the hc book club, page-85

"Its my turn again to recommend a book in February for my book group. The pressure is on !!! A group of 10 women between the ages of 40-70, from all walks of life"

Golden, I'll offer two choices, both just wonderful and quite different, though both with a definite appeal to women readers.

Helen Garner's "The Spare Room". She has won several awards for this quite slight book (so easy to read for those book club members who balk at 1000 pages). Garner's exquisite characterisations are very affecting.
It's the story of two women, old friends, one of whom has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She is in denial about dying and comes to stay with her friend in order to pursue some wacky treatment.
It exposes the vulnerabilities of those of us who are facing severe illness and death, the limits to which friendships can be stretched, and ultimately the triumph of the human spirit over mortality. Just a beautiful book.

Then another award winner from last year "Burial Rites" by Hannah Kent. This is the story of the last woman to be executed in Iceland in the 19th century. Careful and beautiful prose, so that you want to read and absorb every word, not skip over sentences, and an atmosphere completely beyond the experience of most of us in the 21st century.
Again, amidst the desperation and abject sadness, is the moral courage shown by the protagonist.

Both these books are ideal book club reads. Many different interpretations will flow from the different perceptions of the readers, especially as you have such a wide range of ages.

If you choose either of them, I hope you might let us know how your members found them and what they took from them.

All the best. Book clubs are a wonderful way to share one's own experiences in reporting impressions of a book.