The Storyteller's Secret, by Sejai Badani

 

Characters
Jaya 2000	Amisha – India in 1930s – 1940s
New York	Storyteller   Deepak – husband Chara – mother-in-law Father-in-law Janna – Deepak’s sister Omi – second wife, did not like Lena   Children: Jay Samir Paresh Lena   Ravi – untouchable, became Amisha’s servant Bina – Ravi’s cousin   British school in village: Amishi taught writing Lieutenant Stephen – tutored Amisha in English Neema – gifted student, set self on fire
Multiple miscarriages   Patrick – husband, separating   Father – doctor, seldom home Lena – mother, deceased Stepmother   When Lena came to America, her stepmother and father told her never to return to India   Amisha - grandmother
India
Ravi  - now head servant Rokie – dog   Amit – great grandson Misha – great granddaughter, crippled with polio

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2018 paperback edition.

1.      Did Amisha have a choice when she discovered that she was pregnant?  Could she have told Stephen the child was his?

2.      What did you think about Deepak keeping Stephen’s letters to Amisha without showing them to her?  Why did he do that?  Was he trying to redeem himself in the end?

3.      Discuss Lena in America.  Why was she so distant from Jaya?  Why didn’t she want the neighbors to know she was the one leaving food on their doorstep on page 184?

 

4.      At the very end, Jaya was reflecting on her mother with new understanding.  She also thought about her decision to keep trying to have a baby even though she kept having miscarriages.  She thought, “If I hadn’t tried, I always would have wondered” (page 383).  Did you understand her thoughts?  If she had had a baby, none of the story would have happened.

5.      As reported in the story, had the caste system in India changed much between the 1930’s – 1940’s in Amisha’ story and the 2000’s in Jaya’s?

6.      The book had a very satisfying ending – Patrick and Jaya reunited, adopting a child, Amit and Misha coming to America, giving the property to Ravi.  What did you like or dislike about it?

7.      As you were reading, what did you think the secret was?  Were you surprised when you learned the answer?

8.      Throughout the novel there were many statements made that I felt were important thoughts such as:

a.      Page 194: “People will forget many things, but they will never forget a person who shows them kindness.”

b.      Page 230: “Your grandmother once wrote a poem about the only thing we take from life to death being the people whose lives we have touched.”

c.      Page 279: Ravi said to Jaya, “Maybe today, in helping to ease others’ pain, you ease a little of your own?”

Were there any statements that stood out to you?

9.      Would you recommend this book to others?  Why or why not?

O Pioneers, by Willa Cather

 

Characters

John Bergson – father, dying Alexandra – eldest child, best sense for business Oscar Lou Emil   Carl Linstrum   Ivar “Crazy Ivar” – lost land and moved in with Alexander   Marie Tovesky – ran away from convent to marry Frank Joe Tovesky – uncle   Frank Shabata – married Marie   Amedee – Emil’s best friend Angelique - wife

 

For discussion:

NOTE: This was first published in 1913 and is in the public domain.  Page numbers are from an independently published book.

1.      The author describes a pioneer as having “imagination” and being “able to enjoy the idea of things more than the things themselves” (page 18).  What part of the pioneer spirit is applicable today?

2.      Discuss Alexandra.  Why was she so successful at farm management?  What skills did she have that Oscar and Lou lacked?  The author wrote that she “read papers and followed the markets and who learned by the mistakes of their neighbors” while Lou and Oscar “were industrious, but he could never teach them to use their heads about their work” (page 9).

3.      Discuss Oscar and Lou.  Lou was “funny and flighty; always planned to get through two days work in one, and often got only the least important things done” (page 21).  On the other hand, Oscar loved routine and “worked like an insect, always doing the same thing over in the same way, regardless of whether it was best or not” (page 21).

4.      What was Alexandra’s recurring dream about being carried away about?

5.      Discuss the murder of Emil and Marie by Frank.  Alexandra felt partly to blame because she had thrown Emil and Marie together.  Should she have felt guilty?

6.      Why did Frank marry Marie if he only wanted to change her?  He blamed Marie and said he had been trying to break her spirit for years.

7.      If Frank had been a better husband to Marie, would the murders have happened?  Would she still have felt drawn to Emil and acted on it?

8.      When Alexandra was discussing the murders with Carl three month later, Carl said of Marie, “There are women who spread ruin around them through no fault of theirs, just by being too beautiful, too full of life and love.  They can’t help it” (page 112).  Is he trying to take some of the guilt away from Frank?

9.      What was the point of including Ivar in the story?  After he lost his land he moved in with Alexandra.  He had spells that he said came from God.  After that he seemed to disappear from the story.

10.  After Marie had her ears pierced, she wore pieces of straw in the holes until they healed.  If you have any piercing, how is this different from what you experienced?

