‘So,’ Marion sighed, shaking her head a little, ‘I’ll begin then.’ She leant forward and saw Kim give Shirley a little wink before they clinked glasses.

‘I liked it; I didn’t love it, but I liked it. I thought the main character was good, and well-rounded, but something in the plot was missing for me. Maybe I found it a bit slow.’ Marion fixed Toni with a stare, making sure she remained involved in the conversation. ‘It reminded me a bit of Possession, by A. S. Byatt, but not as good. Have any of you read it?’

‘Yes.’ Kim lurched forward with excitement, almost spilling her wine on Marion’s cream carpet. ‘Yes, Possession was a great book. So well written.’

At times, Kim’s enthusiasm was catching; at other times, it was purely irritating. She had a way of dominating the conversation that left others feeling elbowed out; this was one of the issues that Toni had with Kim. They both liked being the centre of attention and were both large personalities. Sometimes they got on like a house on fire, other times they didn’t. It was always difficult for the rest of the group to know what to expect from one meeting to the next. More often than not, it all hung on the mood Toni was in, and today she was not taking any prisoners. Marion wondered if everything was all right at home, with Gerald. She rarely mentioned him, and Marion thought it was odd. Especially since they had only got married recently.

‘Yes, I read Possession and thought it was very beautiful,’ Janet joined in, her little piggy eyes sparkling with excitement. The only time Janet ever looked alive was when she was talking about books, or talking to Shirley. They were an odd pair, and you wouldn’t have expected them to be friends. Toni had always questioned why Shirley was friends with Janet – Janet was a dowdy, rude and aloof person; Shirley was a lot of things, but she had a good enough brain and a great sense of humour. She wondered what Shirley got out of the friendship, and why she was happy to spend so much time with the miserable sod.

‘I tried to read it, but it was too heavy for me,’ Shirley piped up. ‘I like easy reads, you know? I don’t want to be bogged down with language and description. I get it was nicely written, but books like that just don’t do it for me.’