Between the Covers

The Secret River

2010-03-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

This is a refreshing look at Aboriginal and colonial clashes. this time the colonisers have unexpected origins and the reader is torn between levels of sympathy with the protagonist's predicament, background and aspirations and total lack of comprehension for a culture so different in a land so far away and contempt and loathing for most of the protagonists peers. The tale takes a very nasty turn after the women and children begin to tentatively and respectfully reach out.

Grenville handles this issue with intelligence and wisdom. Not only does she put a human face on this dark past, she makes you wonder what would you do if you were put in the same situation, living in a strange land where all the rules have been thrown out the window and the only way you can convince your wife that this slice of paradise is worth holding onto is to make her world safe by any means possible. Are Thornhill's actions logical and understandable? Do you think that this situation would be true of the time and his reactions to it, does Sal seem a believable persona for the times?

2. The dilemna faces by the main character, William Thornhill, is all too real -- even if, tempered by hindsight and 200 years of supposed civilisation, do you agree with his decisions or actions?

3. What constitutes crime and how should criminals be punished?, at what point should a man fight for what he believes in?; when does land ownership become a right and not a provilage?do you have a right to defend your property by force?; and how should one handle cultures in collusion?

4. Grenville has depicted this book without contemporary moralising or political correctness therefore the only real moral centre of the book is Blackwood, whose refrain throughout is "Give a little, take a little, that's the only way" Is this correct? Or is there no moral basis at all?

5. Is there an inevitability that the two cultures couldn't live together? There was a chance to learn but fear took over, the native Australian culture just couldn't have absorbed the settlers comfortably, do you think that's the case?

6. Do we have difficulty in facing our history of colonialism and indigenous society? Does the emerging conservative belief of Australian history by various political groups colour the way The Secret river is read? Do we find it easier to view history as an inevitability rather than a choice, and does this effect how the indigenous population is viewed today?

The Lovely Bones

2010-02-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

Beware these questions may give some of the story away so you may want to read them after you have finished the book

1. In Susie's Heaven, she is surrounded by things that bring her peace. What would your Heaven be like? Is it surprising that in Susie's inward, personal version of the hereafter there is no God or larger being that presides?

2. Why does Ruth become Susie's main connection to Earth? Was it accidental that Susie touched Ruth on her way up to Heaven, or was Ruth actually chosen to be Susie's emotional conduit?

3. Rape is one of the most alienating experiences imaginable. Susie's rape ends in murder and changes her family and friends forever. Alienation is transferred, in a sense, to Susie's parents and siblings. How do they each experience loneliness and solitude after Susie's death?

4. Why does the author include details about Mr. Harvey's childhood and his memories of his mother? By giving him a human side, does Sebold get us closer to understanding his motivation? Sebold explained in an interview about the novel that murderers "are not animals but men," and that is what makes them so frightening. Do you agree?

5. Discuss the way in which guilt manifests itself in the various characters - Jack, Abigail, Lindsay, Mr. Harvey, Len Fenerman.

6. "Pushing on the inbetween" is how Susie describes her efforts to connect with those she has left behind on Earth. Have you ever felt as though someone was trying to communicate with you from "the inbetween"?

7. Does Buckley really see Susie, or does he make up a version of his sister as a way of understanding, and not being too emotionally damaged by, her death? How do you explain tragedy to a child? Do you think Susie's parents do a good job of helping Buckley comprehend the loss of his sister?

8. Susie is killed just as she was beginning to see her mother and father as real people, not just as parents. Watching her parents' relationship change in the wake of her death, she begins to understand how they react to the world and to each other. How does this newfound understanding affect Susie?

9. Can Abigail's choice to leave her family be justified?

10. Why does Abigail leave her dead daughter's photo outside the Chicago Airport on her way back to her family?

11. Susie observes that "The living deserve attention, too." She watches her sister, Lindsay, being neglected as those around her focus all their attention on grieving for Susie. Jack refuses to allow Buckley to use Susie's clothes in his garden. When is it time to let go?

12. Susie's Heaven seems to have different stages, and climbing to the next stage of Heaven requires her to remove herself from what happens on Earth. What is this process like for Susie?

13. In The Lovely Bones, adult relationships (Abigail and Jack, Ray's parents) are dysfunctional and troubled, whereas the young relationships (Lindsay and Samuel, Ray and Susie, Ray and Ruth) all seem to have depth, maturity, and potential. What is the author saying about young love? About the trials and tribulations of married life?

14. Is Jack Salmon allowing himself to be swallowed up by his grief? Is there a point where he should have let go? How does his grief process affect his family? Is there something admirable about holding on so tightly to Susie's memory and not denying his profound sadness?

15. Ray and Susie's final physical experience (via Ruth's body) seems to act almost as an exorcism that sweeps away, if only temporarily, Susie's memory of her rape. What is the significance of this act for Susie, and does it serve to counterbalance the violent act that ended Susie's life?

16. Alice Sebold seems to be saying that out of tragedy comes healing. Susie's family fractures and comes back together, a town learns to find strength in each other. Do you agree that good can come of great trauma?

Birdsong

2010-02-09T22:31:00.000-08:00

1. What does Azaire's conduct as a businessman say about his character, and what is Stephen's response to it? How does Azaire's treatment of the men who work for him reflect his treatment of his wife?

2. Does Stephen see Isabelle as a captive? Does she see herself the same way?

3. Why does Isabelle leave Stephen? How does her departure affect his identity as a soldier, the way he approaches the war, and the manner in which he conducts himself during it?

4. What premonitions of war and death does Faulks give us in the 1910 section of the book? Where and when does Stephen have visions of death within the lush beauty of prewar Picardy? Do you feel that these visions are simple premonitions, or is the predisposition to such images a part of Stephen's character?

5. How would you describe the character of Jack Firebrace? What do his letters to Margaret reveal about his character, his values, his code of behavior?

6. The soldiers tend to forget very quickly the names and characters of their friends who die. Do you find this shocking?

7. Throughout the war, Stephen feels a real hatred for the enemy. Do you believe that this hatred is genuine, or that Stephen has persuaded himself of it so as to give meaning and order to his existence? How does the fact that it is German soldiers who ultimately rescue him change his life--and theirs?

8. In the life of the trenches, Stephen reflects, "There was only violent death or life to choose between; finer distinctions, such as love, preference, or kindness, were redundant". This is Stephen's view of events, reading his story. Do you find that the soldiers have really lost their sense of finer distinctions?

