Hello! And welcome to the week 2 of our May book club!
If you’re new around here, we’re reading a book called Free Country which was recommended by one of my neighbors. We read Days 5-9 this past week and we’re all here to e-chat about them today.
I’ll start by sharing some thoughts about each Day, and then I’ll throw out some conversation starters at the end of the post!
Day 5:
Favorite part: When Ben described where they stopped on page 104. “Thoverton is a relatively small village with an attractive little garden in the middle. Unlike usual village greens, this one was an actual garden. It had a stream running through it, flowerbeds, trimmed shrubs and a bench.”
(Thoverton, Devon, England)
Favorite character: Mrs. Rogers. “She had a big, styled, silvery white bouffant, a black dress, and a white apron.” That’s her Bramble Hill camping park and old brick farmhouse in the photo above. Looks like such a peaceful place!
Day 6-
Favorite location: Gastonbury Tor. “It’s a compact, but prominent hill overlooking the town, with a beautiful stone tower adorning the top.”
(Gastonbury Tor)
Favorite after-mopping moment: “We sat on bar stools along the breakfast bar that looked out onto the square. Claire, the girl from reception, brought over two large cappuccinos, two fry-ups, and a couple of newspapers.”
Day 7 –
Favorite question: When Ben & George asked someone which direction the Pulteney Bridge was, only to be given the reply, ‘you’re on the bridge, m’duck‘. Ha! And how cool that the Pulteney is one of only four bridges in the world to be lined by shops on both sides!
Favorite discovery: That there’s a woman named Di, in a town called Nettleton, who was awarded the accolade of Best Village Shop/Post Office in Britain in 2007 because she is “a very special who inspires real devotion from her customers“. I took a nice, deep breath after this line too: “With the threat of closure looming over many Post Offices in the region it is the perfect time to emphasize that our branches are about the soul of country life, not just about stamps and car tax“.
(Nettleton’s Village Shop & Post Office)
Favorite nicknames: Dordie Wardie and Rooballs
Favorite natural phenomenon: Severn Bore
Day 8-
Favorite garden: The Living Pizza Field in Newent. “Rob created a huge round field, and then divided it up into 12 pizza-like slices. Each slice of the field grew ingredients used to make a pizza, including wheat, onions (of course), garlic, tomatoes, sweet corn, olives, herbs and even cows, chickens, and pigs.”
Favorite favor: The gathering and combining of 25 mini milks for Monica.
“Monica had lived in Ludlow for nearly 30 years. We wheeled our bikes around to the back garden, which was a story lower than the front of her house, as it was built into the steep Ludlow hillside.”
Day 9:
Favorite chunk of time: The nearly two hours spent at the table in Monica’s kitchen when they learned all about her life.
Favorite line: “Her face was filled with happiness as she looked out of the window, her eyes welling up as she spoke.”
Favorite overnight stay: “Sitting on the deck of a luxury narrowboat with two chip butties and a bottle of wine had never even entered my thought process. Sitting there with the bright, starry Shropshire sky and the gentle lapping of water on the side of the boat, was the most content I had felt in a long time.”
____________________________
Your turn! I hope you’ll share some of your favorite parts, people, discoveries, visuals, locations, etc, too!
Here are a few more thoughts and questions about Days 5-9 too:
1. On Day 6, Ben says, “We’d only been traveling for 6 days, but we both felt completely out of touch with what was going on in the world. I had thought I would suffer severe withdrawal, but I was coping just fine. In fact, I hadn’t missed any of it.” Isn’t it interesting how quickly that kind of thing can happen? I left my cell phone upstairs all day one time, and by the end of the day, I felt like I might not ever need to pick it up again!
2. On Day 8, Andy tells the guys, “I think what you’re doing is really life-affirming“. I, like Ben, didn’t fully understand what that meant (ha!), so I looked it up and here’s what the dictionary said: “An activity or attitude emphasizes the positive aspects of life” or something that “makes you believe that life and people are good, and offers hope for a better future”. Neat!
3. On Day 9, Ben’s mom gave someone a bunch of sweets to give to the guys so that they wouldn’t know they were from her and, in turn, they wouldn’t think they were breaking the rules. Since, technically, his mom had to approach and rely on the assistance of a stranger, don’t you think it still counts?
I look forward to catching up with you in the comment section below, and then let’s read Days 10-14 this week so we can meet up here again next Monday!
Layla
.jpg){kind=link}
Layla, thank you for all the research you did and the pictures. It really makes the places and people come alive!
