The Giver of Stars, by Jojo Moyes

 

Characters
Baileyville WPA Packhorse Library	Library Patrons	Townspeople
Margery O’Hare Alice Van Cleve Beth Pinker Izzy Brady – polio   Sophia Kenworth – worked at night, kept records and repaired books, made The Baileyville Bonus from ruined magazines and books   Kathleen Bligh   Mrs. Lena Nofcier – chairman of the Library Service for the Kentucky WPA   Mrs. Brady – local woman in charge of library	Nancy Stone Phyllis – sister, bedridden   Muellers: Mr. Mueller - miner Wife and four children   Horner family: Jim Wife - deceased Mae and Millie   Mrs. Beidecker – schoolteacher   Bligh family: Garrett – husband, ill Kathleen Two children	Sven Gustavsson Virginia Alice O’Hare – daughter with Margery   Mr. Geoffrey Van Cleve Dolores – deceased wife Bennett – son, Alice’s husband Annie – maid   Hoffman Mining   Peggy Foreman – Bennett’s old girlfriend   Fred Guisler   Clem McCullough Daughters – Verna and Neeta   William Kenworth – Sophia’s brother

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.       Why did Bennett marry Alice in the first place?

2.       Were you surprised when Peggy, his second wife, came to the library to borrow the “little blue book?”  What was your theory about Bennett and his wives?

3.       Discuss Alice and her actions such as volunteering for the library, giving away two of Dolores’ dolls, standing up to Mr. Van Cleve and the minister using their own words, etc. 

4.       Was Margery right to influence the miners about selling the rights to their land to Hoffman Mining for strip mining as well as distributing the “little blue book?”  Should she have avoided the controversies all together?

5.       In Chapter 23, Mrs. Brady stood up to Mr. Van Cleve, the McCullough family, and some of the townspeople at Margery’s trial.  Did her actions surprise you?  

6.       Verna lied and said that Clem had been borrowing books from the library and that he had gone out to return Little Women?   Do you think the judge, jury, and townspeople really believed her?

7.       Did you like the ending?

8.       Were you surprised when Mr. Van Cleve beat Alice?  Why didn’t Bennett do anything?  What would Dolores have thought of his actions?

9.       The story line that was not tied up at the end was what happened to the Van Cleves.   Bennett quietly told Alice that the sheriff had not spoken with Verna and Neeta and he also told her that he was going to shore up the slurry dams with concrete even though his father had not yet agreed to do so.   What do you think happened to the mines and Mr. Van Cleve?

10.   What did the quotations at the beginning of the chapters add to the book?

11.   Besides the power of books and reading, what other themes were addressed in the novel?  What do you think the main theme was?