Reading group April 2026

Our choice for March was The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. This proved to  be a very popular read and quite straightforward. However  the content was quite challenging at times. It is the story of  two sisters set in WWII occupied France – one remains at  home with her child. Her husband has been taken to a la 

bour camp and two Nazi officers are billeted in her house.  The everyday struggle for food, heat and clothing is exacer bated by the terrible winters of the 40s. The other sister  joins the Resistance and is part of the escape route for  downed airman over the Pyrenees. It is a very gripping read,  

well researched and it makes you realise the hardships that faced the people  of France during this vey brutal war and the Jewish community in particular.  There was some predictability about the novel – two strong female charac ters but with very different personalities. 

Average score: 9/10 

For April –we have selected a science fiction novel, ‘Project  Hail Mary’ by Andy Weir. Not a map at the beginning, but  

the dissection of a rocket. It has been released as a film and  is in cinemas now with Ryan Gosling in the leading role. An  Astronaut, Ryland Grace wakes up on a spacecraft with no  memory of himself or his mission. He realises that he is the  sole survivor of a crew sent to the Tau Ceti system to save  Earth from disaster. However he discovers that he is not  

alone when he encounters an alien called Rocky. I think this  novel may well take us out of our comfort zone. 

For May – The Killing Stones by Anne Cleeves (out in paper back on April 23rd) 

Set on Orkney, it heralds the return of Jimmy Perez who be comes involved in a multiple murder mystery. Orkney is an  amazing island with mush Neolithic history and the author ex plores the brilliant setting for this new novel. It is a good read. 

Looking further ahead to June, we have selected Andrew  

Taylor’s new murder mystery novel ‘A Schooling in Murder’  set during the closing days of WWII in 1945. Some of you  may remember that we read the six novels in the James  Marwood and Cat Lovett Restoration series. This novel is a  new departure. It has a map and a list of characters – always  useful.  

One of my recent acquisitions is the latest biography on Ver meer by Andrew Graham-Dixon. Having seen many of Ver meer’s works in the Rijksmuseum last year, I hope to find out  more about the man and his life in 17th century Delft. 

The  book is entitled ‘A Life Lost And Found’. Vermeer was in his  early 40s when he died but he left a treasury of wonderful  art works. A lot to discover….