9. Stephen and Weir enjoy an unlikely but intense friendship. What is it about Weir's character that makes Stephen love him more than any of the others? Does Stephen change in any way after Weir's death?

10. Elizabeth is spurred on in her research by a feeling of the "danger of losing touch with the past". Does her ignorance of recent history surprise you, or do you find it characteristic of her generation? Do you find that you, and the people around you, are similarly detached from the past?

11. What does Elizabeth, the granddaughter, represent? And her baby? In what ways does history repeat itself in her life?

12. Why has the author set this story about war against the backdrop of a passionate affair? Explore the various parallels drawn between desire and death, love and war, in the novel. In what ways are the love scenes similar to some of the battle scenes?

Perfume by Patrick Suskind

2010-01-10T21:53:00.000-08:00

1. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born in a food market that had been erected above the Cimetire des Innocents, the "most putrid spot in the whole kingdom". He barely escapes death at his birth; his mother would have let him die among the fish guts as she had her four other children. But Grenouille miraculously survives. How would you relate the circumstances of his birth to the life he grows up to live?

2.Throughout the novel, Grenouille is likened to a tick. Why do you think Süskind chose this analogy? In what ways does Grenouille behave like a tick? What does this analogy reveal about his character that a more straightforward description would not?

3. What motivates Grenouille to commit his first murder? What does he discover about himself and his destiny ater he has killed the red-haired girl?

4. Do the descriptions of life in eighteenth-century France--the crowded quarters, the unsanitary conditions, the treatment of orphans, the punishment of criminals, etc.--surprise you? How are these conditions related to the ideals of enlightenment, reason, and progress that figure so prominently in eighteenth-century thinking?

5. The narrator remarks, "Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it" [p. 82]. Do you think this is true? Why would an odor have such power? In what ways does Grenouille use this power to his advantage?

6. Does Suskind manage to make Grenouille a sympathetic character, in spite of his murders and obsessions? Or do you find him wholly repellent? to what extent do his exoperiences shape his behaviour? Or do you think he is inherently evil?

7. Grenouille becomes, toward the end of the novel, a kind of olfactory vampire, killing young women to rob them of their scents. "What he coveted was the odor of certain human beings: that is, those rare humans who inspire love. These were his victims" [p. 188]. Why does he need the scents of these people?

8. How do you interpret the novel's ending, as Grenouille returns to the Cimeti�re des Innocents and allows himself to be murdered and eaten by the criminals who loiter there? What ironies are suggested by the narrator's assertion that Grenouille's killers had just done something, for the first time, "out of love" [p. 255]?

9. Perfume is set in eighteenth-century France and tells an extravagant story of a man possessed with a magical sense of smell and a bizarrely destructive obsession. Do its historical setting and fantastic elements make it harder or easier to identify with? What contemporary issues and anxieties does the story illuminate?

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood

2010-01-10T21:28:00.000-08:00

As only three (of the seven) members had finished reading the book it seemed a bit pointless following the questions. Instead those who hadn't finished (or started) it gave their reasons why - Christmas preparations being one of them! The issues of bullying and the negative self esteem sat wrongly for some.

For those who had finished reading, their reasons were that they wanted to see if redemption and forgiveness were there at the end - or did Elaine fight back against her tormentors? if at all. Another wanted to see what coping strategies were used.

For me it was a bit of a journey - a bit uncomfortable in places (although thankfully I've never been buried alive etc:) ) but I felt I really needed to finish reading this particular book.

2009-10-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

1. Toulouse-Lautrec often based his images on women from all walks of life. Who are some of the women who inspired him?

2. Lautrec's greatest artistic achievement was his contribution to the art of lithography. Who were some of his predecessors and contemporaries?

3. Who were the painters among his contemporaries admired by Lautrec? Do you see any similarities bewteen his work and theirs (for example, the works of Degas)?

4. What are some of the themes dealt with by Lautrec in his work?

5 Choose an example of an early work by Lautrec and compare it with an example of a later work.

6 Apart from his achievement as a printmaker, what do you consider to be Lautrec's most important contributions to the history of art?

That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Prouix

2009-10-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

1 'Long recitations of local history give a sense if having lingered too long in a county library. 'Do you agree with this estimations of Prouix's novel?

2 Would you describe the sub-stories as 'pointless' or does this judgement miss the point?

3 One critic remarks that Prouix's 'cartoonish names sometimes threaten to topple the novel's sense of reality.' What did you think of the author's nomenclature? Why is Bob Dollar so called?

4 Is the novel realistic? Why/why not?

5 Is Bob Dollar's job morally indefensible? Why/why not?

6 Why does Orlando turn up at Woolybucket?

7 Are hog farms simply another environmental horror in a long chain of horrors? Is 'business' (LaVon's term for capitalism) the culprit? discuss

8 Why does the author portray her main idealist, Brother Mesquite, as a member of a religious order?

9 Orlando's risque means of making a fortune strikes us as a comic ploy, but what comparison might Prouix be making between post modern 'occupation' and the traditional ways she clearly values? (pp249-251)

10 The Old Ace in the Hole is on the whole a 'white' novel. What is Prouix's reason for introducing an old Indian hitchhiker in Chapter 27?

11 Annie Prouix usually doesn't offer and upbeat ending. how does this one fit with the panhandle history of hardscrabble lives that forms the substance of this book? What did you think of the way the novelist rounded everything up?

12 'There is such a longing, on the part of the author and reader, for the panhandlers to beat off Global Pork Rind, that there is a danger, not entirely averted, of the story becoming sentimental. What's your opinion?

13 What hope do you think the author has? What hope do you have in the face of ongoing environmental destruction?

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini

2009-10-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them --- in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul --- they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.

1. The phrase “a thousand splendid suns,” from the poem by Saib-e-Tabrizi, is quoted twice in the novel – once as Laila’s family prepares to leave Kabul, and again when she decides to return there from Pakistan. It is also echoed in one of the final lines: “Miriam is in Laila’s own heart, where she shines with the bursting radiance of a thousand suns.” What do you think it's signifence is to the book?

2. Mariam’s mother tells her: “Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have.” Discuss how this forms Mariam’s life and how it relates to the larger themes of the novel.

