Every month a group of willing and hungry readers gather at the International Library to discuss a new book, have a nice chat and practice their English. New members are welcome!

This month's book of choice is:

Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (2001) by Alice Munro

In these stories lives come into focus through single events or sudden memories which bring the past bubbling to the surface. The past, as Alice Munro's characters discover, is made up not only of what is remembered, but also what isn't. The past is there, just out of the picture, but if memories haven't been savoured, recalled in the mind and boxed away, it's as if they have never been - until a moment when the pieces of the jigsaw re-form suddenly, sometimes pleasurably but more often painfully. Women look back at their young selves, at first marriages made when they were naive and trusting, at husbands and their difficult, demanding little ways.