BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//sebbo.net//ical-generator//EN NAME:DC Public Library X-WR-CALNAME:DC Public Library BEGIN:VEVENT UID:8f11a8f9-9347-4361-87ec-28f2ce12038a SEQUENCE:0 DTSTAMP:20261030T105824Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261217T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261217T194500 SUMMARY:The Promises\, Promises Book Club LOCATION:West End Neighborhood Library\nWest End Neighborhood Library X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=West End Neighborhood Libr ary;X-APPLE-RADIUS=10;X-TITLE=West End Neighborhood Library:geo:38.904044, -77.050548 GEO:38.904044;-77.050548 DESCRIPTION:Led by Philip Burnham\, retired associate professor in the Eng lish Department at George Mason University.\nhttps://dclibrary.libnet.info /event/17078141 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

** REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED **

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Welcome \;to \;the \;Promises\, Promises \ ;Book Club series\, \;a discussion of \;recent fiction that grappl es with the theme \;of \;people \;making&mdash\;and \;some times \;breaking&mdash\;a \;serious promise or pledge. \;  \;Participants will read \;about an America where fascism \;has be come \;a political rallying cry\; \;about \;a Scottish island where a lifelong pledge is broken by a heartless act of avarice\; \;ab out \;a boatload of immigrants who find the American husbands they&rsq uo\;ve been promised aren&rsquo\;t at all what they&rsquo\;d hoped for\; a nd \;about \;a South African \;family that struggles \;wit h \;its own bigotry \;long after \;the apartheid era \;has come \;to an end. \;
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The series is led by Phili p Burnham\, \;retired \;associate professor in the English Departm ent at George Mason University. \; \;All discussions will be held& nbsp\;in the Large Meeting Room \;of West End Library \;on the dat es below\, \;from \;6:30-7:45 \;p.m. \; \;Please \ ;join us \;early for light refreshments \;between 6:15 and 6:30 PM . \;

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About two \;weeks before each session\, \;the boo k club will send participants some links to \;websites \;relevant to \;the next \;novel as well as a list of \;study questions i ntended to inspire reflection for readers for the \;upcoming \;dis cussion. \;
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The series is funded by the W est End Library Friends. \; \;Readers do not have to be a memb er of the Friends to join this group. \; Available at West End Neighbo rhood Library are limited copies of all the books discussed.
 \;< br />Read below for the schedule and titles of works discussed:
  \;
September \;17 \;&ndash\;The Plot Agains t America\, \;Philip Roth \;
What would have hap pened if Charles Lindbergh had challenged Franklin Roosevelt for the presi dency in 1940&mdash\;and won? \; \;A hypothetical--but chilling--a nswer to that question is Philip Roth&rsquo\;s venture into counterfactual history\, \;The Plot Against America. \; \;Based in Newark\, New Jersey\, where Roth spent his youth\, a grim narrative unfolds that&nb sp\;violently \;divides a family\, a city\, \;and a nation. A nove l published over twenty years ago\, Roth&rsquo\;s fiction feels as though it could have been written only yesterday. \;
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October \;22 \;&ndash\;Clear\, \;Carys Da vies \;
From the Middle Ages \;through \;the  \;Industrial Revolution\, the Enclosure movement \;in Great Brita in \;devastated millions \;of lives. \; \;The Ondaatje Pri ze winner from 2025\, Carys Davies&rsquo\; \;Clear \;is set on a r emote Scottish island whose lone inhabitant \;can&rsquo\;t \;avoid the fate of this great social upheaval. \; \;Be warned: this  \;isn&rsquo\;t \;quite \;the \;Victorian-era \;British Isl es of the Brontë\; sisters or Charles Dickens. \; \;The novel tells a deeply personal \;and rural \;story that unfolds far from the madding crowd\, and with an ending that few readers will \;anticip ate. \; \; \;
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November 19&mdash\;The&n bsp\;Buddha in the Attic\, \;Julie Otsuka \;
A l ong time before Internet dating services \;were \;all \;the ra ge\, &ldquo\;picture brides&rdquo\; were \;how \;couples were  \;matched \;when separated by \;daunting \;obstacles \;lik e the Pacific Ocean. \; \;Julie Otsuka dares what few writers ever attempt\, a novel told with a collective voice\, a group story \;abou t the experience of immigrant Japanese women in America&mdash\;all \;i n a volume that barely numbers a hundred pages and still won the PEN-Faulk ner Award for Fiction. \; \;After reading Otsuka\, you will never& nbsp\;again \;think of San Francisco\, much less California\, in quite the same way. \;
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December \;17&mdash\;< a href="https://catalog.dclibrary.org/search?query=The%20Promise\,%C2%A0Da mon%20Galgut&\;searchType=everything&\;pageSize=10" title="The Promi se\, \;Damon Galgut \;">The Promise\, \;Damon Galgut \;
On her deathbed\, Rachel Swart \;makes her husband&nbs p\;take a \;difficult \;vow. \; \;Unbeknownst to them\, th eir young daughter \;is listening. \; \;But the \;husband has no intention \;of fulfilling the \;promise\, and \;it is l eft to their children to choose what to do \;with it. \; \;The Swart family \;is \;at the center of Damon Galgut&rsquo\;s novel\ , \;the \;Booker Prize winner \;in 2021\, about the cost \ ;of \;South African apartheid \;for \;black and white inhabita nts alike\, its \;legacy \;surviving \;in \;fundamental&nb sp\;ways decades \;after \;it \;was abandoned.

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