3. By the time Laila is rescued from the rubble of her home by Rasheed and Mariam, Mariam’s marriage has become a miserable existence of neglect and abuse. Yet when she realizes that Rasheed intends to marry Laila, she reacts with outrage. Given that Laila’s presence actually tempers Rasheed’s abuse, why is Mariam so hostile toward her?

4. Laila’s friendship with Mariam begins when she defends Mariam from a beating by Rasheed. Why does Laila take this action, despite the contempt Mariam has consistently shown her?

5. Growing up, Laila feels that her mother’s love is reserved for her two brothers. “People,” she decides, “shouldn’t be allowed to have new children if they’d already given away all their love to their old ones.” What lessons from her childhood does Laila apply in raising her own children?

6. At several points in the story, Mariam and Laila pass themselves off as mother and daughter. What is the symbolic importance of this subterfuge? In what ways is Mariam’s and Laila’s relationship with each other informed by their relationships with their own mothers?

7. One of the Taliban judges at Mariam’s trial tells her, “God has made us different, you women and us men. Our brains are different. You are not able to think like we can. Western doctors and their science have proven this.” What is the irony in this statement? How is irony employed throughout the novel?

8. Mariam refuses to see visitors while she is imprisoned, and she calls no witnesses at her trial. Why does she make these decisions?

9. Among other things, the Taliban forbid “writing books, watching films, and painting pictures.” Yet despite this, the film Titanic becomes a sensation on the black market. Why would people risk the Taliban’s violent reprisals for a taste of popcorn entertainment? What do the Taliban’s restrictions on such material say about the power of artistic expression and the threat it poses to repressive political regimes?

12. While the first three parts of the novel are written in the past tense, the final part is written in present tense. What do you think was the author’s intent in making this shift? How does it change the effect of this final section?

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

2009-08-05T22:51:00.001-07:00

For somebody who organises a book-group, I don't read too many novels these days; however, in the past fortnight I have managed to read the first 3 books in the Twilight Saga, The Girl with the Pearl Earring and now, The Time Traveller's Wife. I think it is escapism. Housework and children who won't get ready for school in the morning or go to sleep at night are getting me down. Did I mention in the last post that I am shallow? Because these are all love stories and now I am going to compare leading men. Well, Edward, the vampire, is creepy and doesn't do it for me at all. Jacob is lovely and light, but one summer would be enough. The painter in The Girl with the Pearl Earring is self-centred and weak. So that leaves Henry, the librarian who keeps fit and can cook...Hi, Honey, I'm home.

Once I got my head around the time-travel thing, I really enjoyed this book. I raced through it and now I need to go back and re-read the details. I found a few sets of discussion questions on the web for this book, but I think the following are most suited to our book-group (having trouble posting a link to the original source). See you Tuesday.

1. Why do you think that the book was titled "The Time Traveler's Wife" and not "The Time Traveller"?

2. The story is sometimes told by Clare, sometimes by Henry. Did you like how it was organised? How did their different persepctives help you understand their love?

3. For Clare, there is always a sense of waiting. Discuss the different ways she is waiting throughout the story. What roles do longing, anticipation and absence play?

4. Who is your favourite character and why?

5. How does their desire for a child affect their relationship? How did you feel about the chapters where they were trying desperately for a child?

6. Do you believe that Alva will have a better life than Henry? How is her perspective on time travel different than his?

7. How is their relationship changed by the fact that they experience different events at different times?

8. Is this story fatalistic?

9. Do you agree with Henry's rule of keeping the future a secret from himself so he can live as normal a life as possible? Discuss the times that he breaks this rule and whether you think those are good decisions.

10. Did you like the ending?

Running Amok by Mark Bowling

2009-07-20T04:04:00.000-07:00

This book tells the story of Mark Bowling, an ABC foreign correspondent, during his years as Indonesian correspondent, 1998 - 2002.

Reading this book reminded me of an embarrassingly-less-than-profound moment I had a few years ago. In the year that I had my third child, quite shortly after my second and first children, I decided that life was just too full-on and something had to go. I considered the options and decided on "the news". The world would have to go on without me keeping tabs. It was a conscious and effective decision, and when we got to the end of the year and I checked back in to read the-year-in-pictures, I was surprised at how few of the photographs I recognised. Slowly life got a bit easier and one day I decided to tune back in. I would start with an episode of Foreign Correspondent. That night I sat down in front of the television and tried really hard to concentrate on the stories. Half-way through the first story I found myself thinking "Gee, that bloke looks really good in a black shirt. Perhaps I should get Peter a black shirt". Hmm, so much for tuning back into world news.

I had the same sort of experience reading this book. Part of me wanted to follow the story. I recognised the names, the places, was vaguely familiar with the events, but I just couldn't concentrate on the "news". Really, I wanted to hear more about his wife and children, and how they coped, and what support is offered to families of the foreign correspondents. I found myself skipping to the references to his family, which were rather sketchy. Mark Bowling was quite the work-a-holic, as is somebody very close to me, so it was interesting to hear a lot of my suspicions confirmed. Work really does mean more than family, for all the assurances that it doesn't.

So, I have skipped large chunks of this book. However, being the dutiful bookclub secretary that I am, I will still come up with a list of discussion questions. Forgive me if they are rather generic.

(And if anybody is wondering...I did get Peter a black shirt).

1. As a bookclub, we have read a number of books written by foreign correspondents (Our Woman in Kabul, Lost in Transmission, Holy Cow (well, Sarah was not a foreign correspndent but she was living with one)). How does this behind-the-scenes insight affect your interpretation of news stories as they are presented?

2. Were you familiar with the events and characters in the book? Did the book offer any additional insights? Give an example where this book may have changed your interpretation of events.

3. Do you remember the story of the Taman Safari animals? Mark expresses his frustration that animal stories can "capture the imagination of TV viewers more readily than poor and hungry humans" (p68). Do you agree with this statement? If so, how do you think the media can negate our apathy to poor and hungry humans?

4. Overall, how do you think Mark's wife and children would have viewed their time in Indonesia? Did you get enough of Kim's story, or would you like to know more? Foreign correspondents often put their lives at risk in search of a story. What are your thoughts on balancing work commitments (risks) with responsibilities to their families ? (The same question could be asked of adventurers...the balance between the need to fulfill personal ambitions with the responsibilities of having children).

That is all I can come up with for the moment...but I'm sure we'll find other things to talk about. See you Wednesday, at Outback Jacks.

