The Swan Thieves, by Elizabeth Kostova

Characters
Current time	Late 1800s
Robert Oliver – painter and teacher Kate – wife Ingrid and Oscar – children Mary Bertison – painter and student Marlow – Psychiatrist and painter Pedro Calliet Henri Robinson	Beatrice de Clerval Yves Father-in-law Aude – daughter Marie Riviere – Beatrice’s pseudonym Olivier Vignot – Yves uncle Helene – wife – killed in uprising in France Gilbert Thomas - painter Armand Thomas

For discussion:

NOTE:  The page numbers refer to the Bay Back Books paperback edition.

1.            Discuss the various characters, their personalities and their motivations.  Who was most sympathetic?  Least?

2.            Discuss having your own space.  When Robert was living with Kate he had an office and a studio while Kate did not have any space of her own.  How important is your space?

3.            Why did Robert’s paintings have such an effect on Marlow?

4.            Why did Robert continuously paint Beatrice?  Was that a sign of his mental illness?  What did you think about the painting where all three women (Kate, Mary and Beatrice) were painted in the background and Robert was in the foreground?

5.            Consider Robert’s painting of Beatrice holding an older woman who had been shot.  (page 423)  Do you think this was a depiction of Beatrice’s dream of Oliver’s wife?  How can you explain this?

6.            Discuss Robert and Mary’s correspondence through regular mail.  She stated that “…a plain old paper letter takes on amazing intimacy.”  Do you agree?  Do you think regular mail will survive?

7.            What were the signs of Robert’s mental illness?  Do you think he was truly “cured” at the end?

8.            Do you think Marlow acted responsibly when he went to talk with Kate and Mary?  What were the reasons behind his actions?

9.            Discuss Robert reading detective novels continuously while he was hospitalized.    Marlow’s father said that Robert was doing penance for something.  Do you agree?  (pages 314 and 322)

10.          Discuss the author’s definition of mental illness.  On page 302 she wrote, “It was not illness to let another person – or a belief, or a place – take over your heart.  But if you gave away your mind to one of those things, relinquished your ability to make decisions, it would, in the end, render you sick…”

11.          Who was Aude’s father?

12.          Discuss your reading experience.  When did you realize who Beatrice was?  Were you able to keep the characters straight?  Were you ever confused?  What was the most satisfying part of the reading experience for you?

Caleb's Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks

Characters
Great Harbor	Cambridge
Bethia John Mayfield – father – preacher Thomas Mayfield – grandfather – magistrate Mother Makepeace – older brother Zuriel – twin brother –deceased Solace – younger sister – deceased   Noah Merry   Iaccomis Joel – son   Caleb Tequamuck – pawaaw - uncle   Goody Branch - midwife	Master Corlett’s School Elijah Corlett Bethia Makepeace Caleb Joel Anne Samuel Corlett   Harvard President Chauncy Bethia – scullery maid in buttery   Women whose work and words were read by Bethia: Anne Bradstreet – poet Anne Hutchinson – testimony in General Court

 For discussion:

NOTE:  All pages refer to the paperback edition of the novel.

1. What are the positive and negative comparisons between Bethia’s life and that of a 21^st Century girl or woman?

2. On page 13, Bethia remarks, “As newcomers will do in a foreign place, we cling too long to the old habits and lifeways.”  Can you relate?  Have you ever resisted change when it made sense to accept the change?  What about when you traveled or lived in a different country for awhile?

3. What would Caleb and Joel’s life have been like without “American education?”  Better or worse?  Why?

4. On page 147, Caleb states, “I say it is braver, sometimes, to bend.”  Do you agree?  When did the characters in the book stay strong to their beliefs and when did they “bend?”

5. Discuss the visions the various characters had.  What do you think really happened?

• Bethia’s when she first drank the hellebore (page 67)
• Caleb’s description of his time in the wilderness (page 149)
• Bethia’s when she thought about Tequamuck at the same occasion (page 149)

6. Bethia believed that she was responsible for her mother and Solace’s death because of her idolatry.  Can you understand her reasoning?

7. Can you understand the grandfather’s reasons to indenture Bethia at the school in exchange for Makepeace’s education? What other choices did he have?

8. Were you surprised that Bethia and Samuel had sexual relations before they were even betrothed?

9. All of the Indian students who attended Harvard and stayed at the Indian College died.  Why do you think this happened?

10. Discuss Bethia’s sins.  Would they still be considered sins today?

• Obedience (she disobeyed and went off alone) – page 14
• Pride and anger (she showed off her learning) – page 18
• Heresy (acknowledged the existence of the Indian’s God as well as the English God) – page 41
• Drank hellebore and had visions – page 67
• Idolatry (put doll, beads and scripture in Solace’s coffin) – page 117
• Swearing (swore at Makepeace) – page 178

11. Discuss the characters.  Who was most sympathetic?  Who did you like the least?  Consider their various backgrounds and motivations and how that influenced their actions.

12. Did this novel give you greater understanding of the lives of the early settlers in America?  What did you learn or what insight did you get?

 

 Vocabulary

The author used authentic vocabulary.   Did you find this effective?   What do the following words mean?

1.            I wrapped up Solace and drew her to me on the shakedown. (page 3)

2.            But that night the task seemed so friggling to me that I had to concentrate on every stitch. I noticed mother glance at me from time to time as I sighed and fidgeted and tried to hide my cackhanded work.  (page 54)

3.            Oh, they know how to decoct so as to bring on the visions they seek to have, short of a killing dose.  (page 55)

4.            In the morning I rose weary, and gave a hand to Sofia with her chores until the men came in for bever.  (page 73)

5.            I returned to the house and found Solace who had wakened from her nap…..I lifted her from her crib, all warm and heavy limbed, and nuzzled my face into her soft neck, blowing gently till she laughed aloud.  I took up a posset I had made for her earlier, and carried her with me to the lean-to…. (page 97)

6.            But since Noah was clearly no square cap, conversation in his presence went on differently.  (page 104)

Answers:

1.            shakedown – a bed spread on floor
2.            friggling – not in www.dictionary.com
                cackhanded – clumsy, lacking skill with hands
3.            decoct – to boil down, concentrate, reduce
4.            bever – a light snack between meals
5.            posset – a drink of hot milk curdled with ale, beer, etc., flavored with spices; could be used as a remedy for colds
6.            square cap – educated person