The Dreaming Suburb
by RF Delderfield.
Some of the group were already familiar with Delderfield; a prolific social history writer –
and those who were new to him are, as we speak, scouring the charity shops for more - specifically ''The Avenue Goes to War'' in order to continue this enjoyable and believable epic of a story.
The group likened the journalistic qualities of the book to Dickens, to ''Nab End'' and to Howard Spring.
Delderfield being, it was suggested, a soap opera writer of his day - those days when Joe and Josephine Public had perhaps more interest in the world
and that said be more likely to to discuss politics, attend talks and turn out for protests and so forth.
We discussed the 'dreaming' in the title; were some of the characters dreaming through world events - with Jim Carver being the voice to wake up his neighbours?
Or was the book about their, the residents' dreams? Their hopes and aspirations as the country hovered on the cusp of war? Possibly both.
(We will have to read the sequel for the answer to that one).
The well drawn characters were appreciated as indeed were the cleverly woven in reminders of where we left those characters a couple of chapters back - making the book an easy read.
Everyone had their favourites of course, from Elaine running to ultimately join the circus and her dad leaving for true love and affection through to Lickapaw who disappeared often to find love and affection of a different kind.
We all knew (of) someone who was 'just like' a character in the book and even if the community in the Avenue did not reflect our varied upbringings everyone enjoyed this glimpse into or fond reminder of that world.
This lively story was enjoyed by everyone present, it was a good read, indeed a page turner that some 'could not put down'.
People at the meeting thanked Vicki for choosing this book, those who had 'forgotten' him having enjoyed him years ago to those who were not familiar with Delderfiled -
whose imaginative and skilful writing lead to The Dreaming Suburb scoring a healthy 4 stars
SB
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