Arlington 55+ Book Club: "The Sweetness of Water"
We meet to discuss an eclectic mix of fiction and nonfiction.
This book club is hosted in partnership with the Arlington's Office of Senior Adult Programs.
We are led by an experienced volunteer. We welcome new members to join us in reading and discussing current literary fiction, historical fiction and some nonfiction titles.
We meet via a hybrid format, both online and in person on the first Friday of the month. If you wish to participate in person, join us in the Bluemont Room at Central Library.
Registration required to receive the Zoom link.
2023 Reading LIst:
- Jan. 5: "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller
- Feb. 2: "Jesus and the Disinherited" by Howard Thurman
- Mar. 1: "Klara and the Sun" by Kazuo Ishiguro
- Apr. 5: "Once There Were Wolves" by Charlotte McConaghy
- May 3: "The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Bladwin Shaped a Nation" by Anna Malaika Tubbs
- Jun. 7: "The Lincoln Highway" by Amor Towles
- Jul. 5: "Stars of Alabama" by Sean Dietrich
- Aug. 2: "A Thousand Ships, a Novel" by Natalie Haynes
- Sep. 6: "The Sweetness of Water" by Nathan Harris
- Oct 4: "Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist" by Judith E. Heumann
- Nov. 1: "Faithful" by Alice Hoffman
- Dec. 6: "My Antonia" by Willa Cather
For more information contact jodlum@arlingtonva.us or 703-228-5954.
- Date:
- Friday, September 6, 2024
- Time:
- 12:00pm - 1:00pm
- Location:
- Bluemont Room
- Library:
- Central Library
- Audience:
- Events for Adults Good for Adults Age 55+
- Categories:
- Book Discussion
- Calendar:
- Arlington Public Library
About this month's title:
In the waning days of the Civil War, brothers Prentiss and Landry, freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, seek refuge on the homestead of George Walker and his wife, Isabelle. The Walkers, wracked by the loss of their only son to the war, hire the brothers to work their farm, hoping through an unexpected friendship to stanch their grief. Prentiss and Landry, meanwhile, plan to save money for the journey north and a chance to reunite with their mother, who was sold away when they were boys. Parallel to their story runs a forbidden romance between two Confederate soldiers. The young men, recently returned from the war to the town of Old Ox, hold their trysts in the woods. But when their secret is discovered, the resulting chaos, including a murder, unleashes convulsive repercussions on the entire community. In the aftermath of so much turmoil, it is Isabelle who emerges as an unlikely leader, proffering a healing vision for the land and for the newly free citizens of Old Ox