Barbara’s Book Club (5)
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 5
March 2026
‘The Silence Project’ by Carole Hailey
The Silence Project- review by Barbara Rafer
Written from the perspective of Emilia Morris this novel explores the consequences when Emilias’s mother, on the girl’s 13th birthday, retreats to a tent in the garden and undertakes to never speak again. Her purpose is to encourage people to listen rather than speak. As news of her actions spread hundreds and then thousands of women follow her lead. A final act of sacrifice transforms these women into a cult movement.
This novel, which almost leads us to believe it is factual rather than fictional, encourages us to think about the power of pressure groups and cults and how they influence our daily lives. However, and perhaps more importantly, as the world is racked with conflict, it challenges us to move out of our own often entrenched positions and truly learn to listen to each other.
‘Lord Of The Flies’ by William Golding
Lord Of The Flies- review by Jo Guise
Jo’s classic book review for this month is motivated by the recent BBC serialisation of this book, this month I am suggesting revisiting this classic tale of savagery and brutality amongst a group of marooned boys written in 1954.
Goulding’s first novel it was written in the midst of threats of nuclear annihilation – indeed the flight that crashes and strands the boys on the island is taking them to safety – away from the war.
Irony I hear you cry. Indeed. It’s a brutal book – the title is a literal translation of Beelzebub – but timelessly popular on school curriculums.
Should you fancy another Golding try Pincher Martin – an existential journey into sanity and insanity with a bonkers twist at the end.
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