Barbara’s Barbara’s Book Club (4), it’s a small club… and you’re in it!

Every month, Barbara Rafer and Jo Guise invite you on a literary journey through two captivating books—one classic masterpiece and one contemporary gem.

Barbara’s Book Club – Edition 4

February 2026

‘What We Can Know’ by Ian McEwan

‘What We Can Know’- review by Jo Guise

I never feel my investment is wasted  with a McEwan novel – he makes my brain work and I am a better person for it and as ever I am rewarded by the deliciousness of his skill.

What Can We Know provides us with one story and many possible truths generations apart. It gives a journey into the past from an environmentally changed future – part thriller, part romance – it makes us think about how we build belief and how uncovering the truth can be shocking. At its heart is a lost poem from 2014 read aloud only once – reading the first part of the novel is like chasing the rainbow and the second part is like being the rainbow.

I cannot recommend this book more highly.

‘Of Mice And Men’ by John Steinbeck

Of Mice And Men- review by Barbara Rafer

February is often the hardest month. The weather is grim and the joys of Christmas and the New Year behind us. Thus John Steinbeck’s ‘Of mice and men’seems to fit the bill. Written in 1937 and set against the backdrop of the Great Depression the reader follows the journey of itinerant workers George and Lennie.

The novel exposes sexism, racism, violence and, ultimately, euthanasia as the lead characters pursue the American Dream where they are valued and achieve their idea of success.

Often condemned now as an inappropriate novel for the modern age reading it
again has made me wonder if it’s message is relevant once again.

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