CJE VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB
3rd Wednesday at 11 am
Join us for our next CJE Virtual Book Club discussion!
Date: April 16
Book Title: The Last Garden in England
Book Author: Julia Kelly
The Last Garden is a poignant and unforgettable tale of five women living across three different times whose lives are all connected by one very special place.
Present day: Emma Lovett, who has dedicated her career to breathing new life into long-neglected gardens, has just been given the opportunity of a lifetime: to restore the gardens of the famed Highbury House estate. But as Emma dives deeper into the gardens’ past, she begins to uncover secrets that have long lain hidden.
1944: When Beth Pedley arrives at a farm on the outskirts of the village of Highbury, all she wants is to find a place she can call home. Cook Stella Adderton is desperate to leave Highbury House to pursue her own dreams. And widow Diana Symonds, the mistress of the house, is anxiously trying to cling to her pre-war life. But when war threatens Highbury House’s treasured gardens, these three very different women are drawn together by a secret that will last for decades.
1907: A talented artist with a growing reputation, Venetia Smith has carved out a niche for herself as a garden designer to industrialists, solicitors, and bankers looking to show off their wealth. When she is hired to design the gardens of Highbury House, the gardens—and the people she meets—promise to change her life forever.
Date: May 21
Book Title: The Nickel Boys
Book Author: Colson Whitehead
Abandoned by his parents and brought up by his loving, strict and clear-sighted grandmother, Elwood Curtis is about to enroll in the local black college. But one innocent mistake is enough to send Elwood to The Nickel Academy, which claims to provide ‘physical, intellectual and moral training’ which will equip its inmates to become ‘honorable and honest men’. In reality, The Nickel Academy is rife with physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and where any boy who resists is likely to disappear ‘out back’. Elwood’s fellow inmate and new friend Turner thinks the only way to survive is to emulate the cruelty and cynicism of their oppressors. The tension between Elwood’s idealism and Turner’s skepticism leads to a decision which will have decades-long repercussions. Based on the history of a real reform school in Florida that operated for 111 years and destroyed the lives of thousands of children.
Date: June 18
Book Title: Smile: A Memoir
Book Author: Sarah Ruhl
With a play opening on Broadway, Sarah Ruhl has just survived a high-risk pregnancy when she discovers the left side of her face is completely paralyzed. She is assured that 90% of Bell’s palsy patients experience a full recovery—like Ruhl’s own mother. But Sarah is in the unlucky 10%. And for a woman, wife, mother, and artist working in theater, the paralysis and the disconnect between the interior and exterior brings significant challenges. So Ruhl begins an intense search for a cure while simultaneously grappling with the reality of her new face, one that is incapable of accurately communicating feelings or intentions. Ruhl chronicles her journey as a patient, wife, mother, and artist. She explores the struggle of a body yearning to match its inner landscape, the pain of postpartum depression, the story of a marriage, being a playwright and working mom, and the desire for a resilient spiritual life in the face of illness.
