Online Book Club Session 12

Our September online book club discussion moved us across to Italy, as we considered Three Towers in Tuscany - the first of Saville's Marston Baines series. 

10 members gathered to enjoy la dolce vita, with one or two having problems pronouncing the local spots around Firenze! Three Towers did appear, but only toward the end of the story...

There was a mixed response to Saville's departure into older teenage fiction. As always, people enjoyed the sense of places and descriptions of the countryside. The characters were less appealing. A number were disappointed that the strong young women of the Lone Pine books, for example, were not replicated in the character of Rosina, who was portrayed as a helpless victim, guided (ordered?) by male characters and expected to look pretty and play the stereotypical (for that time) female role. However there is a strong female baddie, so perhaps that makes up.

The action is fast paced and there's a murder, so it gets serious this time. Old themes appear, with kidnapping and locked rooms, but it was much darker than in books for younger readers.

Without spoiling the plot...the backdrop for Marston Baines work is the  perceived threat to Britain at the beginning of the 60s - wildcat strikes, agitators, foreign infiltrators, etc to upset world order. This gave way to a lot of discussion about those times and how Saville was probably sharing his own feelings/worries (and likely reflected amongst the populus) - as a middle class male - about possible insurgency and the country going to the dogs (nothing's ever  new, is it?). However, no mention of the treacherous Oxbridge lot! Fear that the Russian Revolution example could hit our shores was a likely perception amongst the established order.

We wondered whether, in another life, Mr Saville would have liked to have been a spy!

One member had a letter from Saville  encouraging him to move to the Marston Baines series, which was later shared with other participants. We felt that Saville  was particularly fond of this part of his work  though sales and familiarity with Marston Baines  amongst the readership don't seem to have done so well.

Whilst there were mixed feelings (to be fair, leaning to the positive) about the book, it seems we will risk another at a future date. Meanwhile, we are looking for a spare Rolls Royce so we can tootle around the Tuscan countryside!

New members for the online book club are always welcome!

To register for the first time for this group please emailevents@witchend.com