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

2009-07-20T04:02:00.000-07:00

Hmm, I'll get back to this later

Three Dog Night

2009-04-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

Is Martin's hostility to introduced plant species justified?
Is Martin more sinned against than sinning? Is he a likeable narrator?
Does Marin unconsciously collaborate with Felix's seduction of Lucy?
Are Felix's actions in any way defensible?
What motivates Lucy? Is it credible that she and Felix become lovers?
How far do you think the characters' actions are influenced by their bodies? How much does the body determine behaviour and personality?
What do you make of Goldsworthy's portrayal of the Warlpiri?
Is Felix's death heroic?
Does Martin murder Felix? If so, does he deserve imprisonment?

The Verge Practice

2009-04-10T21:53:00.000-07:00

Discussion Questions

How would you characterise the relationship between Brock and Kolla?
Maitland introduces many more or less peripheral characters into the novel, but who nevertheless, play a considerable role. Analyse the contribution of one or more of the following characters: Suzanne Brock, George Todd, Madelaine Verge, Paul Oakley
Maitland's plotting talents have been noted. As one example, see if you can find the clues to the evential revelation of the way in which Charles Verge has changed his appearance. (A starting point might be p53)
Do you find the eventual revelation of Luz Diaz's true identity credible? Is there anything prior to the last chapter which offers the readers a clue? For instance, consider Kathy's thoughts of p72 about the similarity of the ways in which Charles Verge and Leon Desai have been brought up (by dominent mothers)
Would this novel havelost anything if al the episodes relating to the Crime Strategy Working Party had been deleted? Trawl through them and see for yourself.
Why does Kathy suddenly decide to go to Barcelona? 'This time, right or wrong, she would set the agenda.' (p267)
What is the significance of the book, The Complete Works of Luis Domench i Montaner?
Maitland wrote in the interview quoted earlier that he believes 'crime fiction often leads sthe way in dealing with issues of comtemporary life. The investigation allows the detectives to open door and probe any life, and for this reason I think the crime novel is a particularly good vehicle to explore current ideas and relationships.' How far do you think this is true of this novel in particular and of the genre in general?

The Secret Life of Bees

2009-03-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

First things first: I found out what grits are. They are ground corn, made into porridge - similar to polenta. For more information, click here.

Now: the discussion questions

1. Were you surprised to learn that T. Ray used to be different, that once he truly loved Deborah? How do you think Deborah's leaving affected him? Did it shed any light on why T. Ray was so cruel and abusive to Lily?

2. Had you ever heard of "kneeling on grits"? What qualities did Lily have that allowed her to survive, endure, and eventually thrive, despite T. Ray?

3. Who is the queen bee in this story? What do the bees mean to the story? What is "the secret life of bees?"

4. Lily's relationship to her dead mother was complex, ranging from guilt to idealization, to hatred, to acceptance. What happens to a daughter when she discovers her mother once abandoned her? Is Lily right—would people generally rather die than forgive? Was it harder for Lily to forgive her mother or herself?

5. Lily grew up without her mother, but in the end she finds a house full of them. Have you ever had a mother figure in your life who wasn't your true mother? Have you ever had to leave home to find home?

6. What compelled Rosaleen to spit on the three men's shoes? What does it take for a person to stand up with conviction against brutalizing injustice? What did you like best about Rosaleen?

7. Had you ever heard of the Black Madonna? What do you think of the story surrounding the Black Madonna in the novel? How would the story be different if it had been a picture of a white Virgin Mary? Do you know women whose lives have been deepened or enriched by a connection to an empowering Divine Mother?

8. Why is it important that women come together? What did you think of the "Calendar Sisters" and the Daughters of Mary? How did being in the company of this circle of females transform Lily?

9. May built a wailing wall to help her come to terms with the pain she felt. Even though we don't have May's condition, do we also need "rituals," like wailing walls, to help us deal with our grief and suffering?

10. How would you describe Lily and Zach's relationship? What drew them together? Did you root for them to be together?

11. Project into the future. Does Lily ever see her father again? Does she become a beekeeper? A writer? What happens to Rosaleen? What happens to Lily and Zach? Who would Zach be today?

February Book - The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles

2009-02-05T02:25:00.000-08:00

The blurb on the back of this book says that "Not only is it the epic love story of two people of insight and imagination seeking escape from the cant and tyranny of their age, The French Lieutenant's Woman is also a brilliantly sustained allegory of the decline of the twentieth-century passion for freedom"

Dearie me, we have had a run of them lately, haven't we? Is it just coincidence that this book is set near the Chesil Bank (see p232) or did Ian McEwan (On Chesil Beach) take his inspiration from this book? That would also account for the multiple endings and author-narration in Atonement.

Let's hope that next month is a page-turner.

(Of course, if your viewpoint differs from this, feel free to post about it!)

Here are some discussion points I have adapted from http://www.litlovers.com/guide_frenchlieut.html and some adapted from their list of generic questions http://www.litlovers.com/questions_f.htm).

Overall—how did you experience the book while reading it? Were you immediately drawn into the story—or did it take a while? Did the book intrigue, amuse, disturb, alienate, or irritate, you? Who skipped ahead to the ending? Who was waiting to watch the movie?
Charles Smithson (Fowles is playing here with James Smithson, the founder of the Smithsonian museum) is hunting fossils and meditating on Darwin's challenge to the old scientific order when he stumbles upon a new species—Sarah Woodruff. How does the idea of a new vs. old order pervade this book in terms of its characters and in terms of Fowles's reworking of fiction?
What is your attitude toward the book's different endings? What is Fowles trying to do? Which ending do you prefer or is there another ending you wanted to read? What endings are possible in a love story...a happy ending, a tragic ending, or boring together-forever future...or something else?
Are you willing to give up on a narrator's or writer's authority to control events of a story? Are you comfortable or uncomfortable with that idea? You might also consider Ian McEwan's Atonement—how that story also offers competing versions of "reality."
Freedom from societal conventions is an overriding theme in this novel. How do the each of the characters respond to the social constraints of Victorian society? How does Fowles, as an author, confront the constraints of traditional storytelling?
Discuss the characteristics of Charles, Tina, and Sarah. Is Charles worthy of Sarah?
Were there any other characters that caught your fancy?
Can you pick out a passage that strikes you as particularly profound or interesting?

