The Wager, by David Grann

 

Initial group of ships – August 23, 1740
Centurian – squadron’s flagship, heading around Cape Horn to attack Spain, returned to England June 15, 1744 with Spanish treasure George Anson – captain Reverand Richard Walter – published book about his account Pascoe Thomas – ship’s schoolmaster, published book with his account   Gloucester – leaking, buried at sea, April 1743   Pearl – turned back   Severn – turned back   Trial – abandoned April 1743   The Wager – separated from other ships David Cheap – captain after first captain, Kidd, died Robert Baynes – lieutenant, second-in-command John Byron – midshipman, age 16 John King – boatswain Master Clark -navigator Thomas Maclean – cook John Bulkeley – gunner, kept a journal throughout ordeal, published book based on journal   Anna and Industry -cargo ships accompanying squadron, Industry sent back after supplies gone, Anna abandoned because of leakage
April 10, 1741 – Wager separated from squadron May 14 – Wager hit rocks and broke apart Speedwell – ship built from parts of main ship
Groups of survivors returning to England
March 1742	January 1, 1743	March 1746	July 1746
Baynes – wanted to be the first to return and plant blame elsewhere for what happened	Bulkeley – A Voyage to the South-Seas, in the Years 1740-1 Cummins	David Cheap Thomas Hamilton John Byron   Campbell – initially stayed behind but then returned to England	Isaac Morris and two others John Duck – free black man, sold into slavery upon return Morris and 7 others had been left behind when sent to island from Speedwell to gather supplies

 

 

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.      In the author’s note at the beginning, Grann wrote “I’ve tried to present all sides, leaving it to you to render the ultimate verdict – history’s judgement” (page xiii).  Who, if anyone, is to blame for what happened?

2.      When there was a shortage of trained seamen, the ships were fully staffed in a variety of ways: “press gangs” kidnapped men on the street, cities sent their undesirables and prisoners, and raw recruits who had never been on a ship.   What did you think of this practice?  Was there any alternative?

3.      John Byron, age 16, was a midshipman on The Wager.  His sleeping space was “a glorious seven inches more room than was allotted to ordinary seamen” (page 27).  The author commented “As on land, there was a premium on real estate, and where you lay your head marked your place in the pecking order” (pages 27-28).  Is it the same today?  Does space equal privilege or status?

4.      The author told the reader on page 29 that John Byron would become the grandfather to poet Lord Byron.  How did this foreknowledge of John’s fate affect your reading, if at all?  Why do you think the author gave you that knowledge when he did?

5.      The author credited this time period and sailing ships as the beginning of many terms we use today: “toe the line, pipe down, scuttlebutt, three sheets to the wind, and turn a blind eye” (page 35).  Were you surprised to learn this?

6.      In the end there was no decision at the court martial hearings.  “There was not even a hearing on whether any of the men had been guilty of desertion or quarreling with a superior officer” (page 241).  Do you agree that no one was really at fault?

7.      Why did some men survive while others perished?  Was it good general overall health, stamina, or just luck?  How do you think the survivors felt knowing that so many others had perished?

8.      Can we compare the seamen going to sea in the mid 1700’s for an extended period of time to astronauts going to the space station for a long time?  What about the two that were stranded for nine months?

9.      Discuss your reading experience.  Did knowing this was a true story make a difference to your enjoyment or your reading method?

Breathing Lessons, by Anne Tyler

 

Characters
Moran family	People met during day
Maggie – works in nursing home Ira – owns family frame shop   Jesse – son, divorced, wants to be a musician Fiona – wife  Leroy – daughter   Mrs. Stuckey – Fiona’s mother   Daisy – daughter, freshman in college   Sam – Ira’s father Dorie – sister, mentally handicapped Junie – will not leave house unless in costume	Serena – Maggie’s childhood friend, recreated wedding at funeral Max – husband, attending his funeral Linda – daughter, husband Jeff   High School friends: Sugar Rilg Sissy Parton – played piano Durwood Clegg – sang at funeral with Maggie when Ira refused   Mabel – waitress   Daniel Otis – Maggie told him his front tire was loose Lamont – son, works at gas station Duluth – wife, mad at Daniel for something she dreamed about him

 

NOTE: Page numbers are from 1988 paperback edition.

1.      What did you think about the idea of recreating Serena and Max’s wedding at Max’s funeral?

2.      At the funeral, Serena told Maggie about life, “That’s what it comes down to in the end, willy-nilly: just pruning and disposing” (page 80).  She went on to talk about raising children to survive without you, throwing out their toys, moving to a smaller house, etc.  Do you agree?  Are there some things too special to get rid of?

3.      Were there any parts that you particularly related to?  For example:

a.      Picking at the skin on back of hand and not having it go back immediately

b.      Driving with a map or no map

c.      Striking up in-depth conversations with someone you just met

4.      Daisy asked Maggie, “Mom? Was there a certain conscious point in your life when you decided to settle for being ordinary?” (page 30).  Did you think Maggie was “ordinary” or was there something special about her?  Why couldn’t Daisy see her mother in a different light?

