Minutes of a meeting nobody chaired.

Reconstructed from memory and the back of a receipt. Tuesday, the library room, Fiona's turn to bring crisps and she brought hummus.

Fiona: "So does she remember, or doesn't she."

Deborah: "She doesn't remember. She has a feeling. There's a difference and the book is careful about it."

Fiona: "Then what is the snow for."

Bridget: "The snow is a chapter marker, Fiona."

Deborah: "The snow is absolutely not a chapter marker."

Yvonne (had not read it): "Is it like Groundhog Day?"

Deborah: "No."

Bridget: "Yes. A bit."

Yvonne: "Then I'm alright, I've seen Groundhog Day!"

Gail arrived at that point with her coat still on, said she'd read the Hitler chapter twice, and asked whether we were allowed to talk about whether it works. Bridget said no. We then talked about whether it works for forty minutes.

Deborah's position: it's the only stretch where the premise is used as a weapon rather than a texture. Fiona's position: it's a stunt, and the Blitz sections are the actual novel and everyone knows it. The quiet one at the end of the table said the mother is the most interesting person in it and was completely ignored, which happens to her a lot and I feel terrible about it every single month.

I said I liked it. That was the whole of my contribution. Seven.

We didn't pick a next book. Yvonne left with the hummus.