Book Club for Two

Brontë, Austen, Dickens, and the Communion of Shared Ideas

Two Women Seated by a Woodland Stream, Mary Cassatt

I can see it clearly: the cozy crush of a group of young women, relaxed in a living room on couches, or sitting around a table enjoying creamy, spicy horchata. The camaraderie of the group is clear from the gales of laughter and easy flow of conversation. Some months the discussion might center on the book, and other times the book is overshadowed by other, more pressing topics. Book clubs similar to this have dotted the landscape of my adult life here and there for the past two decades, and if you’re not yet in one, I highly recommend it.

Ashlee Gadd

writes in her excellent piece on starting book clubs that it truly is far simpler than you think to initiate a book club of your own: send a text to a friend, pick a date & time, and you are on your way.

This is not a piece about that sort of book club.

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Until recently, I had never even considered a book club with only two people in it. Like a letter without a stamp, or baking without butter…what would even be the point? Then, my sister and I decided to start reading books together, and I loved it. We started with a few books that aren’t technically in the home education category but might influence her in the direction of homeschooling in a subtle way (wink), and then moved on to Jane Eyre. It was my fourth time to read it, and the night we met at an Italian restaurant to discuss it remains one of the best memories of my life. We sat in our booth, laughter and conversation pressing in around us, oblivious to it all. Reading aloud favorite passages, crying together, moved at the strength of character Jane possessed, I recall nothing about the food, but I remember vividly the ideas we were feeding our minds.

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Last spring, a group of women in my homeschool community decided to read Charlotte Mason’s volumes on education together, and I offered to lead the group. Our meetings quickly became just one other woman and myself (hi, Cindy!) and we developed the most charming routine of eating a dinner we did not have to cook, and then engaging in deep and sometimes unexpected conversations about Mason’s ideas on children, habits, and education. While this book club was not intentionally for two people, it quickly became just as beloved as the book club with my sister, and many of our conversations could not have happened in a larger group setting.

There is a closeness, a communion that occurs when we share intimate thoughts and feelings with each other, and one of the simplest ways to do this is to read great books and share our ideas about them with someone else.

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The third “Book Club for Two” that I am in is much more spontaneous and natural than the others. It is with my mother. When she came to visit last year, we decided to read Emma together; not out-loud together, but at the same time, in the same house (often on the same couch). At the end of a day filled with the physical demands of a houseful of children, it was a revelation to engage in true leisure together, laughing at the eccentricities of Mr. Woodhouse, marveling at Miss Bates’ monologues, and simply enjoying Austen’s delightful prose, together.

Our next book was Dickens’ David Copperfield, and although I couldn’t read it with her, I still enjoyed hearing her talk about it and share her observations with me. Then one afternoon, when she quietly slipped into the backyard to read the last few pages with tears on her cheeks, I knew that we had chosen a book that would spark deep conversation, and could even bring us closer together.

Have you ever been in a book club with just two people in it? If so, I’d love to hear about your experience. If not, who would you want to read and discuss great books with?

A wise woman intentionally keeps her soul alive by cultivating moments of interest, restoration, friendship, and adventure.

-Sally Clarkson

Keep seeking the virtuous and the lovely,

Shannon