11.  In Alexandra’s house the dining room was decorated for company with a lot of “colored glass and useless pieces of china [that] were conspicuous enough to satisfy the standards of the new prosperity,,,the more useless and utterly unusable objects were, the greater their value as ornament” (page 36).  What did you think about this idea?  Is it the same thing today?

12.  Aside from the murders, did you like the ending when Alexandra married Carl?

13.  This was first published in 1913.  Why has it continued to be so popular?  Is it pertinent today?

 

 

Lady Tan's Circle of Women, by Lisa See

 

Mansion of Golden Light Tan family	Garden of Fragrant Delight Yang family
Tan Yunxian Poppy – slave Respectful Lady – mother – died of foot infection Father   Miss Zhao – father’s concubine Yiteng – son   Grandfather Tan – Gentleman Scholar of the 7th Rank Grandmother Ru- doctor, from family of doctors   Tan Jing – father’s older brother	Maoren Yang – Yunxian’s husband Master Yang – father Lady Kuo – mother   Second Uncle – 2nd in line to inherit after Maoren   Women in compound: Uncle’s wives and Spinster Aunt Concubines Maoren’s sisters   Snowpink and Snowgoose – Maoren’s concubines   Miss Chen – Master Yang’s concubine Manzi – son – would inherit if Maoren had no son (was really Doctor Wong’s son)   Yunzian and Maoren’s children: Ailan, Chunlan, and Yuelen – daughters Lian – son   Doctor Wong - gave medicine to harm Yunxian but Meiling took it instead and lost baby   Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor
Midwife Shi Meiling – daughter, became midwife and Midwife Shi after mother died Zhang Kailoo – husband, tea merchant   Forbidden City – Hongzhi emperor Empress Zhang – pregnant and eye infection, requested Yunxian for treatment on Meiling’s recommendation Both Yunxian and Meiling pregnant   Coroner Sun – investigate death of Spinster Aunt and medicine given by Dr. Wong

 

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.      In Yunxian’s lessons she learned that “…we are a man’s possessions.  We women exist to give him heirs and feed, clothe, and amuse him” (page 6).  How was she able to achieve what she did?  What character traits or events led her to become a doctor?  What role did Grandmother Ru play?

2.      Yunxian realized that “His (grandfather) learning comes from reading books; Grandmother Ru’s training comes from following her parents, who learned from their parents, who learned from their parents, and so on” (page 31).  How do you learn best – through reading or hands-on?

3.      After Yunxian was married, she sent secret letters to Meiling through Poppy.  But Poppy betrayed her and gave the letters to Lady Kuo.  Why did she do that?

4.      Can you understand the reasoning behind foot-binding?  Yunxian thought, “Our tottering and swaying on our spindly and weak legs make us appealing to men, but a single misstep or fall can change our futures” (page 73).

5.      Did you like all of the sayings and rules throughout the book, or were they a distraction?  Were there any you particularly liked?  Two of my favorites are:

a.      “A woman who helps others helps herself.” (page 220)

b.      “Friendship is a contract between two hearts.  With hearts united, women can laugh and cry, live and die together.” (page 331)

6.      Meiling was Yunxian’s best friend.  Why did she take the medicine herself that Doctor Wong sent for Yunxian?

7.      Did you like the additional story line of Doctor Wong, Miss Chen, and Spinster Aunt’s murder?  Did this add to the book for you?

8.      Were you at all familiar with this period of Chinese history?  What facts surprised you?

9.      Tan Yunxian and her book are real and the book is still available today.  In the Acknowledgments, the author wrote that many of the formulas in the book are used in traditional Chinese medicine today.  What do you think she know about medicine that is still applicable today?

10. Are there any particular events or scenes you remember from the novel?

11. Discuss your reading experience.  Did you enjoy the story?  Would you recommend this book to a friend?

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

 

Characters

Bob Burgess – lawyer, told he was in drivers’ seat when car rolled down hill and killed father Margaret Estaver – wife, Unitarian minister   Jim – Bob’s older brother, really caused car accident Helen – wife, died Larry – son   Susan Olson – Bob’s twin sister     Pam – Bob’s first wife Ted - husband   Olive Kitteridge – age 90, in personal care home Isa – younger sister   Isabelle Goodrow – Olive’s friend in home   Lucy Barton – fiction writer, Bob’s friend William Gerhardt – ex-husband, lives with Lucy   Matthew Beach – painted pregnant nudes Gloria – mother, “Bitch Ball,” disappeared, body found in car in river Diana – sister, told guidance counselor she was abused by father, told scary stories on playground to other children, killed mother, suicide Thomas – brother   Avery Mason – Unitarian church member, slept through sermons, was going to try to get Margaret removed but died, her sermons improved after his death   Ashley Monroe – one of Matthew’s models, Gloria used her ID to rent car

