Second Thursday

In 1931 Carbon Hill, Alabama, a small coal-mining town, nine-year-old Tess Moore watches a woman shove the cover off the family well and toss in a baby without a word. The apparent murder forces the Moore family to face the darker side of their community and understand the motivations of their family and friends.

As a young woman, Roseanne McNulty was one of the most beautiful girls in County Sligo, Ireland. Now, as her hundredth year draws near, she is a patient at Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital, and she decides to record the events of her life. As Roseanne revisits her past she learns that Roscommon Hospital will close in a few months and that her caregiver, Dr. Grene, has been asked to evaluate the patients and decide if they can return to society. As Dr. Grene researches her case he discovers a document written by a local priest that tells a very different story of Roseanne's life than what she recalls.

Born in a village in the heartland of India, Balram, the son of a rickshaw puller, is taken out of school by his family and put to work in a teashop. As he crushes coals and wipes tables, he nurses a dream of escape--of breaking away from the banks of Mother Ganga, into whose depths have seeped the remains of a hundred generations. The White Tiger is a tale of two Indias. Balram's journey from the darkness of village life to the light of entrepreneurial success is utterly amoral, brilliantly irreverent, deeply endearing and altogether unforgettable. Winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize.

Please note that the Second Thursday book group is meeting on the third Thursday for November's meeting.

Set in a small Wisconsin farming and manufacturing town still crumbling a decade after the depression of the 1890s, A Reliable Wife tells the story of Ralph Truitt, a wealthy businessman who advertises for "a reliable wife" in newspapers across America. The woman he chooses describes herself as a "simple, honest woman," but in truth she is both complex and devious. Catherine's plan in accepting the marriage offer is simple: she will win this man's devotion, and then she will poison him and leave Wisconsin a wealthy widow. What she has not counted on is the passion she finds in this seemingly solid, forthright man.

Please note that the Second Thursday book group will be meeting on the third Thursday for December's meeting.