The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

 

Characters
Hampton College, Vermont	Other characters
John Richard Papen Henry Winter Charles and Camilla Macaulay - twins Frances Abernathy Edmund “Bunny” Corcoran   Julian Morrow – Greek professor   Dr. Roland – Richard worked for him at college   Marion – Bunny’s girlfriend   Judy Poovey   Cloke Rayburn – classmate, buys drugs Jack Teitelbaum – classmate   Epilogue: Richard – graduated from Hampton Henry – dead, suicide Francis – gay, marrying Priscilla to preserve inheritance Charles – ran off with married woman, living in Texas Camilla – not speaking with Charles, taking care of grandmother, turned down Richard’s marriage proposal because she still loved Henry Henry’s ghost – appeared to Richard	Harry Ray McRee – man killed by Francis, Henry, Charles, and Camilla while trying to have a bacchanal   Mack and Kathy Corcoran – Bunny’s parents Brothers   Agent Harvey Davenport – FBI   William Hundy – local businessman, spread false story   Priscilla – Francis’ fiancé at end of novel, “The Black Hole”

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1.       Discuss the various main characters and how they were portrayed. 

a.       Why was Henry so generous with Bunny?  For example, after the killing, he took Bunny to Italy over semester break.

b.       At the end, why did Henry commit suicide?

c.       Regarding Bunny, once he knew something, he could not quit talking about it.  Henry said of him, “The problem is he’s just a fool, and sooner or later he’s going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person” (page 177).

d.       Why was Bunny particularly cruel to Richard.  He “picked up with rapid and unflagging instinct the traces of everything in the world I was more insecure about, all the things I was in most agony to hide” (page 219).

e.       At the end of the novel, Charles entered the room with a gun and planned to kill Henry.  Charles said to Henry, “You ruined my life.” And Henry replied, “If anyone’s to blame for your problems, it’s you” (page 533).  Who was correct or are they both to blame?

f.        Richard was the narrator.  Did he have another part in the story besides this? 

2.       Money, or lack of it, played a large part in the novel.   Why did the author put so much emphasis on who had money and the reasons why some of the main characters did not?  

3.       What did you think about the incident when Bunny invited Richard to dinner, ran up a huge bill, and then lied and said he could not pay?

4.       Could the story have been the same without the major emphasis on drugs and drinking?  Why was that such a large part of the story?

5.       What did Bunny’s dad’s behavior and mourning add to the story?

6.       What did you think Julian’s back story was?

7.       Did you like the Epilogue and reading about what happened to everyone?  Was it a satisfying end?

8.       Discuss your reading experience.  Did your opinion and/or enjoyment of the novel change as you read further? 

9.       This novel was a Read with Jenna pick as well as Time Magazine’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Book of all time.   What did you think about these honors?

***Do you need a gift for a student headed off the college in the fall?  First Semester Success, 2nd edition, by Dr. Arden Hamer provides information about how learning happens and things to consider weekly throughout the semester.  It is available on amazon.com and wordassociation.com. 

 

The Horse Whisperer, by Nicholas Evans

 

Characters
New York	Choteau
Grace Maclean Robert – father, lawyer Annie Graves – mother, magazine editor-in-chief Elsa – Jamaican nanny Pilgrim – horse   Judith – riding friend Gulliver – horse   Wayne P. Tanner – truck driver   Liz Hammond – Pilgrim’s usual vet Harry Logan – vet at scene of accident, continued to work with Pilgrim Dorothy Chen – Cornell University, worked with Pilgrim   Magazine: Crawford Gates – company president Don Farlow – lawyer Anthony – Annie’s assistant Lucy Friedman – style expert Fenimore Fiske – movie critic, let go	Tom Booker Rachel Feinerman – Tom’s wife, separated Hal – son Rimrock - horse   Frank – Tom’s twin, shared ranch, Double Divide Diane – wife Sons – Joe, Scott and Craig   Ellen – Tom and Frank’s mother Rosie – sister   Terri Carlson – physical therapist   Smokey “Smoke” – helped Tom with chores

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.       Annie and Robert had completely different reactions to Grace’s accident and injuries.  Robert could not stop crying, but Annie did not cry at all.  She told him, “You’ve got to stop feeling sorry for her.  Pity won’t help her at all” (page 78).  Do you think a little pity would have hurt?

