Wander into the world of a wealthy family this November\, then discuss The Guest Book with us. Break up the holiday bustle and come to West Branch's monthly book discussion group! We read a variety of diverse contemporary and classic fiction and meet once a month for a thought-provoking conversation. Register for in-person or virtual. C opies are reserved and available for pickup for all attendees. \;
\ nContact discussion facilitator Becky Clark at rclark@aurorapubliclibrary.org \;for more information.
\nThe Guest Book by S arah Blake
\nThe Guest Book \;follows three generations of a powerful American family\, a family that &ldquo\;used to run the wor ld&rdquo\;.
\nAnd when the novel begins in 1935\, they still do. Kit ty and Ogden Milton appear to have everything&mdash\;perfect children\, go od looks\, a love everyone envies. But after a tragedy befalls them\, Ogde n tries to bring Kitty back to life by purchasing an island in Maine. That island\, and its house\, come to define and burnish the Milton family\, y ear after year after year. And it is there that Kitty issues a refusal tha t will haunt her till the day she dies.
\nIn 1959 a young Jewish man \, Len Levy\, will get a job in Ogden&rsquo\;s bank and earn the admiratio n of Ogden and one of his daughters\, but the scorn of everyone else. Len& rsquo\;s best friend Reg Pauling has always been the only black man in the room&mdash\;at Harvard\, at work\, and finally at the Miltons&rsquo\; isl and in Maine.
\nAn island that\, at the dawn of the 21st century\, t his last generation doesn&rsquo\;t have the money to keep. When Kitty&rsqu o\;s granddaughter hears that she and her cousins might be forced to sell it\, and when her husband brings back disturbing evidence about her grandf ather&rsquo\;s past\, she realizes she is on the verge of finally understa nding the silences that seemed to hover just below the surface of her fami ly all her life.
\nAn ambitious novel that weaves the American past with its present\, \;The Guest Book \;looks at the racism and powe r that has been systemically embedded in the US for generations. Brimming with gorgeous writing and bitterly accurate social criticism\, it is a lit erary tour de force.
\nhttps://aurora.libnet.info/event/9257662 URL;VALUE=URI:https://aurora.libnet.info/event/9257662 ATTACH:https://static.libnet.info/images/events/aurora/tgbblake.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR