Join Cambridge alumni for stimulating conversations about our bimonthly book selection. Discussions will be moderated by a dedicated group leader, who will share additional content and ask questions to prompt debate.
October - November 2025
Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
When Felix is deposed as artistic director of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival by his devious assistant and longtime enemy, his production of The Tempest is canceled and he is heartbroken. Reduced to a life of exile in rural southern Ontario—accompanied only by his fantasy daughter, Miranda, who died twelve years ago—Felix devises a plan for retribution.
Eventually he takes a job teaching Literacy Through Theatre to the prisoners at the nearby Burgess Correctional Institution, and is making a modest success of it when an auspicious star places his enemies within his reach. With the help of their own interpretations, digital effects, and the talents of a professional actress and choreographer, the Burgess Correctional Players prepare to video their Tempest. Not surprisingly, they view Caliban as the character with whom they have the most in common. However, Felix has another twist in mind, and his enemies are about to find themselves taking part in an interactive and illusion-ridden version of The Tempest that will change their lives forever. But how will Felix deal with his invisible Miranda’s decision to take a part in the play?
Suggested Reading Schedule
- On October 10th, visit Before the Book in our forum and begin reading Hag-Seed
- Section 1: by October 24th, finish reading through Act I, Chapter 9
- Section 2: by October 31st, finish reading through Act II, Chapter 19
- Section 3: by November 6th, finish reading through Act III, Chapter 29
- Section 4: by November 21st, finish reading through Act IV, Chapter 39
- By November 28th, finish reading the book and join our After the Book forum discussion
Past reads
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell
Charlotte by Martina Devlin
The Sea, the Sea by Iris Maurdoch
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Lessons by Ian McEwan
The Bell by Iris Murdoch (Newnham 1947)
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell (Murray Edwards 1990)
The Anarchy by William Dalrymple (Trinity College 1984)
The Reading List: A Novel by Sara Nisha Adams
Honor by Thrity Umrigar
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (Murray Edwards 1990)
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
The Old Way by Robert Macfarlane (Pembroke 1994)
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue (Girton 1990)
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (Homerton 2008)
Packinko by Min Jin Lee
Educated by Tara Westover (Trinity 2008)
Alumni Book Club members vote during each reading period to choose the next book. The selection of books on which you vote is usually based on participants’ interests, member recommendations and Cambridge authors.
Alumni are responsible for sourcing their own books.
Participants can either buy, borrow or download a copy of the chosen book.
No, the Book Club will be entirely online. The advantage of this is that alumni living all over the world can participate, meaning we will get diverse perspectives on the texts we read.
Our Book Club will have a dedicated moderator who manages the forum where discussions occur online. The moderator will pose questions to the group, share relevant articles, and facilitate conversation about topics in the book. Members will be encouraged to post and share as well. This format allows for ongoing conversation and makes it easy for alumni to connect with each other.
Books will be read every two months.
If you have on average 30 minutes a week to read, you should be fine. There is no required level of participation in group discussions; if don’t have time to read one of the books, that's okay. The goal of the club is to make connections with other alumni through reading.
Participation is free for Cambridge alumni.
Readers are responsible for buying, borrowing or downloading the texts we read.
Feel free to send an email to contact@alumni.cam.ac.uk and we'd be happy to help.
