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A Country Road, A Tree
A Country Road, A Tree | Jo Baker
12 posts | 8 read | 1 reading | 14 to read
BY THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LONGBOURN Paris, 1939: The pavement rumbles with the footfall of Nazi soldiers marching along the Champs Elysees. A young writer, recently arrived from Ireland to make his mark, smokes one last cigarette with his lover before the city they know is torn apart. Soon, he will put is own life and those of his loved ones in mortal danger by joining the Resistance... Spies, artists, deprivation, danger and passion: this is a story of life at the edges of human experience, and of how one man came to translate it all into art. Praise for Jo Baker's LONGBOURN: 'Intoxicating' Guardian 'Engrossing' Sunday Times 'Audacious' New York Times
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Creadnorthey
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Pickpick

I truly enjoyed this book. I had read a biography of S. Beckett previous, but what a sparse luxury Baker put down before me. Her handling of the language in many ways reflects Beckett‘s work, and the foreshadowed references to images that populated Beckett‘s work were seamless and believable; not trite but engaging.

Creadnorthey I forget which Litten turned me on to this book so props to the whole Litsy system! 5y
7 likes1 comment
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merelybookish
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Attending my first production of Waiting for Godot. I read Beckett in grad school and didn't like it. But then I read Baker's book and it made me want to revisit his work.
It's intermission...not sure absurdist is my thang.

batsy How is the Baker book? 7y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled I commend you for giving this another chance. Not sure I could do it. 😬 7y
merelybookish @batsy I liked it. I like her writing style, find it so precise and crisp. And the story for Beckett's participation in the French resistance​ is interesting. I went in knowing zip. 7y
See All 7 Comments
merelybookish @ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Haha.Thanks! I don't think either my husband or I loved it, but I didn't hate it either. 7y
batsy @merelybookish Thanks! I am interested in the historical aspect of it, too. 7y
Hobbinol I saw this masterwork on Broadway with Ian McKellen & Patrick Stewart. ❤️❤️❤️ 7y
merelybookish @Hobbinol Wow! What a cast. I did think I would like to see another production some time. I can imagine they can be quite different. 7y
62 likes7 comments
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TheBookHippie
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Pickpick

The librarian at my local branch recommended this to me. Excellent read. Never would have picked it up. So thankful for librarians that know their readers!

11 likes1 stack add
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BookMusings
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"And the city is... as infested with absences as the hospital is with rats. Walking in Paris in October 1945 is the loneliest thing in all the world. He will get used to it. Just as he has grown accustomed to the missing teeth, the missing toe..."
Perspective.

39 likes3 stack adds
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annahenke
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Book people are the best. Every time I return a book to my neighborhood library, this is what I see. Thank you, kind stranger, for being awesome!

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annahenke
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I loved Longbourn by Jo Baker, and am now diving into her new book. Set in France - WWII. I'm not crazy about the characters but the writing is breathtaking.

16 likes3 stack adds
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annahenke
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Home. Time for some reading.

13 likes1 stack add
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annahenke
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I ❤️ Litsy! Landmark day for me. 😊 Thanks for all the great recs and conversation, peeps!

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HardcoverHearts
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Look at what I scored at the Lacuna at the Berkeley Book Fair! It's a wonderful day to celebrate books.

BookFreakOut That looks so fun!!! Totally jealous. 8y
16 likes1 comment
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whelanmaria
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Mehso-so

While the language was beautiful and the story uniquely told, the characters, the plot, and even my attention span remained elusive. Samuel Beckett's life was tragic and fascinating but Jo Baker merely skims the surface. This book was a decent but not fulfilling read.

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whelanmaria

The world is ending, and it is exuberantly, ridiculously beautiful.

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AnnieSmith
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Pickpick

A melancholy but introspective portrait of a writer during the French Occupation. It doesn't take much effort to work out who the writer is, so you'll spend the rest of the book looking for echoes of his work. Very, very interesting. NetGalley ARC.