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West Branch Fiction Book Discussion

The Guest Book by Sarah Blake

2023-11-30 18:30:00 2023-11-30 19:30:00 America/Chicago West Branch Fiction Book Discussion We read a variety of diverse contemporary and classic fiction and meet once a month for a thought-provoking conversation. Copies are reserved and available for pickup for all attendees.  West Branch - ASD West Zoom Room, Meeting Room

Thursday, November 30
6:30pm - 7:30pm

Add to Calendar 2023-11-30 18:30:00 2023-11-30 19:30:00 America/Chicago West Branch Fiction Book Discussion We read a variety of diverse contemporary and classic fiction and meet once a month for a thought-provoking conversation. Copies are reserved and available for pickup for all attendees.  West Branch - ASD West Zoom Room, Meeting Room

West Branch

ASD West Zoom Room, Meeting Room

We read a variety of diverse contemporary and classic fiction and meet once a month for a thought-provoking conversation. Copies are reserved and available for pickup for all attendees. 

Wander into the world of a wealthy family this November, then discuss The Guest Book with us. Break up the holiday bustle and come to West Branch's monthly book discussion group! We read a variety of diverse contemporary and classic fiction and meet once a month for a thought-provoking conversation. Register for in-person or virtual. Copies are reserved and available for pickup for all attendees. 

Contact discussion facilitator Becky Clark at rclark@aurorapubliclibrary.org for more information.

The Guest Book by Sarah Blake

The Guest Book follows three generations of a powerful American family, a family that “used to run the world”.

And when the novel begins in 1935, they still do. Kitty and Ogden Milton appear to have everything—perfect children, good looks, a love everyone envies. But after a tragedy befalls them, Ogden tries to bring Kitty back to life by purchasing an island in Maine. That island, and its house, come to define and burnish the Milton family, year after year after year. And it is there that Kitty issues a refusal that will haunt her till the day she dies.

In 1959 a young Jewish man, Len Levy, will get a job in Ogden’s bank and earn the admiration of Ogden and one of his daughters, but the scorn of everyone else. Len’s best friend Reg Pauling has always been the only black man in the room—at Harvard, at work, and finally at the Miltons’ island in Maine.

An island that, at the dawn of the 21st century, this last generation doesn’t have the money to keep. When Kitty’s granddaughter hears that she and her cousins might be forced to sell it, and when her husband brings back disturbing evidence about her grandfather’s past, she realizes she is on the verge of finally understanding the silences that seemed to hover just below the surface of her family all her life.

An ambitious novel that weaves the American past with its present, The Guest Book looks at the racism and power that has been systemically embedded in the US for generations. Brimming with gorgeous writing and bitterly accurate social criticism, it is a literary tour de force.

AGE GROUP: | Adults - ages 19+ |

EVENT TYPE: | Reading and Literacy |

TAGS: | book discussion | Book Club |

West Branch

Phone: 630-264-4117
Branch manager
Scott Grotto

Hours
About the branch

This branch is connected to Washington Middle School and known for its creative displays and programs for adults. Complete with three study rooms and two conference rooms.

Upcoming events