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Characters |
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Foss Family and others in 1940s |
Present Day |
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Queenie and
Briny Foss Rill > May
Weathers Camillia >
Iris Lark >
Bonnie Gabion >
Robby Fern >
Beth Judy – twin
baby born prematurely Arcadia - houseboat Zede – helped
family Silas Tennessee
Children’s Home Society Georgia Tann
– real person Mrs. Murphy Mr. Riggs -
abusive Miss Dodd –
tried to help but lost job Sherry and
Stevie – two other children picked up with Foss children Arney (Arnelle)
– helped escape Darren and
Victoria Sevier – adoptive parents Zuma –
housekeeper How - husband Hootsie -
daughter |
Stafford
Family: Senator Wells
Stafford Honeybee –
mother Avery Missy and
Allison Grandma Judy Leslie -
Press Secretary Elliot –
Avery’s fiancé Trent Turner Grandfather
left letter for Grandma Judy From 1940s – Hootsie and
family – looking after Judy’s cottage in Edisto May Weathers Grandma Judy |
For Discussion:
NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.
1.
What happened to Camillia?
2.
Why were the staff at the Tennessee Children’s
Home Society, Mrs. Murphy and Mr. Riggs for example, so mean and uncaring
toward the children?
3.
Who was Shad Arthur Foss, the baby boy whose
information was in the envelope Trent had for Grandma Judy?
4.
Why do you think Trent went against his
grandfather’s wishes and gave the envelope to Avery?
5.
Were you surprised that the Sevier’s took May
and Beth back after they ran away?
6.
How do you think they were as a family after May
and Beth returned? May told Avery, “You
do not have to be born into a family to be loved by one” (page 314).
7.
May told Avery that she had intended to wait and
be sure the Sevier’s would keep Beth and then run away with Silas, but Hootsie
saw them coming and alerted everyone. Do
you think Zuma and her family changed their attitude toward May and Beth?
8.
Avery reflected that, given her upbringing, she
tended to “assume that I’ll get what I want” (page 230). Would she or her family have gotten a baby
from the home that matched their expectations?
Would they have questioned the procedure?
9.
How was Georgia Tann able to get away with
stealing and killing babies and children for so long?
10.
Did the substory of the Avery’s dilemma about
marrying Elliot and falling in love with Trent add to your enjoyment of the
novel?
11.
Another substory was the issue of providing
dignified care for frail senior citizens.
How do you think readers of different ages will read the sections about
senior care?
12.
Arney (Arnell) had a small, but important part
in May’s story. Arney told May that she,
May, saved her. May thought they had
saved each other. Then May told Avery,
“People don’t come into our lives by accident” (page 317). Who were the key players in this story? Would the story have been the same without
one or more of them?
13.
The director of May’s home told Avery, “One of
the things our residents sometimes have difficulty accepting is that many of
their belongings haven’t come with them” (page 42). If you had to move into a center, what would
you take with you?
14.
What would the children’s lives have been like
if the story had never happened and they grew up on the Arcadia with their
parents? With the exception of
Camillia’s death, is it possible they had a better life because they were taken
and adopted?
15.
Why do you think the sisters decided not to make
their story public?
16.
This is a different type of historical fiction –
the only real person was Georgia Tann – with the story built around a situation
and not real people. Do you like this
type of story?
