Discussion Notes: The Trouble with Goats and Sheep

Next month’s novel: Underground Airlines by Ben Winters

Rated: Clean

Tamara Woods

This month we welcome back Tamara Woods, author of The Shaping of an Angry Black Woman, and writer behind the PenPaperPad blog. She has been writing for 20 years, and has a passion for poetry.

Tamara is working with Literary Roadhouse behind the scenes to publish a poetry podcast soon. She was recently in New York interviewing poets. If you’re interested in poetry and want to support her podcast, please consider donating at Literary Roadhouse’s Patreon campaign. Every show we produce brings with it additional costs, so every bit helps.

Join Anais, Gerald, and Tamara in their discussion of Joanna Cannon’s debut novel The Trouble with Goats and Sheep. Grace and Tilly, two young girls in an English suburb in 1976 look for a neighbor who has gone missing.

The hosts analyze the novel’s ensemble cast, the rich prose, and the novels many themes. While all three hosts enjoyed the novel, they agreed that the first third of the novel felt different than the last 2/3rds. For Gerald, the rich imagery from the first third tapered of later in the book. Meanwhile, Anais found it difficult to reconcile the wise voice of the first third of the book with a ten year old child’s point of view. As for Tamara, she enjoyed the mystery’s suspense and gasped at key points as twists and clues were revealed.

This episode ends with a religious epiphany! Listen to find out who is God.

Did you enjoy Joanna Cannon’s mystery? Let us know what you think in the comment section below. Or, if you prefer, leave a voicemail by clicking on the feature to the left. By the way, we may play your voicemail on our next show, so tell us if you would prefer we did not.

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We (try to) air the first Friday of every month, and discuss the books on Twitter between shows using #LRHBookclub.