I was delighted in July to receive a parcel of eight Virago Classic Reprints offered by Good Housekeeping magazine. I had named Edith Wharton as my current favourite woman writer, having discovered her books as a result of one of the choices of the NWR Book Group I belong to.
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, which was in the parcel, was already on our reading list for August when we had a lively and informative discussion – and mine was the most handsome copy!
The group had been very moved last year by Doris Lessing’s account in her Nobel acceptance speech of the plight of children in very poor villages in Africa where books are almost unknown and education virtually impossible, so we donated £100 to Book Aid International, which sends parcels of fiction and educational books to such areas.
I offered six of my Virago books to NWR members in return for donations to the charity and we shall add to that in the autumn and send another donation. Meanwhile, the beautiful Virago editions, in their charming covers, will be passed around the group and enjoyed by us all – partly for the interesting notes in the Introductions but above all for the texts. Congratulations to Virago for these reissues!
The ladies of Trentham NWR Book Group with their special edition VMC hardbacks
Posted 05/09/2008 10:55:37 by Emily Rowland with 0 comments.
Hardback: £12.99