Inspired in part by our March book club discussion on JRR Tolkien: A Very Short Introduction, our April meeting will focus on Leaf by Niggle.
Description from HarperCollins:
Leaf by Niggle recounts the strange adventures of the painter Niggle, who sets out to paint the perfect tree. But he senses that he will be snatched away from his work long before it is finished – if indeed it could ever be finished in this world. For it is in another and brighter place that Niggle finds his tree is finished, and learns that it is indeed a real tree, a true part of creation.
Written in the early 1940s at the same time as The Lord of the Rings was taking shape, ‘Leaf by Niggle’ is a passionate adult fairy tale about a man who has ‘a long journey to make’, thought to be an allegory of Tolkien’s own life.
As we read in the VSI, Leaf by Niggle is the most autobiographical of Tolkien’s stories. We can see in Niggle a self-portrait of Tolkien both as an artist and as a man – which makes the eucatastrophe of the ending all the more poignant. I’m looking forward to discussing this together!
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April 2026 Book Club
Leaf by Niggle has been published in a few different formats, so even if you haven’t read it yet, you may already have a copy:
It’s also available as an ebook and as an audiobook read by Derek Jacobi.
Quick rundown of how our virtual book club meetings work:
We meet on Discord – click here to join.
Before or during the meeting, submit your questions or topics for discussion in the designated Discord thread (which is separate from the discussion channel). Throughout the meeting, the moderator will pull from the submitted questions and invite attendees to ask their own questions.
You don’t need a camera or a microphone to participate – most of us prefer to type. If you want to hop into voice chat during the meeting, you are welcome to do so, but the voice channel will not be moderated.
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