This month, the Village Literary Club will read Every Valley: The Desperate LIves and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah by Charles King, 2024, 270 pp.

Many of us know and love Handel's Messiah, considered the most popular and enduring musical work of all time. Every Valley provides the fascinating background to this famous work, the historical forces, the many quirky personalities, and the hectic London life that contributed to its creation. It is, the Times review says, " a compelling read," "a work of vivid social commentary," as well as a portrait of Handel's creative process.