2.       Discuss the family dynamics in the Maclean family.   The author wrote, “Grace loved and resented her mother in almost equal measure and often for the same thing.  For her certainty, for example, and for the way she was always so damn right” (page 152). 

3.       On the other hand, Annie reflected that to her, “Action had become a substitute for feeling.  Or at least for the expression of it” (page 158).  Can you understand her point of view?

4.       Why do you think Annie was so determined to save Pilgrim?

5.       Another major influence on Annie and Robert’s relationship was their inability to have a second child.  Robert felt that when Annie accepted the editorship of the magazine, he thought that “she’d taken it either to distract or, again, to punish herself.  Perhaps both” (page 50).

6.       The book was published in 1995.  At one point Annie felt that Diane disapproved of how much she worked and seemed to think “that Annie was much too busy to bother herself with being a mother” (page 208).   Do you think this would be addressed the same now?

7.       What was it about Tom that Grace was willing to tell him about the accident when she would not talk about it with anyone else?

8.       How well did the author help you understand a subject that you might not be familiar with, such as amputation and the feelings of someone who has lost a body part or horse training and healing?

9.       Toward the end when Tom made Pilgrim lie down, he said to Annie, “Sometimes what seems like surrender isn’t surrender at all.  It’s about…seeing clearly the way life is and accepting it and being true to it, whatever the pain, because the pain of not being true to it is far, far greater” (page 373).  He was talking about their relationship.  Was this good advice or should they have denied their feelings?

10.   When Grace found out about Tom and Annie, she felt betrayed.   Did you understand her feelings?

11.   Did Tom deliberately let the wild stallion kill him?  Why?

12.   Did you like the ending, chapter 26?  What do you think happened between Annie and Robert? 

13.   Discuss your reading experience.  Did any parts of the book make you feel uncomfortable?  Did you gain any new insights or knowledge?

***Looking for a gift for a senior heading off to college?   First Semester Success, 2nd edition, by Dr. Arden Hamer is available at amazon.com and wordassociation.com.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, by David Grann

 

Chronicle One
Osage Indians	White people
Mollie Burkhart Lizzie – mother, died Anna Brown – sister, killed in ravine Minnie – sister, died Rita – sister, died in house explosion   Mollie sent to boarding school at age 7 to learn “white men’s ways”   Mollie and Ernest’s children: Elizabeth, James “Cowboy”, and Anna   Henry Roan “Roan Horse” – shot, briefly married to Mollie in an arranged marriage   Charles Whitehorn – disappeared before Anna   James Bigheart – chief, held off allotment system   William Stepson – poisoned   Allotment System – each person given rights to a certain size plot of land and could sell surface rights.  The Osage kept the oil, gas and mineral rights under the land; could not buy or sell, only inherited	Ernest Burkhart – Mollie’s husband Bryan and Horace – brothers   Oda Brown – Anna’s ex husband   Bill Smith - Minnie’s husband, then Rita’s   Scott Mathis – owned Bill Hill Trading Co., financial guardian for Anna and Lizzie         William Hale – Ernest’s uncle, mastermind of many killings   William Burns – private detective   Barney McBride – white oilman, murdered   W. W. Vaughan – attorney, called by George Bigfoot, murdered Rose - wife   A.W. Comstock – lawyer, guardian for several Osage, part of conspiracy?
Chronicle Two: The Evidence Men
J. Edgar Hoover – Bureau of Investigations   Tom White – special agent, Bureau of Investigation in 1917, in command of field office in Oklahoma City 1925 J. C. “Doc” White – younger brother, former Texas Ranger, joined bureau Dudley White - brother   Emmett White – father, in charge of county jail in Austin, Texas, lived next door with the children   Others on team: John Burger Frank Smith John Wren – American Indian   Roy St. Lewis – U.S. Attorney John Leahy – local attorney
Chronicle Three – The Reporter 2012
David Grann   Kathryn Red Corn – Director, Osage Nation Museum, grandfather poisoned 1931   Margie Burkhart – granddaughter of Mollie and Ernest Andrew Low – husband, Creek Seminole   Martha Vaughan – granddaughter of W. W. Vaughan   H. G. Burt – bank president in 1923 Collected money Bigheart owed Vaughan, guardian of Bigheart’s daughter   Mary Lewis killed in 1918 – one of first

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Pages are from the paperback edition.

