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CMYF to host ALS meeting in 2023 in Charlotte Yonge’s bicentenary year

The Alliance of Literary Societies is an umbrella organisation for more than 120 literary societies. Its AGM is organised by a different member society each year. Next year – Charlotte M. Yonge’s bicentenary! – the CMYF itself will be the host organisation, and the venue is Winchester. The weekend will include an all-day session with talks and entertainment at St Swithun’s School (an institution with strong CMY links), dinner in the Cathedral complex, and outings to places of interest on the following day. Put the date in your diary: 22–23 April 2023. More information will follow soon.

May bookclub: The Dove in the Eagle’s Nest – 14 May 2022

The next book group on The Dove in the Eagle’s Nest will be at 3.00 BST on Saturday 14th May. This is our historical novel for 2022.  Published in 1866, following serialization in Macmillan’s Magazine  in 1865,  it was one of CMY’s first books for Macmillan, and her first historical fiction for adults. We might look at the following questions: (1)  How would you rate the Dove among CMY’s historical novels? (2)  Would the story have worked in a Scottish setting? (3)  Is the German background off-putting? (4)  Was it a mistake to bring Christina’s husband back from the dead? (5)  We know that CMY gave Christina the surname Sorel because that was the name  in which she had the original dream.  This obliged her to give the Sorel family a Walloon background – does this add anything to the story? (6)  Would you recommend the Dove to anyone as an introduction to CMY?