So last month I joined a 'real life' bookclub! As well as being a part of an online bloggers bookclub, I now attend a monthly bookclub with a few local ladies. It was started by a work colleague who also lives in Farnham, and earlier this week we had our first book chat. The Children Act was my choice, and was a real hit!
The Children Act by Ian McEwan
The Children Act is a novel centring around Fiona, a high-court judge, who has to make some pretty difficult moral and ethical decisions over other people's lives. A pair of Siamese twins who will both die if remain adjoined, but one may survive if a risky operation is performed. Two Jewish girls whose parents have very different ideas about the sort of education they should receive; an orthodox Jewish school or a secular school. A seventeen year old Jehovah Witness who requires a blood transfusion to fight the leukemia which will otherwise kill him, but is refusing on religious grounds.
There was a clear debate running through this story; religion vs. rationality. I found this really interesting, right up my street! As you'd expect from a McEwan novel, it is intelligent, well-researched and thorough. That said, it's not heavy-going. It's a good length, has short chapters and is gripping from the get-go. It's definitely one of those books that will get you thinking - what would you have done?
My next read: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.
