What a gorgeous summer evening, light, balmy and still, pre- tourist so no confused motorists doing U- turns on the bypass. Drove straight to the right street, the Tom Tom was on its best behaviour this time, only to be confronted with a road up sign. Those lovely little detour boards soon fizzled out and it was only by driving in ever increasing circles that I managed to arrive within walking distance of the venue.
Co-passenger now resigned to the fact that it’s never going to be simple with me at the helm - gets to see a lot of Zeeland though.
You couldn’t not enjoy the warm open- skied evening, sat in the garden, nice nibbles, lovely jug of iced sangria slowly perspiring (pity I was driving) and the bewildering first novel of Joanne Harris to mull over with your mates.
Joanne, best known for Chocolat, penned a few Gothic novels beforehand.
This one, Sleep Pale Sister, had us all feeling a little bit Gothic by the end of it. Druggy, creepy, ghosty goings on, murder, prostitution, paedophilia, blackmail , schizophrenia and general madness. Crammed an awful lot in there Joanne and we were all made slightly dizzy by its excess.
The chapter headings are named after cards from the tarot and there is a list of these cards with their definitions here.
It was compiled by the book clubber whose book choice it was and who also formulated the following questions which led our discussion:
1. Sleep, Pale Sister is written in the first person from a variety of character’s perspectives. How does this affect the way you experienced the story –does it give the story more nuance and insight?
We all generally agreed that we enjoyed the book’s format and that this device suited the deviousness of the characters.
2. What kind of man do you think Henry Chester is from the prologue? How does your opinion of him change?
Henry appeared to be slightly sinister from the start and as the book progressed so our opinion of him and his repulsive behaviour worsened.
3. What does Effie do that contaminates Henry’s opinion of her?
Effie is no longer his ideal (his father’s automaton) after she has proved herself to be capable of reproduction and independent thought.
4. How did you feel about the revenge taken on Henry and Mose?
Bit lame really, we were all capable of imagining far more cruel and unnatural punishments, especially for pervy Henry.
5. Did you find it believable that Henry wouldn’t recognize Effie when visiting her regularly at the brothel?
Not in the slightest, we use too many of our senses to recognize people to be fooled by mere disguise especially coupled with that amount of intimacy. Even though he was completely spangled on the occasions when he decided to have his wicked way with her, he would have known who she was.
We agreed that the book was a good read, but let down by a disappointing ending.
For this reason we gave the book 3½ /5
If you have read the book and would like to express your opinions on any of the above points, or any other aspect of the book, please post your comments below.
We’d love to hear from you.
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