1.       Did you enjoy one section of the book more than the other two?  Why?

2.       Were you surprised that the Osage had white servants, such as Rita and Nettie Brookshire?

3.       In chapter 26, the author lists some of the number of Osage wards who died.  For example, one guardian had 11 wards and 8 of them died.   Why do you think no one ever became aware of this and investigated?

4.       According to the author’s research, the killings happened over a period of 13 years, from 1918 (Mary Lewis) through Red Corn’s grandfather in 1931.   How did this remain undetected?

5.       Tom White’s story was one of the main focuses of the second part of the book.  Why do you think the author decided to make his story such a large part of the book?

6.       In April 1931 Molly was declared to no longer be a ward of the state and was “restored to competency.”    She “could finally spend her money as she pleased, and was recognized as a full-fledged American citizen” (page 248).  Were you surprised to learn that it had taken so long?

7.       How have things changed that Native Americans now feel proud of their heritage?  Do you think this book and the movie based on it have helped?

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

Mad Honey, by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

Characters
McAfee family	Campanello family
Olivia McAfee - zoologist Asher Fields – son Brandon Fields – husband, divorced, abusive   Parents – apiarists   Jordan – brother, defense attorney Selena – wife, investigator Sam – son   Dirk – Asher’s friend, co-captain of hockey team with Asher   Margot – Brandon’s second wife Shane and Shawn – sons	Lily – cutting, attempted suicide (previously Liam) Ava – mother, National Forest Service   Jonal and Sorel – boyfriend and friend at old school, planned attack   Dr.  Monica Powers – preformed Lily’s surgery
Maya Banjaree – friend of both Asher and Lily Deepa and Sharon – mothers   Lieutenant Mike Newcomb   Judge Rhonda Byers Assistant Attorney General Gina Jewett   Elizabeth (Edgar) – owner of music shop   Dr. Benjamin Oluwye – pathologist, clotting disorder

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.       How did the beekeeping scenes add to the story?  Why do you think the authors chose that occupation for Asher’s mother?

2.       Lily had faked being happy for so long, she could not remember how to be sad.  Her therapist told her to fake being sad until she remembered how.  Do you think this was good advice?

3.       Discuss the importance of music and playing the cello was to Lily.  How did this add to her character?

4.       Both mothers kept secrets from their children.  Do you think Olivia should have told Asher about his father’s violent nature?  Was there anything Ava could have done to help Lily’s father accept her?

5.       When thinking about how people have acted toward her, Lily, in her chapter 5, thinks, “I think that what they hate is difference.  What they hate is that the world is complicated in ways they can’t understand” (page 218).  Do you think this is a good description?

6.       When Lily came to Adams High, she chose not to join the Rainbow Alliance at the school and instead, acted as if she was not transgender and dated Asher.  She wondered if it was “just internalized transphobia?  Is my love for him actually a weird way of hating myself?” (page 219).  Why do you think she did what she did?

7.       Did you like the writing style – jumping among characters and time lines, the numbered lists, the inclusion of information about beekeeping and forestry?

8.       What was the purpose of the list, “Five Things About the Bible” on page 211?

9.       Did you think Maya should have been arrested since, when she and Lily were fighting over the phone, she “shoved her away” (page 426)?

10.   The authors addressed many controversial subjects in this book such as racial prejudice, sexual orientation, self-cutting, suicide, abusive husbands, treatment of prisoners in jail, the legal system, abortion.   Was this too much? 