  

Stories Lucy and Olive told each other

Olive’s mother was in love with Stephen Turner, her mother broke them up, they both named their daughters Olive and Isa   Janice Tucker – hairdresser, mother died when Janice was young, affair with college professor, husband suspected of being gay, she was a “sin-eater” (page 86) (ate other people’s sins)   Pauline – in love with a fisherman, sent to England to forget, married a wealthy man, daughter mental issues   Muddy Wilson – history teacher, wife died of cancer, he suffered and then remarried multiple times   Addie Beal – Lucy’s friend at college, charmed childhood (scrapbooks) but difficult adult, died young of cancer   Lucy’s love affair with Bob that never happened

 

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.      One major part of the book was Lucy and Olive sharing stories of unrecorded lives.  At one point, Olive said to Lucy that she didn’t know what the point of the stories and people’s lives were.  Lucy answered, “People and the lives they lead.  That’s the point” (page 225).  Did you see any other points to sharing the stories?

2.      There was a lot of tragedy in the book – suicides, abuse, affairs, etc.  What, if anything, did you find positive?

3.      Were there any places in the book that you found humorous?  I liked when Olive first met Lucy and she was wearing boots.  Olive thought, “And she had the strangest things on her feet, boots with long big silver zippers right up the front of them…There’s no snow on the ground, don’t know why you need boots” (page 10).

4.      There were A LOT of characters in the book!  How did you keep them all straight?  Were there any that you particularly liked or disliked?

5.      Why do you think the author included so many characters.  There were several (or a lot!) that were only mentioned once or twice.  For example, Charlene Biibber (cleaning lady) and Carl Dyer who eventually got her to withdraw from society.

6.      Why did Margatet’s sermons improve after Avery Mason died?

7.      On page 118, why were Matt’s fingertips red and raw?  I thought this was a clue that he killed his mother, but that was not correct.  Why the the author include this detail?

8.      Gaslighting is defined as “the use of psychological manipulation to undermine a person’s faith in their own judgement, memory, or sanity” (according to the dictionary on my phone!).  Did you know what it was when you read about it?  How did people do this in the story?

9.      Discuss Bob and Lucy’s relationship. When something happened, the first person Bob wanted to tell was Lucy.  On page 227 they were described as “happy, these two – walking and talking – they were just happy.”

10. Last month we read Olive Kitteridge by the same author.  Did this novel stay true to the character from that book?   Did reading that book add to your enjoyment of this book?

 

 

Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout

 

Characters
1 – Pharmacy	2 – Incoming Tide
Olive Kitteridge -high school math teacher Henry – pharmacist Christopher – son, podiatrist   Denise Thibedes – clerk in pharmacy Henry – husband, killed in hunting accident   Jerry McCarthy – delivery person, married Denise	Patty Howe – waitress, miscarriages   Kevin Coulson – contemplating suicide, studied psychiatry
3 – The Piano Player	4 – A Little Burst
Angela O’Meara – piano player in bar   Malcolm Moody – affair   Walter Dalton   Simon – lawyer, used to play piano	“little bursts” – small kindnesses   Dr. Suzanne – marries Christopher (Olive steals her bra and puts marker line on sweater)
5 – Starving	6 – A Different Road
Harmon – owns marina Bonnie – wife Children – Kevin, Derrick and 2 more   Daisy Foster – affair with Harmon Copper – deceased husband	Christopher and Suzanne – move to CA   Hospital – 2 men rob hospital for drugs and hold Olive, Henry and two others in restroom
7 – Winter Concert	8 – Tulips
Bob Houlton Jane – school nurse   Alan and Donna Granger – “The Lydias”	Henry – stroke, in nursing home   Roger Larkin Louise – guidance counselor Doyle – son, stabbed someone
9 – Basket of Trips	10 – Ship in a Bottle
Ed Bonney – grocer, funeral Marlene – widow Children – Ed (coast guard), Lee Ann (nursing school), Cheryl (high school)   Kerry Monroe – cousin, lived above garage, brief affair with Ed	Anita and Jim Harwood   Julie – 21, engaged, fiancé (Bruce) called off wedding at the ceremony, she went to Boston to see him   Winnie – age 11
11 – Security	12 – Criminal
Christopher – in New York Ann – second wife, pregnant Theodore and Annabelle – Ann’s children from two different relationships   Sean O’Casey – upstairs tenant Jim – father, reciprocal attraction with Olive   Olive went to visit at Christopher’s request   Olive held by airport security for refusing to take off shoes	Rebecca Brown Father – minister Mother -ran away, actress, Scientologist   David - boyfriend
13 – River
Jack Kennison – Harvard grad Wife – deceased   Shared meals out with Olive

 

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2008 Random House Trade Paperback edition.

