The Old Girls Association has started a Book Club which will meet very six weeks approximately and is open to all Old Girls. The first meeting of the Book Club took place recently and, fittingly, the selected novel was written by one of our Old Girls – ‘Hold Still’ by Cherry Smith. This, Cherry’s first published novel, is a fictional account of Joanna (Jo)Hiffernan’s life between 1861 and 1866. It was known that Joanna was muse to the artists James Whistler and Gustave Courbet but otherwise there was little or no further information available, which gave the author the opportunity to research material for the novel including the 10,000 or so letters left by Whistler. The Book Club members found the novel thoroughly engrossing and enjoyed the exposure to the world of art and artists which it provided as the story developed.
The next Book Club meeting will take place on Monday 3 March 2018 at 7.30 pm in the lobby of the Lodge Hotel, Coleraine. The book selected is ‘The Rosie Project’ by Graeme Simsion.
