Wildflower Hill, by Kimberly Freeman

Characters
1920s – 1960s	2009
Beattie Blaxtant-Hunter Henry MacConnell – lover, common-law husband Lucy – daughter Cora - friend Molly – Henry’s wife Beattie’s father – fired professor of natural philosophy Mother – ill Margaret Day Doris Penny – neighbor Tilly and Frank Harrow – general store owners Wildflower Hill: Charlie Harris – Aborigine Mikhail – driver, married Catherine Alice – housekeeper Raphel Blanchard – original owner Terry – farm manager Leo Sampson - lawyer	Emma Blaxtant-Hunter Nana Beattie Ray – grandfather, Beattie’s husband Louise Blaxtant – Hunter – mother Dad Uncle Mike Adelaide – personal assistant Wildflower Hill: Monica Taylor Patrick Penelope Sykes – Historical Society Jimmy Farquhar – owned adjacent farm Hollyhocks – dance troupe Mina Carter Raymond Carter – Mina’s father

 For discussion:

Note: Page numbers are from the paperback 2011 edition.

1. When Beattie left Henry and escaped to Tasmania, was Margaret Day’s immediate kindness realistic?
2. What motivation drove the various characters?  Margaret?  Molly? 
3. Discuss Beattie’s and Molly’s relationship concerning Lucy.   Was there anything that could be done to make it better?
4. Later in her life, do you think Beattie should have told Ray about Lucy and her previous life?
5. Discuss the choices the different characters made.  Did they really have a choice?  Is there anything they could have done differently?  Consider Henry and Beattie moving with Lucy, Beattie leaving Henry, Henry reuniting with Molly and taking Lucy, Lucy telling Beattie not to contact her, the townspeople’s reaction to Beattie?
6. Given the historical time period, were people’s actions regarding Charlie and Beattie understandable? 
7. Could you understand Mina’s father’s actions and his resistance to attending the ballet performance?
8. The cover of my edition showed a picture of a young girl from the shoulders down and wildflowers at the bottom.   What do you think an appropriate cover for this book would be?
9. My edition included an interview with the author.  The final question was about what happened to Emma and Lucy after the story ends.  The author responded that she had no plans for a sequel and wrote the following in a reader’s book who was upset that the ending was open-ended, “And Lucy took Emma inside and loved her to pieces.”   Do you think this is what happened?  Why or why not?

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