Author: Kate Storey
In a myriad of bad bookish books that are only trying to jump on the bandwagon and write something they know nothing about because it sells (yes, that one book, then you are blacklisted as an author going ahead), a book by Kate Storey was refreshing. This is because The Forgotten Book Club has a different plot and focuses on a very novel idea of a silent book club where people come together and silently read, then also talk about books they read, recommend them, etc. I thought this was very interesting because while I discovered a lot of great authors and genres I would otherwise not know about, sometimes I do dislike books I am recommended in my book clubs (twice, I was stomping my feet towards the end because I wanted the book to end). This idea of just coming to talk about books and reading together is so different.
The story is centered on Grace, a former antique dealer now grieving the sudden death of her husband Frank, who was an architect and an avid book reader, as well as the founder of the silent book club. Grace has only ever read during holidays and never joined his book club despite being invited, and thus, she knew nothing about the novel concept or the book club group Frank was part of. After his death, a full year just disappeared on her grieving and trying to find meaning in life because she never had a lot of friends either. Therefore, she ends up, with the encouragement from her family, going to Frank’s book club and gets surprised by the concept and how quickly she formed friendships.
I particularly enjoyed how members described their silent book club and the concept of everyone reading their own books. I thought it was very interesting, particularly the notion of people wanting to act ‘posh’ and discuss books in detail, essentially to prove they could do a better job if given a chance. I have never been a member of such a book club, but it totally makes sense. I also do not enjoy deconstructing books and characters because I do not see the point in that. I prefer to talk about what we liked about the book and which moments resonated with us as readers in some way. In traditional book clubs, reading can indeed feel like a performance of some sort, also with respect to cultural capital. Members can demonstrate, for example, knowledge of literature, interpretive ability, and familiarity with authors and genres. But, the discussion can then become about who understands the book the most, and what is the appropriate understanding of the book. I wonder if the author had those experiences, then had a random thought about just reading and talking, and then ended up writing this book.
The Forgotten Book Club concept is promoting book clubs as spaces where cultural capital is present but not necessarily displayed, and reading becomes participation rather than performance. I totally get this and agree 100% that book clubs should be spaces of friendship and community, not performance and competition. The silent book club concept transforms reading from a symbolic competition over taste into a shared social practice that creates belonging and friendships. I loved this idea!
The Forgotten Book Club centers on grief and rebuilding life, community, and friendship, books as emotional bridges, but then also mental health and neurodiversity because it turned out that Frank suspected he and his daughter have ADHD, and he noticed the same pattern with his grandson Jude, who then ended up getting a diagnosis, with support improving his life. The book raises awareness about this condition, and also depression due to redundancy, which happens to the husband of one of the central book club members. I thought this was a nice touch, too. I only did not like the ADHD campaign awareness planning because I thought that part of the book was too long, and I would have preferred more book meetings. This is a drawback of the book that starts as a bookish book but then turns into activism of book club members, which was fine, but as a result, the characters felt underdeveloped.
However, overall, this was a nice book with some very original ideas.
Thank you for reading!