
After a deal of liaising and planning, our Jersey guests arrived on the Saturday afternoon. The evening was kindly hosted at the home of a member of the Coutances-Jersey twinning group.
The evening started with apéros. Then we sat down to a cornucopia of food, punctuated by much talk and laughter as we became acquainted.
Having eaten our fill, it was down to the serious business of dis-cussing the chosen book. This was The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.
As there were fifteen of us, we all had a turn to offer our thoughts on the book. A Feminist book? A book about power? Prophetic? These thoughts and many others were shared before breaking into smaller groups for further discussion. Something I think we all agreed on was that young people should read this as a warning as to their possible future if society is not vigilant. The evening came to a close and the hosts took their guests home with them for a well earned sleep.
Sunday saw us all in La Pergola, on the outskirts of Coutances, enjoying yet more food and conversation before saying “adieu” to our new friends. A provisional date for our visit to Jersey next year has already been suggested, so I think I can safely say that the event was a real success.