Discussion Questions on Atonement

2009-01-05T15:36:00.000-08:00

These are the questions Julie found for us on www.readinggroupguides.com:

1. What sort of social and cultural setting does the Tallis house create for the novel? What emotions and impulses are being acted on or repressed by its inhabitants? (For example, on page 46, Cecilia lights a cigarette as she descends the staircase, "knowing that she would not have dared had her father been home.")

2. A passion for order, a lively imagination, and a desire for attention seem to be Briony's strongest traits. Why does the scene she witnesses at the fountain change her whole perspective on writing? What is the significance of the passage in which she realises she needs to work from the idea that "other people are as real as you"?

(On page 36, during a break in the rehearsals of her play, Briony wonders: "was everyone else really as alive as she was? For example, did her sister really matter to herself, was she as valuable to herself as Briony was?" Then on page 40, Briony thinks to herself that "[in her stories] there did not have to be a moral. She need only show separate minds, as alive as her own, struggling with the idea that other minds were equally alive. It wasn't only wickedness and scheming that made people unhappy, it was confusion and misunderstanding; above all, it was failure to grasp the simple truth that other people are as real as you. And only in a story could you enter these different minds and show how they had an equal value. That was the only moral a story needed to have.")

3. What kind of person is Emily Tallis? Who, if anyone, is the moral authority in this family?

4. What symbolic role does Uncle Clem's precious vase play in the novel? Is it significant that the vase is glued together by Cecilia, and broken finally during the war by Betty as she readies the house to accept evacuees?

5. Why is Robbie's uncensored letter so offensive within the social context in which it is read? (It is read first by Briony, then Cecilia, then later Briony - without Cecelia's permission - shows it to the police, her brother Leon and her mother. It is also read by Paul Marshall). Why is Cecilia not offended by it?

6. The scene in the library (page 135 - 138) is one of the most provocative and moving descriptions of sex in recent fiction. (Do you agree? Have you read anything more 'provocative' recently?). How does the fact that it is narrated from Robbie's point of view affect how the reader feels about what happens to him shortly afterwards? Is it understandable that Briony, looking on, perceives this act of love as an act of violence?

7. Why does Briony stick to her story with unwavering committment? At what point does she develop the empathy to realise what she has done to Cecilia and Robbie?

8. How does Leon, with his life of 'agreeable nullity' (page 103), compare with Robbie in terms of honor, intelligence and ambition? What are the ironies inherent in the comparative situations of the three young men present - Leon, Paul Marshall, and Robbie?

9. Lola has a critical role in the story's plot. What are her motivations? Why does Briony decide not to confront Lola and Paul Marshall at their wedding five years later?

10. What aspects of Atonement make it so powerful as a war novel? What details heighten the emotional impact in the scenes of the Dunkirk retreat and Briony's experience at the military hospital?

11. When Robbie, Mace and Nettle reach the beach at Dunkirk, they intervene in an attack on an RAF man who has become a scapegoat for the soldiers' sense of betrayal and rage. How does this act of group violence relate to the moral problems that war creates for soldiers, and the events Robbie feels guilty about as he falls asleep at Bray Dunes? (On page 262, as he falls asleep, Robbie feels guilt for walking past the dismembered leg of a small boy and not giving the boy's remains a proper burial. He also starts to feel guilty for not saving a Flemish woman and her child, though he sort of talks himself out of that guilt because he did try to save them.)

12. Is Briony's novel effective, in her own conscience, as an act of atonement? Does the completed novel compel the reader to forgive her?

There are more questions at www. readinggroupguides.com/guides3/atonement1.asp

Atonement - Ian McEwan

2008-12-09T17:21:00.001-08:00

This book has been described as "a symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness [which] provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative and the provocation we have come to expect from this master of English prose."

On a hot summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses a moment's flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant and Cecilia's childhood friend. But Briony's incomplete grasp of adult motives - together with her precocious literary gifts - brings about a crime that will change all of their lives. Atonement follows that crime's repercussions through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the twentieth century.

I can't wait to find out if this book lives up to its amazing hype. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 13 January. See you then!

¿Abuela loca, no?

2008-11-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

So, did you like the book?

The start of the story, set in Miami during Ana and Carlos' childhood, I found very unpleasant to read and a real struggle to get through.

I don't know about you, but I personally did not relish reading about a family of refugees who had chosen to take a chance on a new life in America, but who were not making the most of their chance. I thought the characters should just get over themselves. I thought they should stop blaming each other for their unhappiness.

The only thing that kept me reading was the fact that I had chosen this book from the CAE Catalogue, and everyone was going through this unpleasant reading experience because of me!

Repeatedly, Ana blames her grandmother Dolores for being the poison at the heart of the family. However, while reading that first section I did not feel any sympathy for Ana or for Consuelo (especially when she got out of Dolores' way to allow her to beat Ana more thoroughly). At that point I didn't believe that the family's unhappiness was more Dolores' fault than anyone else's.

But once I got past that section, and got to reading more about what happened before they left Cuba, I began to understand the reasons why the family were so unhappy in Miami.

Consuelo's Lost Love

If you didn't make it all the way through the book (Natalia I'm talking to you) you might not have caught up with the fact that when she was young and astoundingly beautiful, Consuelo fell in love with a rich music student by the name of Daniel. Daniel was the love of Consuelo's life, and when Dolores violently broke them up, incidentally ruining Daniel's music career by damaging the tendons in his hands, Consuelo decided to forget Daniel. Instead, she turned to Pedro, a man of her own social class and approved of by Dolores. However, Consuelo never could forget Daniel. She was never happy with Pedro, even in the early years of their marriage when they lived in La Habana before the revolution.

Daniel is the man Ana sees around the place in Miami, the good looking stranger who she wonders about. (**spoiler alert**) He is, in fact, her father. At the end of the book, Ana tries to describe what it must have been like for her mother to meet up again with the love of her life after fifteen years apart; to make love to him and become pregnant, and yet decide not to leave her husband for him. Ana says that Consuelo had no choice but to stay with Pedro because of Daniel's dangerous life fighting the counter-revolution.

Throughout the book, Ana describes her mother as having 'inertia' and paints her as quite a helpless person, yet it was Consuelo's decision to leave Cuba in the first place, against the revolution and knowing that they would leave at great personal cost. So she couldn't have been completely helpless, could she? Do you think Ana makes excuses for her mother?