5.      Ira described Maggie as “Not a straight-line kind of person” (page 162).   What did he mean?  Was that a good description?

 

6.      Discuss the characters of Ira and Maggie.  How would you describe their personalities?   At one point, Ira had wanted to become a doctor but had to abandon that dream to take over his father’s shop and support his family.  Maggie was always trying to take care of others and often stepped in and did things her own way.  Would you have liked to know either of them?

7.      Why did Maggie and Ira seem to always/often say the wrong thing or lie?  For example, Maggie told Fiona that Jesse had kept her soapbox and smelled it (pages 305 – 306) and that he was building a cradle for the baby (243).  Ira told Fiona that Jesse is sleeping with the “auto greeter” which was true (page 306).

8.      At one point Ira told Fiona “It’s Maggie’s weakness: She believes it’s all right to alter people’s lives.  She thinks the people she loves are better than they really are, and so then she starts changing things around to suit her view of them” (page 267).    How did you see this in the story?  Is that really so bad?

9.      Regardless of your opinion about abortion, what did you think about Maggie stopping Fiona at the clinic and then promoting her and Jesse to get married?

10.  This book was at times light-hearted and at other times quite deep in its exploration of life.  What parts of the book stuck out to you as meaningful or important?

11.  The story took place over one day, with the characters thinking back and reflecting on what happened in the past.   Were you easily able to follow the storyline?

12.  Would you recommend this book to a friend?  Why or why not?

 

The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore

 

Characters
Camp Emerson	Self-Reliance - Preserve’s main house
TJ Hewitt -camp director in summer, groundskeeper rest of year Vic – father, first camp director, buried Bear   Louise Donnadieu – Camp counselor in Barbara’s cabin Jesse – younger brother at home   Annabel Southworth – Counselor-in-training (family is friends with Van Laar’s)   Tracy – tentmate with Barbara, forced to go to camp Molly Jewell – mother Donna Romano – father’s girlfriend   Lee Townson – prep chef and dishwasher, once arrested for rape, went missing	Peter Van Laar III Alice – wife “Bear” – Peter IV, deceased or missing Barbara – sent to camp, going somewhere at night, missing   Delphine – Alice’s sister George - husband   Peter Van Laar II -Bear’s grandfather, Bear told Carl he did not like him   John Paul McLellan Jr. – family is friends and business associates with Van Laar’s, Louise’s boyfriend, abusive   Vic Hewitt – originally family butler or helper Tessie Jo – daughter   Carl Stoddard – gardener at Preserve, falsely blamed for Bear’s death Maryann – wife, “Scary Mary” Scotty – son deceased Three daughters Jeannie Clute – daughter, temporary cook, looking for information to clear father
Others
Jacob Sluiter “Slitter” – escaped from jail, family originally owned the land   Judyta Luptack “Judy” – State Police, Criminal Investigator Denny Hayes – Senior Investigator   Captain Rochelle -brought in to take charge of search, made his career on Bear’s case Detective Lowry   Bob Alcott – history teacher, owns The Alcott Family Inn

 

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.      There were multiple side stories to the main story of the disappearances of Bear and Barbara, (Delphine’s affair with Peter III, Alice’s mental illness, Louise and her family, Jacob Sluiter, Judyta’s family, Lee Townsend, etc.).  How did they add to the main story?

2.      Which characters did you find the most interesting or memorable?  Were there any revelations that surprised you about someone?

3.      What part did Tracy play in the story?  How was she important?

4.      Mrs. Clute (Carl Stoddard’s daughter) told Judy “They let the wrong man take the blame…Let his name be ruined” (page 288) and “…the family bungled the whole search from start to finish.” (page 289).  When you read this, what did you think about the Van Laar family and the current search?

5.      When Judy was staying at the Alcott Inn, on Day 3 Bob Alcott came to her room and said he had information to tell her about Bear (pages 333-334) which was not revealed.   Why did the author leave the reader hanging for almost 100 pages?

6.      Then on Day 5 (pages 428 – 432), he told her about the history of the Van Laar Preserve, how the camp was conceived by Vic Hewitt, and how he or TJ will inherit it when Peter II dies.  How did this information add to your solving the mystery?

7.      Were you surprised when you read what had happened to Bear?  How did that fit into the larger story?

8.      As you were reading, what did you think had happened to Barbara? 

9.      What did you think about the very ending?  Was it satisfying?  Were you surprised at Judy’s decision? 

10.  Were you able to keep the timeline straight? Did the headings at the beginning of each chapter help?

11.  What did you think about the Survival Trips?  Some campers received no food in their backpacks.  Do you think the families were aware of this activity?  Would you have enjoyed this?

