Whitcoulls Recommends: The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club and Ocean

The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly. She’s a terrific writer of historical fiction (my favourite of hers is The Lilac Girls) – this time set on Martha’s Vineyard in two timelines – present day, when a young woman grieving the death of her mother arrives on the island and discovers things about her mother she never knew; while back during WW2 two sisters are trying to hold it all together as the US army arrives and everything changes for the local inhabitants. Like her other books this is based on real events – this time from the author’s own family history.

Ocean by David Attenborough and Colin Butfield. There is also a movie of this title playing in cinemas at the moment. Looking back over the course of David Attenborough’s lifespan (he’s just turned 99) this is a look at eight unique ocean habitats – through coral reefs, mangroves,  Oceanic Islands and more. It’s an extraordinary insight into what lies beneath the water, and how much it’s at risk – although Attenborough does say that while our oceans are fragile they also have an extraordinary capacity to repair themselves which is encouraging. It includes lots of amazing photos. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks. AB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Joey mackenzie is with me. Good morning, Good Morning, the
Martha's Vineyard, Beach and book Club. I like this title
because I'm endlessly fascinated by Martha's Vineyard and the stories
that come out of us, So am I, And then
who doesn't love the Beach and book Club.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yes, although it's a little bit darker than you might imagine.
It's by Martha Hall Kelly, who is a terrific writer
of historical fiction. And the first book she wrote was
called Lilac Girls, which was set during the Second World
War and which I just adored, and then she did
a couple of more again which was set during the
war years, and so is this one. But it's different because,

(00:50):
as you say, it's set on Martha's Vineyard rather than
in the actual war zone. And it's essentially a wartime
thriller with spying going on in romance and general excitement,
and set on the island, as you say, of Martha's
Vineyard in Massachusetts, which is where Martha Hall kelly mother
grew up, and the island never saw active service but
during World War II, the US Army based troops there

(01:13):
for training exercises, and much of this book is based
on the things that the author's mother told her about
what went on back then. It's really interesting. So it's
set in two timelines. One on the present day, when
a young woman grieving the death of her mother arrives
on Martha's vineyard following up on something she found in
her late mother's things which has linked her with an

(01:33):
artist on the island, and she's gone there to try
and figure out what the connection with her mother might be.
And then the second timeline is in the nineteen forties
during the war, with two sisters who were trying to
adjust to the wartime conditions as the US Army arrives
and they decide to set up a book club for
the local women to help try and take their minds
off all the other things that are going on. But

(01:54):
the impact of the war is all around them, and
there are rumors that there's a Nazi spy living in
the community, and no one knows who to trust anymore.
It's one of those classic kind of wartime stories, as
I say again, set outside the actual war zone, and
there's a link between the young woman who's gone looking
for the connection with her mother and these sisters back

(02:16):
in the nineteen forties during the war.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
I actually think it's probably books that have set themselves
in Martha's vineyard, which is why I am so intrigued
by the place. It's been such an interesting, rich sort
of setting for so many different kinds of books, Yes.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
And for many different kinds of things music as well.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
Absolutely Okay. Ocean by David Attenborough and Colin Buttfield.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
There is a movie of this title screening in cinemas
at the moment, and the book has come out, and
as I understand it, they take slightly different tangents, but
the book is essentially a love letter to the ocean.
You may know that David Attenber's just to ninety nine
and he's looking back at the ocean over the span
of his lifetime, and he says that the ocean is

(02:58):
a far more appropriate word for the world we live
in than Earth, because just over seventy percent of the
planet's surface is covered in salt water. And I knew
that was a high percentage, but what I didn't know
was that he says that ninety five percent of the
bias sphere, which is the regions where life exists is underwater.

(03:19):
It's extraordinary. The first relatively short part of the book
looks at the life of a blue whale, whose life
span in this case pretty much spans David Attenborough's, and
he writes about the environment the whale lives in and
how over the span of its life and his, so
much of the whale's environment has changed. And then he

(03:40):
moves into looking at eight different sections, eight different areas
of the world's oceans. There's coral reefs, there's mangroves, oceanic islands.
It's remarkable and honestly it is just a book of
wonder in the way that you know that Attenborough sees
these things with such wonder. He's written a preface to
each of these chapters, and then his friend Colin Butfield,

(04:02):
the scientist, has rounded it out with the science and
given a lot more of them. But it's Attenborough's inspiration
and emotional love for the ocean and the whole environment
that's infectious and it carries this thing through.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
It's just extraordinary because they've worked together for a long time.
I think David Attenborough and Colin but Field, do you
know everyone sort of talks about, you know, sort of
the last frontier being space. But actually, every time I
talk to a marine biologist still somebody who's associated with
something in the ocean. We know so so little about
what goes on in the depths of our oceans. I know,

(04:37):
it's this fascinating world.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
As I was reading this, I realized how much I
simply don't know.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Oh okay, I.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
Like and can I say it has some beautiful photography
through it. It is not a photography picture book, but
there are pages of extraordinary photos of ocean life. It's
it's really a lovely thing.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Oh look. And it's even called Ocean Earth's Last Wilderness.
That is by David Attenborough and also Colin Buttfield. And
the first book we spoke about, the Marth has been
heard Beach and Book Club by math the Haul. Kelly.
Thank you, Joan, See you next week.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.