1.      Was this one story with many chapters or a collection of short stories with recurring characters?  What were you expecting and how did you understand the book once you started?

2.      Besides the Kitteridge’s, were there any other characters that stood out for you, that you remember?

3.      What did you think about Olive?   Would you want to know her?   Do you think you would be friends?

4.      Olive and her son, Christopher, never seemed to be able to communicate well.  Why was Christopher “never able to say, ‘Mom, I miss you.’” (page 211)?  Was it more his fault, Olive’s fault, or just their personalities?

5.      At the end of “Criminal,” Rebecca overheard two policemen telling a man from the bar who they arrested, “You have the right to remain silent” (page 250).  She then took a barbecue starter, old postcards from her mother, and two cigarette lighters and left the house.   The last sentence was, “If would be worth the arrest if they put it like that.” (page 250).   What did you think Rebecca was going to do?

 

6.      One statement that stood out for me was the idea of “big bursts” (big moments in life like marriage or children) and “little bursts” (small kindnesses from people you meet during your day) on pages 68 and 69.  Olive thought the big bursts “held dangerous, unseen currents” (page 68) which was why the little bursts throughout the day were so important.  Do you think this is true?

7.      What examples of “big bursts” and “little bursts” did you find throughout the novel?

8.      Six of the chapters were published as stand-alone short stories in magazines such as Seventeen and The New Yorker.  (See copyright page.)  How do you think they would have been received in that format?

9.      In an interview at the end of my copy of the book, the author was asked what she hoped readers would get out of reading this book.  Her reply was, “I would hope that my readers feel a sense of awe at the quality of human endurance” and “I would also hope that readers receive a larger…or different understanding, of what it means to be human” (page 281).  Is this what you took away from the book?   If not, did you gain any other insight?

10. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2009.   The criteria are that the book has to be by a distinguished American author and should preferably deal with American life.   Did this book do that for you?

Circe, by Madeline Miller

 

Characters
Titans	Olympians
Helios – father Perse – mother Circe - nymph Pasiphae – sister Perses – brother Aeetes – brother, gave to Circe to raise   Medea – Aeetes’ daughter   Prometheus – punished for not obeying Olympians   Phaethousa – half sister   Scylla – nymph, Circe turned her into a monster (12 legs, 6 heads)	Zeus   Athena – daughter Hermes – son Apollo -son   Ares – brother
Mortals	Others
Daedalus – craftsman Icarus - son   Glaucos – Circe turned him into a god, rejected Circe for Scylla   Minos – son of Zeus and mortal mother   Odysseus Telemachus – son with Penelope (wife) Telegonus – son with Circe	Minotaur – Pasiphae’s baby, monster, head of a bull, body of a man, ate humans
Island of Aiaia
Circe banished to island Telegonus – son with Odysseus   Nymphs – sent to island as punishment   Odysseus Penelope and Telemachus   Discovered power of flowers “apotrope” – turning aside of evil   Hermes – son of Zeus, hiding from Apollo (brother)   Turned shipwrecked men into pigs if they attacked her

 

NOTE: Pages are from hardback edition.

1.      What did you think about Odysseus?  Telemachus thought that he had had “a bad life” (page 320), and that “he made life for others a misery” (page 321).  He blamed him for not returning home after the war and thought his mother, in particular, would have been happier.  Why did he decide to spend such a long time on Aiaia?

2.      Both Circe and Penelope found peace on Aiaia.  Do you think they could have found this same peace somewhere else?  What is your Aiaia?

3.      Athena offered Telemachus a new kingdom in the West and told him he would “found a prosperous city there, you will…seed a great people who will rule in ages to come” (page 351).  He turned down this offer and instead chose to be a regular man.  Why did he do this?

4.      Were you surprised that Telegonus accepted the above offer?

5.      What did you think about the end when Circe decided to become mortal?

6.      Do you enjoy reading about Greek mythology?  If not, how did this affect your reading and understanding of the book?

7.      Did you enjoy the writing?  Was there anything that jumped out at you that you particularly liked?  Two sentences that I remember are:

a.      When Circe and Pasiphae were talking in the bedroom and the author wrote about Pasiphae, “She was leaning forward, her golden hair loose, embroidering the sheets around her” (page 146).

b.      Describing Scylla turning into a monster, “A hideous leg.  Like a squid’s, boneless and covered in slime.  It burst from her belly, and another burst beside it, and more and more, until there were twelve in all dangling from her” (page 58)

8.      Did you have difficulty keeping all the characters straight?  When did you discover the list at the back of the book and how often did you reference it?