11.   Jodi Picoult often tackles difficult subjects in her books:

a.       My Sister’s Keeper – genetically engineered child to provide organs for first child

b.       Nineteen Minutes – school shooting

c.       The Pact – teen suicide

d.       Sing You Home – gay rights

How well did this book address this issue?  Why do you think she decided to work with a co-author on this book? 

12.   Did the book lead you to think about gender differently?   On page 392 there was a list of things we assign gender to such as hurricanes and ships.  On 392 and 393 the authors wrote “that even sound is gendered.”  Most of the brass instruments in an orchestra are played by boys; in the woodwind’s, bassoon and clarinets by boys but flutes by girls; with stringed instruments the deeper the tone the more likely the musician will be a boy. 

13.   Did her approach to transgenders give you any new insights?  How well did she and her co-author approach the issue?  Do you think the book will be banned in some schools?

Varina, by Charles Frazier

 

1906 – Saratoga Springs

James Blake “Jimmie Limber” Varina   First Days Among the Contrabands, a memoir by Elizabeth Hyde Botume (writes about James in book)

1842 – The Hurricane and Brierfield

Davis family:  Joseph – father Eliza – young wife Daughters – Florida (oldest), two others Benjamin Montgomery – slave, runs The Hurricane   Jefferson Davis – Joseph’s brother Pemberton – slave/companion Knoxie – first wife, daughter of Zacharay Taylor   Varina Winchester – tutor, lawyer – accompanied Varina to the Davis home, owned property and freed slaves   Betrothed and married to Jefferson Davis at age 18

1862 – Richmond

Davis became president of the Southern States, inauguration in Richmond Ellen Barnes – main cook, helped with children Mary O’Melia – head housekeeper

1865 – escaping to Florida

Varina Children: Samuel (died), Maggie, Jeffy (died age 21), Joe (fell off balcony and died), Jimmie Limber, Billy (died age 10), Winnie Ellen Barnes – Slave, companion, helped with children Delrey – driver   Mary Chestnut – Abbeville, friend of Varina Stayed with her for few days, never saw again   James Morgan, officer, and Burton Harris, Jefferson’s secretary – accompanying family   Ryland and Bristol – cadets, met family in Georgia and went with them   Wiggins Family – hog farm, shared food   Burned Plantation – Elgin, son of owner and slaves including Belle who raised him Elgin shot Ryland, Bristol shot Elgin

1865 - 1867

Children to Canada with Varina’s mother Jeff in prison, set free after two years Varina traveled with Burton Harrison

1877

Jeff in Biloxi, Mississippi with Sara Dorsey, writing memoir Varina in Europe, then at boarding house owned by Mary O’Melia Ellen married Varina recovered stolen painting my Whislet

Jefferson Davis died 1889 Varina died 1906

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1.       Were you surprised with all of the drug use (“medicine”) in the novel?  Do you think that was common in that time period?

2.       When Varina married Jeff, she discovered that Joseph had control over both houses and all of the money.   If something happened to Jefferson, Varina would have nothing.   She also had no say in the design of the new house being built for her family as well as taking in another poor family.   How does this and the previous question reflect the attitude toward women at that time?

3.       When Jeff was president and Varina was walking down the street, she got a lot of attention when people recognized her.  She thought, “Fame.  All it means is, people who don’t know one true thing about you get to have opinions and feel entitled to aim their screeds you way” (page 272).   Did this make you think of today’s celebrities any differently?

4.       Jefferson met up with Varina and the family in May 1865 as they were escaping to Florida and Cuba.   Varina kept telling him to go, but he stayed too long and he and the family were captured.  A former confederate officer, Basil Duke, thought that what Jefferson wanted “most, was justification, to defend himself in court and be hanged if he lost” (page 263).  Can you understand his reasoning?  Why would he put his family in danger?

5.       It was mentioned twice that Varina’s skin color was “a shade darker than everybody else” (page 326), this time when she was reminiscing with her classmate, Sara Dorsey.   Earlier in the book the author wrote, “V blushed, but one of the benefits of being brownish is that often nobody notices” (page 89).  Why do you think the author made a point of this?