The Queens of Crime, by Marie Benedict

 

Female authors in the book:

·       Dorothy Sayers 1893 – 1957 – founding member of The Detection Club

·       Agatha Christie 1890 – 1976

·       Baroness Emma Orczy 1865 – 1947, known for Scarlet Pimpernel novels

·       Ngaio Marsh 1895 – 1982, main detective Inspector Alleyn

·       Margery Allingham 1904 – 1966, main detective Albert Campion

Novels mentioned in the book:

·       The Five Red Herrings, Dorothy Sayers

·       Have His Carcase, Dorothy Sayers

·       Peril at End House, Agatha Christie

·       The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie

·       The Secret of Chimneys, Agatha Christie

Description of the genre – from Wikipedia

Certain conventions and clichés were established that limited any surprises on the part of the reader to the details of the plot and, primarily, to the identity of the murderer. The majority of novels of that era were "whodunits", and several authors excelled, after misleading their readers successfully, in revealing the least likely suspect convincingly as the villain. There was also a predilection for certain casts of characters and certain settings in a secluded English country house and its upper-class inhabitants (although they were generally landed gentry; not aristocracy with their country house as a second house). The rules of the game – and Golden Age mysteries were considered games – were codified in 1929 by Ronald Knox.^[5]

According to Knox, a detective story "must have as its main interest the unravelling of a mystery; a mystery whose elements are clearly presented to the reader at an early stage in the proceedings, and whose nature is such as to arouse curiosity, a curiosity which is gratified at the end." Knox's "Ten Commandments", also known as "Knox Decalogue", are as follows:

1.     The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to know.

2.     All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.

3.     Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.

4.     No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.

5.     No Chinaman must figure in the story. (NOTE: This is a reaction to anti-Chinese stereotypes in 1920s)

6.     No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.

7.     The detective himself must not commit the crime.

8.     The detective is bound to declare any clues which he may discover.

9.     The "sidekick" of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal from the reader any thoughts which pass through his mind: his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.

10.  Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.

The Queens of Crime, by Marie Benedict

 

People and Characters
Real	Fictional
Detection Club The Floating Admiral – 12 chapters each written by a different club member   Dorothy Sayers - narrator Mac Fleming – husband, reporter and author, How to See the Battlefields John Anthony – Dorothy’s son Ivy – cousin, raising John Anthony   Agatha Christie Mysteriously disappeared in 1926 for 11 days Max – second husband   Baroness Emma Orczy   Ngaio Marsh   Margery Allingham   May Daniels – murder victim (case not solved in real life)	Leonora Denning – first missing girl, musician and college student, worked on “Cavalcade”     Mather’s Insurance Jeremy – father, started business, born poor Louis – son, bought May dresses to go to theater Millicent Bennett – receptionist and working for Chapman   Sir Alfred Chapman – theater director and producer “Cavalcade” - current production   Celia McCarthy – May’s friend, waited outside restroom for her

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2025 hardback edition.

1.     The goal of the Detection Club in 1931 was to “elevate our genre so reviewers see that our detective novels are every bit as good as so-called literary fiction” (page 25).  Do you think mysteries today get the same respect as literary fiction?  What about “cozy mysteries?”

 

2.     There are several references to the books the female authors have written, especially the Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Winsey characters from Dorothy Sayer’s novels.  If you have read any of the books or not, how do you think this influenced your reading and enjoyment of this book?

 

3.     Both Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers had secrets they did not want made public.  How did this affect their undertaking of solving the disappearance of the young women?

 

4.     How important was Dorothy Sayers unplanned pregnancy to the story of Leonora and May and the focus of this novel?

 

5.     There was a lot of emphasis on the view of women in the 1930s.  For example, after the war May and Celia were called “surplus women” (page 58) because so many men were killed in the war that there were not enough husbands.  Also, the five women thought that many men treated women “as though they were disposable” (page 297).  How was the view of women at that time important to the novel?

 

6.     Also, in an article about May Daniels, she was referred to as “was bobbed Miss Daniels leading a loose life?” (page 84).  Dorothy, reflecting on the different hairstyles of the 5 women writers, thought that “Eschewing a complicated, conventional coiffure for that more modern style is an effort to send a message: the wearer leads a busy life and hasn’t the time for fussy updos.  But the message received by a traditional few – especially men – is that the woman is fast and loose” (page 84).  Likewise, the five women each dressed differently.  “Each woman selects particular apparel and adopts a certain demeanor to assume a chosen role, one our group then reinforces with our interactions” (page 139).  Do we still make judgements on people today regarding their style and then treat them differently than someone dressed differently?

 

7.     Did you find the ending satisfying?  Did Chapman get off too easily?  Jimmy said he would say that he confessed to May’s murder before falling down the steps and dying.  

 

8.     Did you agree that Millicent should not be at all connected with Chapman’s death?

 

9.     How well did the novel follow the description of the genre from Wikipedia?  There was a red herring (the syringe found by May’s body) and there were clues from the analysis of the threatening note sent to Dorothy (pages 245 and 246).

 

10.  Would you recommend this book to a friend?  Why or why not?

 

11.  What other mysteries have you read that you enjoyed?   Have you ever solved the mystery before it was revealed in the book?