The club that crosses generations & countries
THE MOTHER-AND-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB STARTED IN LONDON, IN 1999 WITH 12 MEMBERS AND MEETS EVERY EIGHT TO 12 WEEKS, SOMETIMES BY SKYPE.
SARA NATHAN, 61, A FORMER BROADCASTER, AND A FOUNDER MEMBER WITH HER DAUGHTER RACHEL, STARTED THE GROUP WITH FIVE OTHER LONDON MUMS WHEN THEIR SIX DAUGHTERS WERE TEN. THIS BOOK GROUP WAS A WAY TO CARVE OUT SOME MOTHER-AND-DAUGHTER TIME AND STIR UP A PASSION FOR BOOKS. “WE’D MEET MONTHLY, HAVE CAKE, THEN SPEND AN
HOUR DISCUSSING A BOOK, MIXING POPULAR CHILDREN’S FICTION SUCH AS JACQUELINE WILSON WITH CLASSICS LIKE Little Women.
WE HAD REALLY INTERESTING DISCUSSIONS. ONE BOOK SET IN A BOARDING SCHOOL LED THE GIRLS TO TELL US A LOT ABOUT BULLYING. WATCHING THEM GROW UP AND DEFEND THEIR OPINIONS IN FRONT OF SOME QUITE SCARY MOTHERS WAS WONDERFUL.” WHEN THE GIRLS LEFT FOR UNIVERSITY, IT ENDED – ONLY TO RESTART AFTER THEY’D GRADUATED, CONTINUING WHERE THEY LEFT OFF IN THE CURRENT GROUP OF EIGHT. “THE BOOKS
ARE ADULT NOW SO THE DISCUSSIONS HAVE CHANGED. A RECENT DEBATE WAS WHETHER YOU SHOULD TAKE YOUR HUSBAND’S NAME.” CHOOSING THE BOOKS? “AT FIRST, THE MOTHERS CHOSE FOR SIX MONTHS AND THE DAUGHTERS FOR SIX MONTHS. NOW IT HAS MORPHED INTO ANYBODY.”
HIGHLIGHT? “THIS SPRING WE MET IN PARIS, AS ONE OF THE GIRLS WAS WORKING THERE. THE BOOK WAS A Gentleman in Moscow, SO WE WENT FOR DINNER IN A RUSSIAN RESTAURANT FIRST. REALLY, THOUGH, THE HIGHLIGHT IS THAT WE’RE STILL DOING IT. THE GIRLS WERE BABIES WHEN WE BEGAN – THEY CAME BECAUSE WE BROUGHT THEM. NOW THEY’RE HERE BY CHOICE!”
THE BOOK THAT BROKE YOU? “Ahab’s Wife BY SENA JETER NASLUND “IT’S A SORT OF PREQUEL TO Moby Dick. SOME ONLY GOT 100 PAGES IN – THE DISCUSSION BECAME, ‘WHEN CAN YOU GIVE UP ON A BOOK?’”