6.       Should Varina have also been help responsible for her husband’s actions?   Was it unrealistic to think she would be treated any differently than she was when they were fleeing in 1865?  When she and her family were passing through Charlotte the people “shouted curses largely aimed at her husband, but since he wasn’t present to absorb them, she would have to do” (page 60).

7.       When Varina was in London, the author wrote, “Being on the wrong side of history carries consequences.  V lived that truth every day…Even if your sin…had been simply to live in the wrong place, you suffered” (page 38).  Do you agree?  Is this fair and can it be changed in people’s perception?

8.       Did this novel give you any different insights into slavery?  Were you surprised at the relationships between the owners and slaves?  For example, when Varina told James she went to Ellen’s wedding, he replied, “Even years after the war, you thought of Ellen simply as your friend?” (page 312).  Also, Jeff and Joseph sold the plantation to Benjamin Montgomery, Joseph’s slave.

9.       Why did the author refer to Varina as “V” throughout the book?

10.   Did you like the organization of the book and how the author kept jumping around in time?  How long did it take you to figure out that the symbol of the two parallel lines indicated moving to James and Varina in 1906?

The Guest List, by Lucy Foley

 

Characters

The Folly – resort, 10 rooms Aoife – wedding planner Freddy – cook, former student at Trevellyan   Will Slater and Julia Keegan – bride and groom Will – reality TV star, “Survive the Night” Julia – online magazine, “The Download”   Olivia – Julia’s sister   Mr. Stater - Will’s father, headmaster at Trevellyan   Charlie and Hannah Charlie – Julia’s best friend, groomsman Alice – Hannah’s sister   Groomsmen – students from Trevellyan: Johnno – best man, worked at an adventure center Femi – surgeon Angus - works in father’s development fund Duncan – venture capitalist Peter – advertising   Piers – producer of Will’s show   Darcey Malone “Loner” – killed by Will and Johnno at Trevellyan, Aoife’s brother

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.       If you read The Dictionary of Lost Words, by Pip Williams, historical fiction about the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary, what did you think when you read the word “knackered “ in this novel?

2.       Were there any positive characters in the story?  What about Hannah who tried to help Olivia, or her husband Charlie?

3.       Many of the characters were hiding things; Olivia hid from Jules that she knew Will, Will hid the same thing from Jules as well as keeping the truth about the TV show from Johnno.  Were there any other secrets?

4.       Did you think Olivia and Will should have told Jules about their relationship?  Would it have mattered?

5.       Why do you think they did what they did to Charlie at the stag party?

6.       Did your thoughts about the characters change as you read through the novel?

7.       As you were reading, who did you think wrote the note to Jules?  Did your ideas change?

8.       Did you like the way the author hinted at things and made the reader want to find the answers?  Were all of your questions answered?  For example, from Johnno’s chapters:

a.       Page 88: “Ah, so he didn’t tell her anything about what went down…The less said about all of that the better.”

b.       Page 94 about the reunion of the school friends: “When we get together there’s this kind of pack mentality.  We get carried away.”

c.       Page 113: “And the sound of the waves there, too…Reminding me to keep the secret.”

9.       Why did the students at Trevellyan do the things they did?  Do you think the administration knew what was going on, and perhaps what really happened to “Loner”?

10.   Will turned out the be an evil character: he killed Loner, had an affair with Olivia and did not tell Jules, dated Alice and posted a hurtful video on line, and lied to Johnno about Piers’ interest in having him on the show.   Did he have any redeeming characteristics?

11.   Were you surprised at the ending?  Did you think the author should have given the reader some hints earlier in the story?

