"The Offing" by Benjamin Myers.
As a native of Durham, Gail was attracted to a book about Cuddy (St Cuthbert) by Benjamin Myers, and then she discovered other books by the same author, including “The Offing”.
The Offing is set in the North East and relates a story arc of the protagonist, Robert Appleyard.
It is written as a memory but reads as if in the present.
Robert's life story interacts with many people but the richness in this story is his meeting with Dulcie Piper.
That meeting created a rich interchange between the youthful Robert and the eccentric Dulcie.
Robert's new experiences included bee keeping, food and drink, language, poetry, literature and the culture of a seaside town.
The story arc also related to Dulcie's past relationship with a poet, the discovery of a lost manuscript, all bound together in the post-war period in Robin Hood's Bay.
The beating heart of the story is Robert's growing appreciation of the power of poetic words and the impact they have on his life under the guiding influence of Dulcie.
And in their interchange Myers has captured some of the essence of being human, how our hopes and fears influence what we will allow ourselves to do or be.
Robert grows in stature and maturity through meeting with Dulcie.
Dulcie is depicted as grappling with the ghosts of her past and overcoming her reluctance to face the truth and would never have done so without Robert.
Their interaction leads to a great story with a cheerful conclusion.
Club members were not uncritical of the book.
We discussed the value of the first 26 pages, i.e. prior to Robert's meeting with Dulcie, some thought they should be deleted,
others felt they set the pace and tone and indeed the most consistent comment from the group was how this part of the book echoes “As I walked out one Summer's morning”.
We also inconclusively discussed whether a 16 year old would be able to take a 60 mile walk earning food by odd-jobbing, and camping rough.
There are a number of questionable points, e.g. schooling and leaving at age 16; behaviour of birds; driving a car with no experience; leaving sea-food in a water trough; farming rape-seed; use of the "F-word".
The breadth of vocabulary (e.g. opaline, anatine, coralline, dreck, lamina, scabrous, segue) was excellent and introduced us to many new words.
The minor characters were enjoyable, especially "Butters", the German shepherd.
Overall the book was a delightful read, with well depicted characters, strong and convergent story arcs, and some beautiful nature writing.
Doorly score: 4.25
PC. 9th November, 2024
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