The club that came out of the floods

READING BETWEEN THE WINES BEGAN IN A HEAVY DOWNPOUR IN WILTSHIRE, IN 2007, HAS 11 MEMBERS AND MEETS EVERY FIVE TO SIX WEEKS.

EMMA CROSSLEY, 42, A COMPENSATION ANALYST, WAS ONE OF A GROUP OF WOMEN WHO GATHERED IN THE PUB ON A VERY RAINY NIGHT THAT FLOODED THE WILTSHIRE VILLAGE OF WANBOROUGH. THEY KNEW EACH OTHER – THOUGH NOT AS WELL AS THEY DO NOW – AS THEIR CHILDREN WERE AT NURSERY TOGETHER, AND IT WAS THE LAST DAY OF TERM. “IT HAD BEEN RAINING ALL AFTERNOON AND THE VILLAGE WAS CUT OFF – NO ONE COULD GET IN OR OUT. WE WENT TO THE PUB IN OUR WELLIES AND TALKED ABOUT EVERYTHING – INCLUDING BOOKS. BY THE END OF THE EVENING, WE’D DECIDED WE SHOULD GO OUT TOGETHER MORE OFTEN – SO WE FORMED A BOOK GROUP.”

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES? “LOADS. WE’VE SEEN LOTS OF BOOK ADAPTATIONS AT THE CINEMA, AND The Woman in Black AT THE THEATRE – THE CAR JOURNEY THROUGH FOG ON A SPOOKY JANUARY NIGHT WAS ESPECIALLY CREEPY. WE’VE ALSO HAD A WONDERFUL WEEKEND IN LYME REGIS AFTER READING The French Lieutenant’s Woman.”