Sullington Windmills WI

Happy New Year to you all !

It has been a while since we read a book that the group unanimously enjoyed; however, I’m glad to say that A Town Like Alice was one of them.

Although there were some traumatic parts to the book, and it was a book of its time (with many non-PC comments, language and ideas), we agreed that these issues were to be overlooked in favour of the many outweighing positive aspects.

In summary, the group particularly enjoyed the narration of the book by the lawyer Noel. Relaying Jean’s story through what he has been told and the use of letters was a good way to construct the novel.

We all really liked the protagonist, Jean. She was determined, kind, resourceful, clever and in many ways ahead of her time. She was a philanthropist, using her windfall inheritance mostly for the good of others, but she was also an entrepreneur, creating many thriving profitable businesses.

The book was full of jeopardy, which kept you turning the pages and kept up the pace of the story; would Jean survive the unending trek in Malaya, would Joe and Jean find each other, would the drive/ride into the outback have a positive outcome, would the businesses do well?

The book was well written and the descriptions of the heat and ceaseless trudging in Malaya, plus the heat and vastness of Australia, made you really connect with the places. The characters were also well-rounded and believable. Many of us enjoyed reading, what became in the second half of the book, a romance.

Those of us who were unfamiliar with Nevil Shute would be happy to read more from him.

The next book to be read will be "The People on Platform 5" by Clare Pooley.

This will be discussed on Friday 13th February 2026.

We had a great meeting in December, fuelled by Christmas treats and cheer provided by both the fantastic library staff and the book group members.

We had a lively discussion about Cold Comfort Farm. Another book that was liked by some of us and really disliked by others.

A few of us thought it was quite a feminist book, with the protagonist Flora Poste being an independent, determined young lady tackling her own homelessness, whilst sorting out the lives of her distant relatives at Cold Comfort Farm. On the other hand, others felt that it portrayed women as victims of their gender, with a lack of independent means and no security unless they were married.

The general consensus was that the novel needed to be viewed from the perspective of the time in which it was written.

Finally, many of us could not find the humour in what is described as a humorous, satirical book that was designed to be a parody of the dark, rural romantic novels popular at the time.

Nevertheless, there was general agreement that most of us were pleased to have read such a famous novel and enjoyed the fact that it was set in Sussex, albeit not necessarily a Sussex that we now recognised.

“Flora was so startled at being addressed in a respectful and normal manner by anyone in Sussex that she almost forgot to answer, but habit is strong, and she recovered her wits sufficiently to agree graciously that the day was, indeed, nasty.”

The next book to be read will be "A Town Like Alice" by Nevil Shute.

This will be discussed on Friday 9th January 2026.