An Immigrant Story

In the book notes, this story is described as an important 'immigrant story'. By the end of the book I could understand it best in those terms. I thought to myself that it was important to tell the stories, even the sad hopeless stories, of what happens when a country is wracked by revolution and its people are given the choice to either stay and suffer or leave and suffer somewhere else. I appreciated that it was not the purpose of this book to say whether the revolution was right or wrong; it just showed what happened to one family in its aftermath.

Did you think of this most as a story about immigrants? Or about child abuse? or mothering? or a story about a political situation?

Do you think it is important to read the unhappy stories as well as the happy ones?

The Rooms in My Mother's House - Olga Lorenzo

2008-11-11T15:48:00.000-08:00

Driven from Cuba after the revolution, three generations of women - Dolores, Consuelo and Ana - settle in an old farmhouse near Miami's Little Havana. With Consuelo's gambling husband, and son Carlos, they rebuild their lives from the foundations up. But the floors are shifting beneath their feet, shaky as their pasts. In that hot strange place they do battle from room to room - with each other, with their history, with the ghosts that linger in the space between their hearts.

And from the CAE Catalogue:

...The spirit world blends fabulously with their material one in this vibrant novel. Some content may upset readers. Several groups have commented on the 'ugliness' and human cruelty portrayed in this book.

Separated Yet Together

Click here to read an article (from the Miami Herald in 1998) which mentions Olga Lorenzo and among other emigrants who left Cuba after the revolution. The article describes Miami as "the official waiting room of exile, where Cubans dream, wait and plot the end of Castro's rule."

Our next meeting

will be on Tuesday 9 December

Venue to be confirmed

The Dressmaker - Rosalie Ham

2008-11-05T19:04:00.001-08:00

After twenty years away, Myrtle Dunnage returns to Dungatar - a small country town whose people's eccentricities are many and varied. From Sergeant Farrat's predilection for cross-dressing, to pharmacist Almanac's retributive scheme of potion dispensing, not forgetting extra-marital affairs and assorted dark secrets, it seems that everyone in town has a seamier side. But none of these can compare to the sin of Tilly and her mother: to have come from somewhere else. At first ostracised, the townspeople gradually accept her in order to make use of her extraordinary dressmaking skills and, at last, Tilly feels that she might have found home.

But small towns are strange places where vanity rules, and, once again reviled, Tilly sets out to teach the town a lesson. In the process she faces the ghosts of her past, and wreaks a havoc that provides a most satisfying revenge.

This is a story of love, hate and haute couture. A warm and nasty book, The Dressmaker evokes Drysdale's 'Drover's Wife' dressed in Chanel.

The above blurb is from the publisher's website. I think it's more insightful and accurate than the one on the back of the book. I particularly like the description 'warm and nasty'. One thing I've wondered is: for a town so vain and so obsessed with appearances, how come they don't have a beauty parlour? It could have been a really good setting for vanity, bad taste and bitchiness of the town's inhabitants - not to mention visits on the sly by Sergeant Farrat.

What do you think of the book so far?

Do you know, or have you lived in, a town like Dungatar?

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

2008-10-29T05:21:00.000-07:00

Discussion questions

1 Is there a hero in The Orchid Thief? An anti-hero?

2 Which of the characters in the book most attracted or entertained you? Why?

3 John Laroche would not describe himself as an orchid person. To him the orchid is a temporary but very intense passion, a means to an end, not an end in itself. How would you analyze the difference between Laroche's motives in collecting orchids and the regular orchid collectors visited in the course of the book? Or is there no difference?

4 Laroche believes that his actions are ultimately an act of selflessness. That his rape of the Fakahatchee would force the law to be changed and close the loophole that allowed him to poach rare and wild orchids from an Indian reservation, thus protecting the species in the wild, and securing it for the marketplace at the same time. Is this the thought process of an amoral character? Or is he just an everyday charlatan?

5 Laroche makes a very telling statement: "When I had my own nursery I sometimes felt like all the people swarming around were going to eat me alive. I felt like they were that gigantic parasitic plant and I was the dying host tree." Is he playing the role of the victim, the martyr to a (preferably lost, but grand) cause or is he in control of his life by making a living off other people's weaknesses, whether it be a passion for orchids or pornography?

6 The Native Americans on the reservation are entitled by one law to remove protected species from their land. Is this law justified? For any indigenous people?

7 What is the real core, the central character, of the book: Laroche? Florida? Orchids? Native Americans? Darwin? Orlean?

8 As a reader, what did you expect from a book about orchids? How did your experience of reading The Orchid Thief compare to what you expected?

9 The working title of The Orchid Thief was "Passion." What does that suggest about the themes in the book?

10 This story is one of a passion for collecting, one that has become an obsession. Do you have an obsession (that you're willing to share with the group?) And at what point do you think an obsession gets out of hand and turn into clutter that interferes with every life? ARe there different perceptions of passion v obsession v clutter

Romulus My Father by Raimond Gaita

2008-10-29T05:13:00.000-07:00

Questions for discussion

1. This story has a very dramatic plot, featuring love affairs, betrayal, fighting, madness and more than one suicide. If the book was fiction, it might seem like over the top melodrama. Yet it is categorised as biography. Did you find it difficult to believe that it was all true? Why? or why not?

2. While reading this book, I was reminded of similar ‘deprived childhood’ autobiographies A Fortunate Life by AB Facey and Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. Did Romulus My Father remind you of any other books you’ve read? Do you enjoy reading this type of true story?

3. The book paints the picture of a very unusual and eccentric man: Romulus Gaita. What did you think of Romulus? Do you think he was a good man? Do you think he was an interesting character? Do you think he was a good father to Raimond?

3. The story opens with a very young Romulus behind the door of his Grandfather’s house, desperate and ready to kill his drunken uncle if his uncle broke the door down. At several points in the story, Romulus seems ready to kill or be killed - for example, when he takes Raimond to Sydney in order to kill Lydia’s husband, and then on the way home considers killing himself instead. Why were things always so life-or-death for Romulus? Did he create and cause all the drama himself? Or was he pushed to extremes by the circumstances?

4. Romulus and Hora were great friends for nearly their whole lives. They met because of shared circumstances, but their friendship was sustained through a shared set of principles which formed the basis for their way of living in Australia as immigrants, their way of caring for their families and their joy in conversing with each other and with Raimond. Did their principles - hard work, honesty, friendship etc - resonate with you? Or did Romulus and Hora seem like strange, inflexible people? Should they have done more to fit in with the Australian way of life in the 1950s and 60s?