12.   Would you have gone to a wedding at The Folly?

The writing of the Oxford English Dictionary - nonfiction and historical fiction

 

The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester

The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

Oxford English Dictionary “OED” First Edition – 70 years to produce, 12 volumes, completed 1928 Second Edition – 20 volumes, completed 1978
The Professor and the Madman – nonfiction	The Dictionary of Lost Words – historical fiction
James Murray – first editor Left school at age 14 - self-taught First lecture “Reading, Its’ Pleasures and Advantages” Interested in phonetics – symbols used to represent speech sounds in a language   Ada – second wife 11 children   Scriptorium – shed in back of home to work on dictionary   Bondmaid – only word lost   William Minor Surgeon, former military in America Asylum for the Criminally Insane, Broadmoor   George Merrett – killed by Minor Eliza Merrett – widow	Esme Nicoll Da – father  Lily – mother, deceased Megan – Esme’s daughter, adopted by Phillip and Sarah   Edith Thompson “Ditte” – godmother Elizabeth “Beth” – sister, A Dragoon’s Wife, 1907   Provided spoken words: Mrs. Ballard – cook Lizzie – servant Mabel O’Shaughnessy – market stall Tilda Taylor – actress, suffragette Bill – Tilda’s brother, Megan’s father   Scriptorium Dr. James Murray, editor Da – Mr. Harry Nicoll Murray daughters: Elsie, Rosfrith   Oxford University Press Mr. Hart – “Hart’s Rules,” In charge of printing dictionary Gareth Owen – compositor   Old Ashmolean – Dictionary Room – August 1901 Mr. Bradley – second editor Mr. Craigie – third editor Eleanor Bradley   Bondmaid – word that fell under table and was rescued by Esme

For Discussion:

The Professor and the Madman

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.       Murray’s goal was to include all words written down, when written first, and a “passage quoted from literature that showed where each word was used first” (page 105).   That was followed by “sentence that show the twists and turns of meaning” (page 105).  Can you imagine undertaking such a task?

2.       Did you like the format of the book? 

a.       Beginning each chapter with a word and definition pertinent to that chapter.

b.       Ending the book explaining why the book is dedicated to George Merrett.

3.       Do you think Murray would have accepted Minor’s help if he knew the situation?  

4.       Minor contacted the victim’s widow and she agreed to visit him as well as accept money from him.   Were you surprised that she agreed to see him?  

 

 

The Dictionary of Lost Words

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

5. Which characters did you particularly like, or dislike?  How well did the author bring them to life?
6. Discuss Lizzie and Mabel O’Shaughnessy.  Lizzie told Esme, “Nothing I ever said has been written down” (page 103).  How did it make them feel when Esme wrote down what they said?  Also, Lizzie said she did needlepoint because “it proves I exist…Everything I do gets eaten, dirtied or burned – at the end of the day there’s no proof I’ve been here at all” (page 33).  Do you think someone could have those feelings today?
7. When Esme thinks about her daughter, the words “Her” and “She” are capitalized.  What did that signify?
8. At the end of the book, Esme and Lizzie took Women’s Words and Their Meanings to show Mr. Madden at the Bodleian Library.  Even in 1915 he told her the book was “of no scholarly importance” (page 338).  Esme replied, “It fills a gap in knowledge, and surely that is the purpose of scholarship” (page 338).  Were you surprised that nothing had changed since 1887?
9. What did you learn from this book about the evolution of women’s roles in the early 1900’s?  How important was the inclusion of women’s suffrage to the story of the dictionary?

 

 

10. Did reading this book make you think about words differently?
1. Page 89 – words only included in dictionary “if someone great had written them down.”
2. Page 127 – words “change as they are passed from mouth to mouth; their meanings stretch or truncate to fit what needs to be said.”
3. Page 129 – “A vulgar word, well placed and said with just enough vigor, can express far more that its polite equivalent.”
4. Page 181 – regarding swear words, “They are like bullets, full of energy, and when you give one breath you can feel its sharp edge against your lip.  It can be quite cathartic in the right context.”

 

From both books:

11. How does the way people speak and the words they use influence how you regard them?
12. These books presented two different narratives about the writing of the OED.   Did reading one make you want to read the other?  
13. Every year the OED adds words that have been adopted in our general conversation.   For 2023 some of the words are Krampus, flirtiness, dockie, figuralism, jailable, and live-fire.   They also updated the meaning of words such as curtsy, deprive, six-pack, flirtish.  What would James Murray think about this practice?