The Folks That Live on the Hill is an ideal topic for a group interested in discussing adult emotions and issues.

It also affords an opportunity to discuss communities and what holds them together. Although much of the community described in the novel is peculiarly English, Amis's observations offer universalities that could apply to many other communities. For example, the fundamental need in people to form communities is an important motivating force in the lives of the characters. Another example is that of one generation learning to cope with a younger generation that has new ideas about how the community should function. American readers should find the immigrant issues familiar. The attitudes of the native-born and the immigrants toward each other depicted in The Folks That Live on the Hill are recognizable in many American communities. Further, the issue of the value of hard work versus...