The Book Report #86

Episodes #85

The Book Club Edition #2

I joined a book club, and this was the book that was chosen to read for October 2025

The Book Club By C J Cooper

The Book

On the 30th May 2019, this book was published by Constable. Founded in 1795, they are now an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group, which is part of Hachette UK.

My Copy is an ebook which I read on my phone and Kindle Paperwhite. It has 357 pages with an Acknowledgement.

What Did I Think

Set in the imagined area called Willowcombe. A small village in the Cotswolds. Lucy has moved from London to leave behind the past problems that she created. She has only been there for three months and has been absorbed into a group of friends who all have their own secrets, and nobody cares, as long as they can meet up and have gossip and a drink to deal with the boredom of a quiet village.

Next to arrive, next door to Lucy, is Alice. She has an agenda, and it involves slowly destroying Lucy’s life, and as an added extra. Help to disperse the collective of friends that Lucy has built up by using their secrets against them.

There is no need for spoilers as to who the problem is, as we find out from the first page.

Alice worms her way into the group and then decides there should be a book club. With each meeting, she uses the plot of each book as a basis for what each member has done or is doing, and hopefully gets a reaction.

Determined

This story is extreme. The lengths that Alice goes to are beyond the norm. It is psychotic. But the problem I see with this whole story is that it could happen. If you are determined enough, you could pull off the mental torture that goes on through this story. I am not so sure about the outcome. But, I don’t know, with some lazy policing, in the real world, she could probably get away with it.

Has the author researched this too much, or is it linked to something personal?

There is a way of life portrayed in this book; a truth of being British. We do not like to cause a scene and deal with the problems we have; we would rather hide them away from everyone else. That is what Alice relies on.

What is it?

I do have a problem with this book. And don’t know what the problem is. Ever since I started reading the book. Fair enough, I wasn’t in the right mindset at the beginning. There has been something niggling me, and I can’t put my finger on why. All the way through it. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great story with the twists and turns you expect from a psychological thriller…

…There’s just something wrong with this book. Did the author use AI? Sell her soul? Have a ghostwriter write the book? I will most likely never find out.

Would I Recommend

Even with my problems with the book, I would still recommend it.

Please give this book ago.

Would you like to purchase your very own copy?

You could try these online stores: Amazon UK/USA. Waterstones. AbeBooks UK/USA, Barnes & Noble or eBay UK/USA.

Alternatively, you could try your local bookshop or even your local library.