William Boyd ~ Sweet Caress

On the whole, the group found this an interesting and a good read.  The fictional biography of the photo-journalist Amory Clay, was a great way to compass time, place and ageing ….however one member did confess to losing interest when they realised the person was not real.  The book took us to lots of places geographically, historically and emotionally though for some this felt like too many snippets (especially the brief trip to Vietnam) that prevented engagement with Amory. People enjoyed the commentary coming from the time and in reflection as an older woman, how it enabled you to reflect on the randomness, the decisions and the mistakes of life, the descriptions of the clothes and the inclusion of what we assumed were found photographs.   We felt the book offered a catalogue of twentieth century archetypal men and some thought the author did not always write convincingly as a woman.  The book prompted an excellent discussion of the nature of photographs as records, what we do and do not photograph and images/memories that are imprinted on our mind.

The sores ranged from 6 to 9 with an average of 7.5.