Thank you to those who joined us for May book club! We discussed Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood for National Short Story Month. It ended up being our lowest-attended gathering in quite a while, which made us sad to miss so many familiar faces, but it was also a fun return to a smaller intimate discussion group of six.
Interestingly, most attendees actually hadn’t finished the book, which is the usual for our club! We have a club rating of 4 with six people having read it (three attended the meeting). Let us know if you read it and your thoughts!
Of the three people who voted on their top stories in the collection, all three chose “Stone Mattress” itself as one of the standout stories. Beyond that, there was a lot of variation in favorite stories and interpretations, which made for a really interesting discussion. We talked quite a bit about themes of aging, revenge, memory, power, loneliness, and the particular ways Atwood writes about older women — often with both sharp humor and surprising darkness.
A huge thank you to Kathy for hosting us so beautifully! We were treated to salmon and salad, watermelon feta salad, delicious chocolate treats, and, as always, a stellar wine selection.
