Midweek @ Musings: Pumpkin’s Progress, Orange July Week 2

Hi again everybody!  I had so much fun cat-chatting with all of you last week.  I meowed really loudly at Laura to show my appreciation, and I rubbed my flank up against her leg, which is my way of saying, “more please.”  She understood me completely, and invited me back for another “Pumpkin’s Progress” post.  And don’t I look handsome curled up on the Star Friendship Quilt with Laura’s latest Orange July reads?  Purrr …

So, last night Laura finished The Tiger’s Wife.  This was one of my picks for Orange July, because I thought it would be about a tiger.  Or at least about his wife.  Which it kind of was.  But not really.  And for a while there, Laura seemed less than happy with it.  She’d read a bit, and then quickly get distracted by a Phillies baseball game, or the Tour de France.  That wasn’t all bad, because it freed up her lap for me!  But when she’s unhappy about a book she gets kind of crabby, and that’s no fun for either of us.  Well I don’t know what happened, but suddenly the book seemed to grab her attention.  That’s usually a good sign, but I guess we’ll have to wait for her review to learn more.

Next up is The White Family.   This book was shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 2002.  I copied Amazon’s book description for you (admit it, you’re impressed a cat can do that!):

This ambitious, groundbreaking novel takes on the taboo subject of racial hatred as it looks for the roots of violence within the family and within British society. The Whites are an ordinary British family. Alfred White, a London park keeper, still rules his home with fierce conviction and inarticulate tenderness. May, his clever, passive wife loves Alfred but conspires against him. Their three children are no longer close; the elder son has left for America and the youngest son is a virulent racist. The daughter is involved in an interracial relationship with a black social worker. When the father’s sudden illness forces the children to come together, their deep fears and prejudices come to the surface, raising issues about kinship, trust, and hatred. Maggie Gee expertly illustrates the tensions and prevailing social problems of modern day England in this fascinating novel.

Well it doesn’t look like any cats appear in this book but it does look interesting and, like many Orangey books, pretty intense.  I hope she likes it!

That’s all for this week.  Check out the Orange January/July groups on Facebook and LibraryThing for more Orangey chat!