This Month’s Selection—Page Turners members have chosen several older works of fiction this year, including some noteworthy novels from 20 to 30 years ago. This month’s selection, Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey, was published in 1988 and won the Booker Prize for literature that year. It is also the second book of the nine we are reading this year written by an Australian author. The other, our October 2022 selection, was The Secret River by Kate Grenville. While yours truly was “born and raised” in Sydney, Australia, I did not suggest either of these books although I admit to having previously read both.
Oscar and Lucinda is a love story set in the 19th century in which the two main characters grew up thousands of miles apart, one in England and the other in Australia. Oscar meets Lucinda on a ship returning to Australia (she from abroad in search of a husband, and he on his way to bring Christianity to Australia). They find a bond in gambling and that is the main topic throughout this “fascinating” and “inventive” novel. The book was made into a film in 1997, starring Cate Blanchett and Ralph Fiennes, and is readily available for view- ing on several outlets.
Openings for New Members—Page Turners book club is inviting new members to join us. We have three groups all reading the same book each month—one group meets the fourth Monday afternoon of the month and the other two groups meet the fourth Thursday afternoon of the month. For information on the Thursday groups, please contact Steve and Ann Morris at samwrsi@cox.net and for the Monday group you can reach me at fozimec@cox.net. We look forward to hearing from those interested in reading and discussing a range of genres including literary fiction, biography, memoir, histori- cal fiction, mystery, narrative non-fiction, and literary classics.
—Frances Ozimec
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