The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver

Characters
Part I Mexico 1929 - 1931	Part II Washington, DC 1932 – 1934	Part III San Angel and Cayoacan 1935 – 1941	Part IV Asheville, NC 1941 - 1947	Part V Asheville, NC 1948 - 1950
Harrison William Shepherd – Soli  – born 1916 Salome Huerta – mother Enrique – Mr. Produce the Cash,  PT Cash Diego Rivera – artist	Harry – father Billy Boorzair	Diego Rivera – artist Frida Kahlo – artist, wife Candelaria - servant Olunda – servant Trotsky – Lev Davidovich  (living in exile since 1927) Natalya – wife Van – secretary Jacson - assassin	Violet Brown – stenographer, VB Romulus – neighbor boy Arnold Gold – lawyer Tom Cuddy	Same as part IV
Loose pages, Montford:  June 1949 – January 1950
Afterward, 1959: by Violet Brown

For discussion:

1. Discuss the thread of lacunas throughout the novel. 

2. Discuss the various characters.  Who was your favorite?  Most disliked?
1. Discuss Frida Kahlo and some of her comments such as:

                                                               i.      “A story is like a painting.  It does not have to look like what you see out a window.”

                                                             ii.      Regarding Soli’s idea for a story, “Greatness is very boring.”

                                                            iii.      Frida said to Soli, “People will always stare at the queer birds like you and me.  We only get to choose if they’ll stare at a cripple, or a glare of light.”

                                                           iv.      “Soli, let me tell you.  The most important thing about a person is always the thing you don’t know.”

                                                             v.      Soli said when describing her, “But that is Frida, using her best, the devil can take the shards.”

3. When did you first suspect that Shepherd was gay?

4. Discuss Shepherd as a writer.  Why did he shy away from public life? 

5.  At one point Violet made him have regular excursions out of the house to help him “overcome my dread of the world and all things in it.”  How did his life’s story lead him to this point?

6. Shepherd compared the radio of the time to the monkeys that shrieked in the morning on the Isla Pixal.  He wrote to Diego Rivera that “radio is the root of the evil, their rule is: No silence, ever.  When anything happens, the commentator has to speak without a moment’s pause for gathering wisdom.”  Do you think the same is true today of the media in our world?  How?

7. Discuss the communist scare and subsequent mood in the country.  Do you think Shepherd could have avoided any of his attention and problems?  Why do you think Tom Cuddy sent the letter ending their friendship?

8. Did you agree with Violet Brown ‘s decision to not burn the journals and instead hide them in her apartment?  Do you think Shepherd would be pleased that she told his story?

9. Do you think The Lacuna was similar to the novels that Shepherd wrote?  How or how not?

10. Did you like the writing and format of the novel? 

11. Why do you think Barbara Kingsolver wrote this novel?  Just like Shepherd’s readers, can we read too much into a novel?

12. Discuss the ending.  Was it satisfying for you?
1. Were you surprised that Shepherd was still alive and in Mexico?

Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys

Characters
Part I Coulibri Estate, Jamaica	Part II Massacre, cottage	Part III Thornfield, England
Antoinette Cosway Mason Annette – mother Pierre – younger brother Mr. Mason – stepfather Aunt Cora Christophine – servant from Martinique, obeah “Sass” Disastrous Thomas Sandi – Alexander Cosway’s son Mailotte – Christophine’s friend Tia - daughter	Antoinette Mr. Rochester Christophine Mr. Richard Mason Daniel Cosway – letter writer Servants: Amelie Baptiste Hilda	Antoinette – Bertha Mr. Rochester Grace Poole Leah Mrs. Eff

For discussion:

1. Discuss the character of Antoinette.  What was the effect of her environment on her personality?  What was the effect of heredity?

2. Considering Annette, Antoinette’s mother, how much of her fate was decided by the political atmosphere of the times?

    3.   What do you think happened between Antoinette and Sandi?

4. Do you think Mr. Rochester should have made a different decision about marrying Antoinette?  Could he have made a different decision?

5. In the novel, who was your favorite character?  The most sympathetic character?

6. How well did the author develop the characters? 

Considering Wide Sargasso Sea along with Jane Eyre:

7. Both Jane Eyre and Antoinette spent years in a boarding school.  Discuss the similarities and differences in their experiences? 

8. How did Jane and Antoinette’s childhoods differ?  How did these differences affect their adult lives?

9. How much influence did your background knowledge of Jane Eyre affect your reading of Wide Sargasso Sea?

10. Do you think Wide Sargasso Sea could stand on its own without the connection to Jane Eyre?  Why or why not?