Ascent — Jed Mercurio

Yefgenii Yeremin is a flyer and he is a phantom. In the Korean War, he is the legendary ace dubbed ‘Ivan the Terrible’, shooting down more American jets than any other pilot in history.  But the Soviet Union's involvement in Korea must be kept secret, so Yefgenii is exiled to a remote Arctic base, his name unknown, his victories uncelebrated.  But in 1964, a man arrives from Moscow, from the Space Committee, in search of a volunteer prepared to sacrifice everything for his country.

This week's book is Jed Mercurio's Ascent and we'll not be meeting in The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury but will be meeting online — contact us for details.

REMAIN INDOORS

Cancelled due to Plague

This meeting is cancelled due to Didsbury's Dreadful Visitation and the Shutting-up of the Fletcher Moss.

We'll be discussing the book, Jed Mercurio's Ascent, online on 02.04.20.

As always, the unread books list and the unreadable books list will provide jaw-dropping levels of insight, pleasure, and solace.

REMAIN INDOORS

The Siege of Krishnapur — J G Farrell

In the Spring of 1857, with India on the brink of a violent and bloody mutiny, Krishnapur is a remote town on the vast North Indian plain. For the British there, life is orderly and genteel. Then the sepoys at the nearest military cantonment rise in revolt and the British community retreats with shock into the Residency. They prepare to fight for their lives with what weapons they can muster. As food and ammunition grow short, the Residency, its defences battered by shot and shell and eroded by the rains, becomes ever more vulnerable.

This week's book is J G Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

The Song of Achilles — Madeline Miller

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper — despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfill his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.

This week's book is Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

The Tent, the Bucket, and Me — Emma Kennedy

For the 70s child, summer holidays didn't mean the joy of CentreParcs or the sophistication of a Tuscan villa. They meant being crammed into a car with Grandma and heading to the coast. With just a tent for a home and a bucket for the necessities, we would set off on new adventures each year stoically resolving to enjoy ourselves.

For Emma Kennedy, and her mum and dad, disaster always came along for the ride no matter where they went. Whether it was being swept away by a force ten gale on the Welsh coast or suffering copious amounts of food poisoning on a brave trip to the south of France, family holidays always left them battered and bruised.

For this week's meeting, the author has promised to answer any questions on the book via twitter.

This week's book is Emma Kennedy's The Tent, the Bucket, and Me and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

Munich — Robert Harris

September 1938. Hitler is determined to start a war. Chamberlain is desperate to preserve the peace.

The issue is to be decided in a city that will forever afterwards be notorious for what takes place there.

Munich.

This week's book is Robert Harris's Munich and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

Glittering Images — Susan Howatch

Beneath the smooth surface of an Episcopal palace lurks the salacious breath of scandal. Charles Ashworth is sent to untangle the web of self-delusion and corruption only to become embroiled in a strange ménage à trois that threatens to expose the secrets of his own past ...

This week's book is Susan Howatch's Glittering Images and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

Nothing Lasts Forever — Roderick Thorpe

The novel that became Die Hard !

Retired New York Police detective Joe Leland is visiting the 40-story office headquarters of the Klaxon Oil Corporation in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, where his daughter Stephanie Leland Gennaro works. While he is waiting for his daughter's Christmas party to end, a group of German Autumn–era terrorists take over the skyscraper.

This week's book is Roderick Thorpe's Nothing Lasts Forever and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

Milkman — Anna Burns

A teenager — whose only means of escape is literature — is slowly ground down by the unwanted attentions and creeping psychopathy of a paramilitary many years her senior. This is the secret state, a place where gossip and hearsay are weaponised methods of control, contained in a novel written with both a sad humour and a certain kind of fury.

This week's book is Anna Burns's Milkman and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

The Amber Spyglass — Philip Pullman

Will and Lyra, whose fates are bound together by powers beyond their own worlds, have been violently separated. But they must find each other, for ahead of them lies the greatest war that has ever been — and a journey to a dark place from which no one has ever returned ...

This is the third and final part of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

This week's book is Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

The Bloody Chamber — Angela Carter

Angela Carter's fairy tales: ‘The Bloody Chamber’, ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’, ‘The Tiger's Bride’, ‘Puss-in-Boots’, ‘The Erl-King’, ‘The Snow Child’, ‘The Lady of the House of Love’, ‘The Werewolf’, ‘The Company of Wolves’, and ‘Wolf-Alice’.

This week's book is Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

The Master and Margarita — Mikhail Bulgakov

In Soviet Moscow, God is dead, but the devil — to say nothing of his retinue of demons, from a loudmouthed, gun-toting tomcat, to the fanged fallen angel Koroviev — is very much alive. As death and destruction spread through the city like wildfire, condemning Moscow's cultural elite to prison cells and body bags, only a madman, the Master, and Margarita, his beautiful, courageous lover, can hope to end the chaos.

Written in secret during the darkest days of Stalin's reign and circulated in samizdat form for decades, when The Master and the Margarita was finally published it became an overnight literary phenomenon, signalling artistic freedom for Russians everywhere.

This week's book is Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

Tangerine — Christine Mangan

The last person Alice Shipley expected to see since arriving in Tangier with her new husband was Lucy Mason. After the horrific accident at Bennington, the two friends — once inseparable roommates — haven't spoken in over a year. But Lucy is standing there, trying to make things right.

Perhaps Alice should be happy. She has not adjusted to life in Morocco, too afraid to venture out into the bustling medinas and oppressive heat. Lucy, always fearless and independent, helps Alice emerge from her flat and explore the country.

But soon a familiar feeling starts to overtake Alice — she feels controlled and stifled by Lucy at every turn. Then Alice's husband, John, goes missing, and Alice starts to question everything around her: her relationship with her enigmatic friend, her decision to ever come to Tangier, and her very own state of mind.

This week's book is Christine Mangan's Tangerine and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

Master and Commander — Patrick O'Brian

1800s. Britain's Nelson leads Navy against Napoleon's France. Captain Jack Aubrey, newly promoted to old, slow HMS Sophie, is a brave and gifted seaman, his thirst for adventure and victory immense. Aided by friend and skilled ship surgeon Stephen Maturin, Aubrey and crew win clashes, finally hopelessly outmatched by a mighty Spanish frigate.

‘ ... the best historical novels ever written. On every page Mr. O'Brian reminds us with subtle artistry of the most important of all historical lessons: that times change but people don't, that the griefs and follies and victories of the men and women who were here before us are in fact the maps of our own lives.’

This week's book is Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

The House of the Spirits — Isabel Allende

Spanning four generations, Isabel Allende's magnificent family saga is populated by a memorable, often eccentric cast of characters. Together, men and women, spirits, the forces of nature, and of history, converge in an unforgettable, wholly absorbing and brilliantly realised novel that is as richly entertaining as it is a masterpiece of modern literature.

This week's book is Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

A Month in the Country — J L Carr

A veteran of the Great War arrives in Oxgodby, Yorkshire, to strip the whitewash off the chancel arch to reveal the medieval masterpiece underneath. He lives in the bell tower. Tom Birkin is a damaged veteran, his face twitching as he speaks, one whose wife, Vinny, has run off with someone else.

It is one of those summers you can only experience once and which live with you forever as an icon of contentment.

Nothing much happens, but what does happen seems important. A lovely book.

This week's book is J L Carr's A Month in the Country and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

The Player of Games — Iain M Banks

The Culture — a human/machine symbiotic society — has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy.

Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game ... a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life — and very possibly his death.

This week's book is Iain M Banks's The Player of Games and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.