Sally Page: In Love With Book Clubs
Oh, how I love a book club. And over the past year I have a lot of experience to draw upon. I have made a point of visiting book clubs who have chosen one of my novels for their monthly read. In person, where possible, or joining them remotely. Without exception these have been enjoyable and revealing experiences, and not only taught me a lot about my readers, but on occasion I have stumbled across ideas for new stories. I have also eaten a lot of very good cake! The visits have taken me on some wonderful trips too – to a barn in the Cotswolds; to a summer gathering of several book clubs in a village pub garden; and to Highgate Cemetery! My second novel, The Book of Beginnings, is partly set there and the volunteers have a book club. I was warmly welcomed and given an amazing private tour.
One of the main things that I discovered with all these visits is that book clubs are rooted in community. This might be a village book club that has scoped up members who maybe felt in some way disconnected from where they lived. Perhaps someone feeling isolated because of their age or because their routines had made it difficult for them to participate fully in village life. I have also met readers who started book clubs during the pandemic as a way of creating their own community. One woman, a paramedic, confided that life had been hard – not only in her work on the ambulances but also living with a partner who made her deeply unhappy. It was to fellow readers she turned, and these book lovers responded. Now their book group numbers many dozens of members, and as one reader told me: “There isn’t a problem that can’t be answered by someone in the group. You just ask the group and someone will know!”
That is the other thing I began to realise; book groups can now be very large. Gone are the days of a club having to be restricted to the eight people you can squeeze into your front room. Our adoption of on-line meetings and get-togethers, which was accelerated by lockdown, has meant that many readers feel comfortable joining remotely or conversely meeting in bigger venues, such as a pub or hall. With this has come a far greater reach in terms of membership. I visited one book club based in Manchester and Kent; as well as a female forum of young businesswomen who joined remotely from London, Newcastle, Canada, Israel and Germany. To start with I have to confess to being nervous when they introduced themselves and casually told me of the high-powered jobs they did. But I shouldn’t have worried. After all these were booklovers and as the book shop Foyle’s has painted on the wall of their flagship store: “Welcome book lovers, you are among friends.” Once the conversation started, I relaxed. I knew that I too was amongst friends.
Of course, if your book is chosen for a book club, you have to be prepared to accept criticism. Although my experience has been that most people are polite in how they deliver this and are more likely to suggest that they are at fault. “I am just not ready to read about romance right now” or “I liked it a lot, but I really mainly read thrillers.” I do tell the book clubs I visit, not to worry, I have been a member of a book club and I know how passionate we get about what we read. This too has been a gift as a writer. If I do come across a bad review, I take a deep breath and remember my book club. When a book was chosen it really was impossible to predict who would love it and who would hate it, and the debate about the book in the group could become quite impassioned. It made me realise that when your book is out there it is handed over to others. Readers are completely at liberty to express their views about it – and this is not personal. It is a measure of how much people love books and this vigorous debate is something to be celebrated. And if someone really doesn’t like one of my characters, so be it. They are entitled to their view. And hey! At the end of the day readers are discussing my books that are now out in bookshops – how amazing is that?
This type of too-and-fro about an aspect of a book can also be revealing. And it can easily lead to in-depth discussion of issues facing people in their lives, and I have found members’ willingness to talk openly about their own problems, humbling, once again, reinforcing my belief that book clubs are rooted in support networks. I would be lying if I said that these types of conversations haven’t also sparked ideas for me as a writer, and I have sometimes asked a book club about an issue that has been niggling me about a plot idea. Once again, I come back to my first observation – oh, how I love a book club. To give you an example, I have just finished writing a manuscript which has a strong theme of creativity. In it I explored why we are sometimes reluctant to say we are creative and always push creative projects down the list of things to do. At one book club I asked the members about their view of their own creativity. All but one said that – no, they weren’t creative. Yet in further discussion I found three women (all on one sofa!) who wrote poetry in some form or another; a scientist who created the most wonderful paintings; a woman who had won a short story competition about a wishing tree; plus a reader who was registering the design of the gingerbread house she made. In truth a room full of creativity. I was so grateful that they were able to share this with me, and their joint experiences definitely informed my storyline.
And my forthcoming book club visits? My new book The Secrets of Flowers is due out on 29 August and I already have lined up visits to book lovers who, like me, are also flower and garden lovers. Who wouldn’t be looking forward to that?!
The Secrets of Flowers by Sally Page is published in paperback on the 29 August 2024 by Harper Collins.
After studying history at university, Sally moved to London to work in advertising. However, in her spare time she studied floristry at night school and eventually opened her own flower shop. She soon came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and eventually she began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, she continued her interest in writing when she founded her fountain pen company, Plooms.co.uk.
In her debut novel, The Keeper of Stories, Sally combines her love of history and writing with her abiding interest in the stories people have to tell. Sally now lives in Dorset. Her eldest daughter, Alex, is studying to be a doctor and her youngest daughter is the author, Libby Page.
