My favorite night of the month was last Thursday! My book club’s monthly meeting is always the highlight of my month. I hosted March’s meeting, which means I got to choose the book. I selected The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne based on my mother in law’s recommendation. Here’s what Amazon says about the book:
Helena Pelletier has a loving husband, two beautiful daughters, and a business that fills her days. But she also has a secret: she is the product of an abduction. Her mother was kidnapped as a teenager by her father and kept in a remote cabin in the marshlands of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Helena, born two years after the abduction, loved her home in nature, and despite her father’s sometimes brutal behavior, she loved him, too…until she learned precisely how savage he could be.
More than twenty years later, she has buried her past so soundly that even her husband doesn’t know the truth. But now her father has killed two guards, escaped from prison, and disappeared into the marsh. The police begin a manhunt, but Helena knows they don’t stand a chance. Knows that only one person has the skills to find the survivalist the world calls the Marsh King–because only one person was ever trained by him: his daughter.
My genre of choice is ALWAYS psychological thrillers, so this is right up my alley. I loved the story and the main character. The discussion questions at the end of the book made for very good conversation at the dinner table, not that we ever struggle to find something to talk about!
The Marsh King’s Daughter
The hostess usually attempts to create a menu that somehow relates to the book. This proved to be a big challenge for me with this novel because almost everything Helena eats is some sort of wild game she hunted. Since I was not about to serve rabbit stew, bear grease or deer, I had to get a little creative. My nods to the book ended up being venison jerky (ordered on Amazon…haven’t tried it so I have no idea if it’s good), a salad with blueberries, and bear claws (Publix bakery). I chose almond filling for the bear claws and they were delicious! I also made macaroni and cheese because that was literally the only non-wild caught food item mentioned in the entire book. I also roasted a bunch of chicken breasts because I had to feed my gusts something! Note: some of the hunting descriptions were graphic. I had a tough time getting through some of them, but psychological aspects of the book made it worth it.
I went for a woodland theme for the table setting. I purchased the faux greenery and branches back during my first Christmas as a newlywed from a local store, Twigs. I love any excuse to use my fine china and silver.
Book Club Food and Table
I highly recommend The Marsh King’s Daughter for your book club. Even though it was a little gory at times, the suspense made it a page turner. A movie based on the story is in the works, but the book is always better. Get it here: https://amzn.to/3u72Vw7
Not a book club selection, but a book I thoroughly enjoyed recently is The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. A friend insisted I would love it and loaned me her copy. It’s long and not my usual choice for books, so I was skeptical. Thank goodness I listened to my friend!
The story is unlike anything I’ve ever read. Do yourself a favor and add this to your cart. Here’s what Amazon says about it:
In the vein of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Life After Life, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab’s genre-defying tour de force.
A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever―and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
Get it here: https://amzn.to/3NIKHsN
Happy reading!
