Vicky

Oh dear - I seem to be the only person around who really enjoyed it! I absolutely love Atonement. Partly, I think, because I'm the youngest and have a brother and sister who are more than twelve years older than me, so I can relate to a lot of Briony's narrative, the perspective of always being slightly on teh outside, always observing the 'grown ups', and could definitely relate to her feelings that that's still what she was doing in later life. A great point of debate among my family and friends (One whom I've pressed this book -- lucky them!) is whether it's a happy ending or a sad ending. Ex-husband thought the ending was tragic and spoiled the whole book, Mum and I think it's a happy ending in the respect that

I didn't know if we were all supposed to fill in teh big survey...so I did anyway! The Basics: Full Name - Vicky Brewster Age - 25 Location - Swansea, Wales UK Marital Status/Children - Seperated from marriage, living with boyfriend and idiot cat. Favourites: -Favourite bands/singers? Green Day, The Offspring, Theory of a Dead Man, Kings of Leon, 30 Seconds to Mars, Red Hot Chillis, Muse -Favourite movies? Atonement, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, A Knight's Tale, Labyrinth, Run Fat Boy Run, The Wedding Singer -Favourite books? Atonement, Wolf Hall, The Children's Book, The Dark is Rising Sequence, Wicked, We Need to Talk About Kevin -Favourite authors? Ian McEwan, Nancy Mitford, Jane Austen, Sarah Waters, William Shakespeare (especially for the Tragedies), J.K. Rowling, Angela Carter The Book Club Forum’s Rise and Future... -Why did you join The Book Club Forum? I was Google searching for a book club in my area, and this came up. As it happens, there aren't any book clubs in my area that work around my job -- they're all daytime meetings -- so I thought this might do just as well. A little more about Vicky: -We all know you love reading, but what kind of books do you most enjoy and why? I'll read almost anything, as long as I like teh look of it. But what I like the look of doesn't really have much of a definition. If I like the blurb or the author, or I've seen a good review for it, or a friend's recommended it, I'll usually give it a go. It's rare that I like crime -- Minnette Walters and Val MacDermid being noteable exceptions -- and, as long as I liek teh sound of teh story, I quite like going through prize shortlists. -Which book do you most often recommend to others and why? At the moment, I'm furiously recommending The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt, because I think it's one that a lot of people pass over without bothering to look at what it's about, and I found it absolutely fascinating. I also recommend We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver a lot. People who have picked it up and tried it tend to write it off after the first few letters, but I encourage perseverence, and everyone I know who's stuck to it has loved it. -What other interests do you have and what drew you to them? I write short stories, and I'm trying out NaNoWriMo (current wordcount 24,500 -- I'm a bit behind). At the moment, I don't have much time for things beyond work and college. I'm studying to become a qualified accountant, and I work in accounts for an Engineering company. I do crafts like crochet very badly, but that's about it. -Tell us three unusual and interesting things about yourself… 1 - I suffer from anxiety and depression following an abusive marriage. Off the anti-depressants for nine months now, and doing great! 2 - I've met Phillip Pullman, Sarah Waters and Maya Angelou courtesy of my English degree at Bangor University. Phillip Pullman is lovely and a very good dancer! 3 - I used to be in a lot of pantomimes playing boys!