- Monday 6 July 2009
Jennifer Rohn of Lablit.com presides over our monthly book club dedicated to great fiction books that feature science at their heart. If you're an interested reader who has something to say, then come along. The format of Fiction lab is simple. All you need to do is check this website for each month's selection, read the book beforehand and then drop into the Ri's cafe to discuss it with other fiction lovers.
Fiction lab is held in the Ri's cafe. Admission is free and there is no need to book tickets in advance.
July's Book
The book selected for July is The Embalmer's Book of Recipes by Ann Lingard
People, flowers, memories: how do we preserve the past? Set in Cumbria's Lake District, the shifting mosaic of the narrative explores life, love and prejudice through three very different women: Ruth, a taxidermist; Madeleine, a widowed sheep-farmer; and, Lisa, an achondroplasic mathematician. As Lisa is drawn into the group it becomes clear that the other women have strange secrets: Ruth's essays on embalming have an increasingly dark theme. The Embalmer's Book of Recipes by parasitolgist Ann Lingard is a story about harsh decisions: eugenics in the post-genomic age; the politics of marginalising people and communities; the desperate responses to Foot & Mouth Disease; and, the illogicality of human love.
But these stark themes are offset by the warmth and humour of the rural community to which the women are bound. This book raises important questions about science and our relation to the natural world, to the individuals we know and to the communities we live in.
This Fiction Lab will feature a special guest appearance by the author, who will be delighted to answer your questions and discuss inspirations and methods in writing this novel.