Beth Greenwood has always dreamed of being someone else, and when she discovers the secretive Players Club, she is given the chance to step into lives she never imagined possible. From extraordinary careers to glamorous lifestyles, the club offers excitement, escape and the opportunity to live out your wildest dreams. However, as the line between self-invention and self-deception starts to blur, Beth must decide who she really wants to be.
The library at SWFT was lucky enough to receive free copies of this book from the publishers Simon & Schuster, but this has not influenced our review of the story.
The majority of our group had either read this month’s books (or are still reading it). The members who finished reading it a while ago commented that the plot wasn’t as memorable as they had expected. While it the concept does seem thought provoking – a club where they help you to try a life you wanted to experience, a couple of people of the group were reminded of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library where a girl experiences the other lives she could have lived.
This however was a very different story, with people literally ‘trying on’ other lives, while also keeping their own ‘root-life’. We felt that this was rather unrealistic – group members variously appeared as an artiste in Cirque de Soleil, a female Elvis impersonator, a traffic warden directing cars when the traffic lights stopped working (and incidentally saving a child), and an elderly lady taking up weight lifting. It seemed unlikely, especially with the acrobat, that she wouldn’t have been discovered in the many safety checks that would take place prior to a performance.
The main character of Beth, did not feel completely rounded. In retrospect this may have been intentional on the part of the author. However we didn’t find any of the characters particularly relatable, and in fact some were quite dislikeable. While the idea of the Players Club was to enable the women to live out their dreams, the group felt quite cliquey. As they didn’t share information about their backgrounds (‘root-lives’) this meant that things could (and did) get out of hand. We also wondered how ethical the Club really was – despite their book, guidelines, and mantras, we felt that it was rather exploitative.
We did feel that the social media and tabloid coverage of Beth’s disappearance was realistic, while we weren’t entirely convinced someone could vanish as easily she did. Beth’s club scene ‘life-play’ felt as though it was purely created as a hook to get the media interested, prior to them turning on her. No spoilers, so I won’t say anything more than we felt the twist in the story didn’t quite come off. If you’re reading it, let us know what your thoughts.
We scored this read a respectable 3/5 and liked the fact it was a short and relatively quick read. However I’m not sure many of us will be racing to read the author’s next book.
Next month’s choice is Bookish by Matthew Sweet, and we’ll meet on Teams on Wednesday 21st October at 1pm to discuss it.
In post-war London, bookseller and amateur detective Gabriel Book solves mysteries with the help of his unusual bookshop and a small circle of companions, including true crime enthusiast Nora and the biscuit-loving Dog. When a newcomer named Jack arrives, Gabriel is forced to confront secrets from his own past while investigating new cases.
Copies are available from the Education Centre Library at Warwick Hospital – and as this book was donated to us by the publisher, you can keep your copy!
As always, you are welcome to take a copy even if you can’t make the meeting – we appreciate thoughts shared by email or in person – and soon, on our new padlet!
Previous book reviews are now up on the Library Blog
