A year ago, I decided that I needed to stretch myself, or should I say read more.  Give myself a little time out to sit and escape my hectic life .  I had always tended to read the same style of book, dare I say starting with Chic lit, then moving on to one or two chosen authors.

I knew my friends back in ‘Blighty’ had been attending a book club for some time, and often I had chatted to them about their readings.  I was a little unsure whether groups would be too high brow for me, and read too quickly and I wouldn’t keep up, so I thought a book club isn’t going to come to me living on the edge of a mountain, so I thought I must create one myself and encourage others to join.  It seemed others too had been looking for similar past-time, so within a short time I was joined by a lovely group of  ladies, and La Rosilla Book-club, was born

Well a year has passed and our small, but perfectly formed group of readers , have enjoyed a monthly traveling book-club, visiting one another ‘s houses each month to discuss, drink tea & eat cake .  We have shared many genres, including classics, one we couldn’t finish, and others not to all our liking, but we’ve stuck at it and had a great time.  others do read faster than me, and sometimes I am cramming the last few pages just minutes before we meet, but i do it.

Yesterday we celebrated our commitment and birthday with a wonderful afternoon party, we were joined by the Author of our chosen book for the month Joan Fallon , ‘Daughters of Spain’.

Under the rule of Franco, Spain’s military dictator from 1936 until 1975 Spanish women lived very restricted lives, controlled by their fathers, husbands, the Church and the State.   In “Daughters of Spain” women of various ages and from all strata of society relate their experiences and in the process illustrate how the lives of women have changed dramatically since his death.  This series of short, frank interviews gives a dramatic picture of what it was like to be a woman living in Spain under Franco’s regime.

Joan described her adventures of becoming an author, the trials and tribulations of publishing as well as her experiences of having the opportunity to interview many interesting women of Spain.

We will adding further titles of  Joans later in the year including ‘Between the Sierra & the Sea’.

After chatting and discussing we enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea, enjoyed the sunshine, it also became apparent we may have a few budding authors in our midst – so we may well have our very own ‘La Rosilla’ book out one day…watch this space.

You can see Joans write up here .