Recently returned from France, where time was spent scrubbing floors and putting in kitchen drawers and cupboard doors, so not too much got read. Also had ahuge variety of weather, including storms as well as rainbows. However I did manage to finish Richard Mabey's Nature Cure, a gentle ramble through his account of a major depresion and how re-engaging with nature in a totally different part of the country to that he had inhabited for most of his life, and a thought provoking read, especially as I read it at Le Vaulmier, set in a valley lush with woods, pastures and streams cascading down the hillsides and out of roadside walls whenever any rain falls, which it does often.

I also read, in more-or less one sitting, Susan Hill's The Pure in Heart while away, and a that was another satisfying read. I'm getting into and enjoying this series, with Simon Serrailller and his complicated family relationships

Anne Enright's The Gathering was a different read, a miserable tale from one point of view, but also a memorably lyrical look at loss, both of a brother and companion and a childhood and how its memories may be recalled. The Book Club members made similar comments when we discussed this at our regular meeting; some felt they regarded it more highly after they had read it, rather than enjoying the actual reading of it.