5. For Romulus, the principle of truthfulness was all important - not simply that ‘honesty is the best policy’ to keep oneself out of trouble. How important is it to be truthful? Do you ever tell ‘white’ lies?

6. Raimond mentions that as a child he was used to seeing unusual incidents, and that he wasn’t shocked when his mother tried repeatedly to commit suicide, his ‘step-father’ Mitru did, and even his own father attempted it. Do you think that the dramas in this book reflect the broader experience of immigrants in Australia in the at that time? or do you think that it was to do with the situation only within Gaita family?

7. The people of Maryborough seemed to either love Raimond’s mother Christina or despise her. On the one hand, she was beautiful, engaging and charming. On the other hand, she was depressed and troubled mentally, and seemed completely unable to care for her own children. What did you think of Christina?

8. Did you see the movie Romulus, My Father? Was it as good as the book?

The Brush Off by Shane Maloney

2008-10-29T05:09:00.000-07:00

Discussion questions

For those interested, Shane Maloney has a website http://www.shanemaloney.com/ (it gave me a few laughs!)

1. Was anyone previously familiar with the author (Shane Maloney) or lead character (Murray Whelan)? (I wasn’t, but where have I been?? He has written 6 novels and 2 of them have been made into telemovies starring David Wenham).

2. At our last meeting, I told you all that Peter could not read the book because it was “too pornographic”. Was anyone disappointed?

3. This is the second art-based book that we have read this year, the first being “Theft: a love story” by Peter Carey. Compare this book to “Theft”. What are the similarities? What are the differences? Which did you prefer? (See below for a few paragraphs to jog your memories)

4. Would you classify this book as a “who-dun-it” / detective novel? Why or why not? What elements are necessary for a detective story?

5. There were a lot of “one-liners” in this book. Discuss your favourites.

6. Did this book offer you any insight into the world of politics? Of the arts? Of Melbourne?

7. Would you read another Murray Whelan thriller?

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

2008-10-29T05:07:00.000-07:00

Discussion questions

1. Discuss your impressions of the book.

2. Do you think that things would have worked out better for Edward and Florence if they had been friends with Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson (Portrait of a Marriage)?

3. Many stories end with a wedding and “happily ever after”. This story starts there. Are we conditioned to expect the “happily ever after”? Why do we tell our children fairy tales? Do you think that fairy tales will evolve / have evolved to consider more modern concepts (eg feminism)?

4. Incest is a largely taboo topic. Compare McEwan’s tacit exploration of this topic with other examples in literature that are more explicit (Some examples include “Lilian’s Story” / “Dark Places” which are 2 separate Australian novels by Kate Grenville with a pivotal incestuous event told from both the daughter and the father’s point of view…Toni Collette played the daughter’s part in the movie. “Down by the River” by Edna O’Brien tells the story of a 12 year old Irish girl who becomes pregnant by her father and the response of the Irish public to this event. “Mouthing the words” by Camilla Gibb is a dark story of one girl’s incestuous relationship with her father and the effects on her life ever after…actually, there seems to be quite a few books on my bookshelf addressing this topic…perhaps it is not so taboo after all…anyone want to borrow some? Or perhaps we could just talk about something cheerier?)

5. The style of this book is a very detailed discussion of one night. It is then followed up by a rapid summary of their lives ever after. Did you like this sum-up or would you have preferred it to be left to the imagination? Do you think the story of their lives after this event was realistic? Why do you think they never made contact with each other again?

6. The fact of Edward’s mother being brain-damaged seems like an over-the-top character for a book with so few supporting characters. Why has the author done this? (I think it is just to show Edward as a tolerant and kind person.) What other mechanisms has the author used to sway our interpretation of the events? Does he want us to “take sides”?

7. I have just read several reviews of this book that do not mention incest at all…did I get is wrong, or did they miss something? Do I need psychoanalysis or do they just not want to give the plot away? It seems that they think the book is all about sexual repression / freedom in the 60’s (all these reviewers were male). Do you think sexual liberation in the 60’s is one of the themes of this book, or just a backdrop?

Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

2008-10-29T05:04:00.000-07:00

Discussion questions

1. Why do you think a sheep was chosen as the main symbol of this novel? Think of some of the characteristics we attribute to sheep, as depicted by the following quotations;

“ A wolf in sheep’s clothing”

To be a “black sheep”

I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd.
Bible, 1 Kings 22:17

"Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends." (Marcus Tullius Cicero)
"The American people are sheep. They're comfortable, rich, working. It's like the Romans, they're happy with bread and their spectator sports. The Super Bowl means more to them than any right." (Jack Kevorkian)
We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.
Book of Common Prayer 1662: Morning Prayer

The conception of two people living together for twenty-five years without having a cross word suggests a lack of spirit only to be admired in sheep.
Alan Patrick Herbert

2. What do you think were some of the major themes of the novel?

3. This book was translated from Japanese. Did knowing this change your reading of the novel?

4. There were many references to Western pop-culture throughout the book. Did you notice this? Did it contribute to your enjoyment of the novel?

5. Why do you think the narrator was forever telling us what he was eating? Did you notice this?

6. The narrator meets a woman with magically seductive ears and a strange man who dresses as a sheep and talks in slurs; in this way there are elements of Japanese animism or Shinto. Did you enjoy these characters, or did you dismiss them as silly? Which was your favourite character and why?

From Wikpedia…..In religion, the term "Animism" is used in a number of ways.
Animism (from animus, or anima, mind or soul), originally means the doctrine of spiritual beings.
It is often extended to include the belief that personalized, supernatural beings (or souls) endowed with reason, intelligence and volition inhabit ordinary objects as well as animate beings, and govern their existence (pantheism or animatism). More simply, the belief is that "everything is alive", "everything is conscious" or "everything has a soul".
It has been further extended to mean a belief that the world is a community of living persons, only some of whom are human. It also refers to the culture or philosophy which these types of Animists live by, that is, to attempt to relate respectfully with the persons (human, rock, plant, animal, bird, ancestral, etc.) who are also members of the wider community of life.

7. The narration was a combination of the everyday ordinary and deeply phlisophical? Were there any everyday observations that resonated with you? Were there any events that captured your imagination? Were any of the philosophies meaningful to you?

