Tring Book Club - Fasting Feasting by Anita Desai and Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson

There were only three of us at Book Club this time, but nevertheless we had a good exchange of views. "Fasting Feasting" is about two dysfunctional families. The story of the Indian family in the first two thirds of the book centres on one of the daughters, Una. She is not a clever girl, unlike her sister. She loves school but is a poor student, the opposite of Aruna. Una is clumsy, dizzy  and much put upon by her parents who are described as MamaPapa as if they are sole entity. The writing is gentle and lyrical, and the family conflicts are well drawn. There some upsetting passages particularly involved Anamika, the beautiful and bright cousin whose marriage is a disaster. Una wants to belong and the visits of an aunt, Mira-masi only go to give her ambitions beyond what is possible. "Una had never been more unsupervised or happier in her life". The final part of the novel moves to America and Una's brother Arun who stays with an equally dysfunctional family while studying at university. The comparisons of the two families is amazing, and Arun's difficulties living in what to him is an alien environment makes for a very interesting final section.

I just love the writing of Kate Atkinson, so I was so looking forward to reading her latest Jackson Brodie novel "Started Early , Took my Dog". And was as good as ever. Not quite as brilliant as her previous "When Will There Be Good News", but still an excellent read. Kate's writing is punchy, with clipped sentences, clever and very witty. I knew we were in for a treat with the first paragraph:
 "Leeds: 'Motorway City of theSeventies'. A proud slogan. No irony intended. Gaslight flickering on some streets. Life in a northern town".
This is a very entertaining book. The author seems to write in little anecdotes, as if she was relating a story over dinner and each time adding a brilliant punchline at the end. About the dog Jackson acquires and in the pet shop "the small four legged sailor uniform that was hanging behind the counter, complete with jaunty little hat". And about Jackson again "Looking for a fresh start. Somewhere there was a place for him. All he had to do was find it". The mention of Betty's Tea Rooms got me thinking about the one we visited in Harrogate. But apparently this was only the original and they have now spread to York, Ilkley and North Allerton and Harrogate now has two. Jackson has been to all of them "all part of the male impulse to collect". The settings of Leeds and Whitby were all too familiar. I love the way she writes in the third person but from the point of view of one of the four main characters. There is something eerie when she switches from one to another. If I have one criticism, there is sometimes too much plot. I guess that is why my favourite parts concern Tilly (Matilda Squires) an aging actress, suffering from the beginnings of dementia, who has only a very tenuous connection with the main plot, but whose wonderful story is not the crime fiction of the central theme. At the end, there did seem to be three or four mysteries that were never resolved. Maybe they are for the next book, or I missed something. But they did not detract from what is a highly enjoyable book.