ICE Breakers
GREAT CIRCLE
BOOK OF THE MOMENT
What can Hadley discover about herself through telling Marian’s story?
Which was your favourite place and part of Marian’s life and why?
Were you aware of women’s role as pilots in England during the war?
How much do you think Shipstead’s experience as a travel writer shaped this novel?
Shipstead says Great Circle is about “Scale, freedom and flight” – how has she achieved this?
Did you have empathy with all the characters in the book?
Do you think it is any easier for women to become world class aviators today?
THE GLASS PEARLS
MISSED OPPORTUNITY
Did you and your book club sympathise with Braun and if so why?
Do you think Braun’s paranoia was justified or that perhaps he would never have been discovered?
Was taking Helen out Braun’s downfall?
This book has been published by Faber after 50 years of neglect. How important is Anthony Quinn’s foreword and the afterword by his grandson Kevin Macdonald to your understanding of the story?
Do you think this book was worth reviving?
How would you describe this book?
TREACLE WALKER
Has any one in your book club read a novel by Alan Garner? How did this one compare and do you have a favourite?
Did anyone in the group recognise elements of Joe's world - his favourites comic, marble games and playfulness?
Did you enjoy Garner’s style of writing?
'Time is ignorance' Why do you think the author shared this as his epigraph and how was this central to his story and writing style?
Which other writers does Alan Garner remind you of?
THE WILD CARD