Thank YOU for being part of the book club, Lynda! 😀
What a fun couple of chapters! Hands down my favorite thing to learn about was the Severn Bore. I had to put my book down and immediately google it to watch videos! Such a cool thing to see! One of my favorite things about this book is how their timing matches up seamlessly to these little events and meetings of these key people. I mean the guy from Motörhead playing at an onion festival or meeting Di, who was the best of the best, at the only Post Office they even stopped at? The Severn Bore was going to not only happen on that night but it was supposed to be the biggest in 25 years! It’s serendipity!
I love the definition of life affirming and I think it definitely sums up their trip so far. Seeing people go out of their way in some cases just to help them gives a new perspective on people and life in general.
As far as his mom giving him the bag of sweets, I would say it still counts for sure. He had no knowledge of how that came about. I can understand his frustration, but as a mother I would have done the same thing! It’s just what we do. Lol!
The seamless timing IS so fun!! I feel like half the magic is just taking the time to get out and about so that those kinds of opportunities can blossom, ya know? 😀
Love the pictures you’ve included of some of these places! How fun they’ve landed in towns with these festivals and interesting people they’ve met, almost meant for them to meet Peter The Potter and Willium Chapman only to learn they passed a few weeks after their chance meetings.
I don’t think it’s cheating that his Mom gave the candy to a stranger to pass along to them, but I’m also a Mom too and would have done the same thing.
The chance meetings always stand out to me too. They’re such a good example of the importance and magic of adventure and connection.
The Severn Bore video was unbelievable!! What a crazy phenomenon created by Mother Nature.
My LOL moment this week was when George kept teasing Ben about his slip up with Mrs. Rogers. Their relationship is one of my favorite things about the book. They sure know how to humorously push each other’s buttons : )
My favorite stay was the night on the boat, too. I had to google ‘chip butties’!
As for George’s anger at his mom….he made it so clear to her about his feelings concerning help from family, that she should have respected that. I hope she apologized.
It was a miracle George wasn’t injured when his tire fell off!! Really enjoying the biking details, though often painful. I think of them now when I’m cycling, and appreciate my comfort.
I knew you’d like that Severn Bore video, Mom! 😀
As for his mom helping, *technically* she didn’t. The stranger did, so I still think what transpired wasn’t against the rules. 😉
And hearing about their injuries always makes me cringe. Especially their blisters- LOL!!!
Confession: I finished the book on Sunday! I couldn’t stop reading, it is just so lovely. But don’t worry, no spoilers.
I love how Ben and George don’t indulge in much news while on the trip. I feel like I am doing this a bit now with all the Covid19 news. I read until I am up to date on what is going on and then I shut it off. I am really noticing how this is positively affecting my mental health! Not only were the guys able to control their intake of news but they were surrounded by such good people along the way as well. I truly believe there is more good in the world than bad and you really see that in this adventure.
Gabby! 😀
I liked reading that George and Ben disconnected from the news too. I rarely see/hear it myself, and whenever I accidentally do, I am usually quickly reminded why I don’t watch it! :-/
I am loving every bit of this book! These two things really got me:
“I’ll roger her in the morning.” I laughed so hard at this scene and again every time George brought it up!
George’s mom admitting she gave them the bag of candy. I’m with George. I was really angry. If strangers could understand that George didn’t want “cheats,” his own mother should have respected his rules. That said, I don’t think it cheapened their experience since they accepted it as a stranger’s generosity.
Hi Amanda!
That “roger” bit cracked me up too! And I agree. I don’t think that candy stuff broke the rules one bit!
1. I love love that you post pictures!
2. I think the candy totally counts like you said. Also, these quotes crack me up as a bit exaggerated:
“I did feel that she had *undermined everything* we were trying to achieve.”
“The *whole* challenge *completely corrupted* by an innocent bag of sweets provided by my own mum.” 😆
3. Page 101 (kindle version) when Ben is uncharacteristically motivated, but doesn’t comprehend what George means by turning a corner and heading south. 😜
4. Of COURSE Ben doesn’t mind looking like a prat!
5. Might have to try a chip butty. But not certain I’d like it.
6. “I hate proper athletes. They make the rest of us just look like rubbish.” 😆
7. He WASN’T PLANNING TO WRITE A BOOK?
8. I love how he describes his typical hotel stay.
Liz! I LOVED reading your comment!! SO FUN!
And I loved the description of his typical hotel stay too- LOL! 😀