8. Would you describe this as a mystery / detective novel? A journey / quest? Other?

9. Did you like the ending?

10. Did you enjoy the novel?

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.

2008-10-29T05:02:00.000-07:00

Discussion questions

1. Hands up, who found the book
a. A little bit fascinating
b. A whole lot fascinating
c. Not at all fascinating……..ditto for boring / scary

2. Which bits of the story did not make sense? Discuss & clarify.
3. Who was your favourite character, and why?
4. This story was told largely through letters. Was this an effective way to communicate the story?
5. This novel entwined a number of different symbols and superstitions, many of which are almost caricatured today. Can you think of any symbols, ancient or otherwise, that remain potent today?
6. In an interview, the author has said that she did not want to spill more than a cup of blood in this story (or words to that effect??). Would you classify this book as a thriller? Was it suspenseful? Would a little more blood lost have improved the storyline?
7. The love stories seem to dilute with each generation. Does this reflect reality? Is it too easy to fall in love these days, with many religious and cultural barriers to relationships removed?
8. I read a review of this book where the reviewer said that she would not want this pair put on the case to find her if she went missing…they hardly seemed in a hurry and they didn’t miss a single meal for the duration of the story! Did you notice this? Did you enjoy the descriptions of food?
9. What did you think of the ending?

Old Filth by Jane Gardam

2008-10-29T05:01:00.000-07:00

Our discussion questions

1. What is your overall impression of the book? What did you like / dislike about the book?
2. There are large gaps in Filth’s story (eg meeting Betty, establishing himself in Hong Kong). Why is it that childhood features heavily in many memoirs? Are they truly our formative years? Or just the most interesting?
3. Was Filth as meaningful to Betty as she was to him? Or did she just stay with him for his money / respectability / convenience?
4. Filth’s relationship with Veneering changes from adversary to dreaded encounter (after knowledge of Betty’s affair) to companion and confidante. Can you describe a relationship of your own that has changed form?
5. “If you’ve not been loved as a child, you don’t know how to love a child” (p.159). Do you think Betty & Filth’s marriage was childless by choice, by barrenness or lack of sexual activity?
6. Whilst Filth is described as unknowable, unemotional and inhibited in love, he has the capacity to form close friendships (eg with Betty, Pat Ingoldby, Albert Ross). And yet, he experiences loneliness in his old age. Can we protect ourselves from loneliness? Is loneliness something you fear?
7. Jane Gardam was in her seventies when she wrote this story, featuring a character in his seventies and eighties. Did the story provide you with any insights to the process or condition of aging?
8. The author skips about in both location and time. Did this contribute to the suspense of the novel, or did you find it confusing? Did you feel that the story was climaxing towards Filth’s confession of his childhood events?
9. Parts of this novel are set in WWII. Some of Filth’s experiences of the war are rather unusual (eg as an older evacuee, guarding Queen Mary). Did you come away with a greater (or different) understanding of this time and place?
10. There are many characters in this book. Did they seem real to you? Did you form an attachment with any of them? Were there any that you particularly liked or disliked?
11. Betty has her famous pearls and her guilty pearls. Are you hanging onto any “guilty” items?

“You gotta have balls” by Lily Brett

2008-10-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

Our discussion questions

1. This novel has been described as a celebration of old-age, where old people are enjoying life, forming relationships and having great sex. Living, as we do, in a culture that values youth and beauty, did you find this aspect of the story refreshing? Confronting? Realistic / unrealistic? Other?

2. The characters in Lily Brett’s life share a number of similarities with those in Lily’s own life, although she maintains that the book is not autobiographical. Does it matter whether the story is autobiographical or not? What responsibilities do authors have to ensure that their works of fiction are completely fictional? (similarities…Lily Brett’s parents are survivors of the Holocaust, she has a close relationship with her father, her husband is an Australian painter, she has 2 daughters and a son who is a doctor, she currently lives in New York, she has a journalistic background.)

3. The Holocaust serves as a backdrop in each of Brett’s novels. Discuss. (Obviously, I couldn’t quite think of a question here…)

4. Ruth is trying to set up a group of women who will support each other. Brett says (in “New York”) that “A myth has developed about women’s closeness, women’s bonds, women’s friendships, and it has covered up our hostility to each other, and our mean-spiritedness. Women will be supportive to each other in certain situations. We will commiserate over a miserable love affair. We’ll be sympathetic about illness and other ailments. We’ll swap child-rearing tips and diet aids. But we won’t share anything that might help to put another female ahead of us….Men don’t act this way. Men understand that it is in their own interests to help other men. Even if they hate them.” Do you agree? Why do you think Ruth couldn’t get the support group off the ground. (Perhaps consider the media reaction when Julia Goddard was touted as a possibility for leader of the Labor party).

5. Ruth is a worrier. She tells Max (her assistant) that she never ‘mastered the category of concern. She had always slipped straight into worry.’ In an interview, Lily Brett quotes one of her favourite Jewish jokes “Start worrying – details to follow”. Do you find this characteristic endearing or irritating in the novel? Do you find it an endearing or irritating characteristic in people you know? Are you a worrier?

6. Each of the characters in this novel has a different relationship with food. Ruth is concerned about her weight, and takes her own steamed vegetables to a restaurant. Edek appears to have an insatiable appetite and is always comparing a meal to that cooked by his Rooshka. Zofia is the robust and capable cook. Ruth thinks that her friend Sonia (an Australian) is one of the few women in New York without an eating disorder. Lily Brett was an overweight child pushed into diets by her slim, beautiful mother. Does our relationship with food (what we eat, when we eat, whether or not we cook, whether or not we diet) form part of who we are (or vice versa?). As a society, have we become obsessed with food? If so, why?

7. Who was your favourite character and why?

8. Ruth Rothwax has a successful letter writing business and is branching out into greeting cards. Do you think a letter writing business could be successful in Australia? Would you buy one of her greeting cards? After the condolence letter where the names of the late dog and his owner are mixed up, the owner thanks Ruth for the sentiments expressed in the letter, rather than the client who requested the letter. Should the client have written his own letter?

9. Brett is quite frank in her discussions about sex in the novel; however, in her own life she says that it isn’t something she usually discusses with friends and admits to blushing when the topic is raised. Why do you think she feels more able to broach the topic in a book that will be read by thousands of people, than she is with a few friends (who could read the book anyway)?

10. Did anyone try the recipes at the back of the book? Does anyone ever try recipes written in a novel?