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Characters |
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Wolcott: Elsinore
“Elsa” Parents Two sisters Martinelli: Rose Tony Raffaello
“Rafe” Elsa and
Rafe’s children Loreda Anthony |
Hugh Bennett
– Conservation Corp, Texas Dewey family
– campground in California Jeb – father Jean - mother Mary, Buster,
Elroy, and Lucy Jack Valen –
union organizer Mrs. Quisdorf
– librarian Welty Farms |
For Discussion:
NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.
1.
What did you think about Elsa’s parents? Why did they keep her inside the house and
tell her she was sick? Were they really
concerned about her well-being or ashamed because she was not beautiful? How were they able to so easily send her away
and erase her from the family?
2.
When going to California, Elsa drove past her
family’s home and saw that it was abandoned and falling apart. Was that enough comeuppance for the family
or did you want to know more?
3.
Who is to blame for Elsa becoming pregnant –
Rafe, her parents, herself?
4.
On page 75, Rafe told Loreda that he did not go
to college and was still on the farm because, “I made a bad choice a few years
back, and…well…sometimes your life is chosen for you.” Loreda was the result of that bad choice. Do you think he would give her up and change
things if he could?
5.
As she grew older, around age 12, Loreda was
extremely mean to Elsa. Why didn’t Rafe
intervene?
6.
When Rafe left for California, would he have
taken Elsa and children if she had agreed right away to go along? Did he really want to leave them behind?
7.
Rose told Elsa that she was “a woman more
capable or love and commitment than anyone I ‘ve ever known. You were the best thing that ever happened to
my son. He’s a fool to have missed that” (page 135). How was Rose able to help Elsa become a strong,
confident woman?
8.
Rose also said that “What damage I did to Raffaello
by loving him too much, I fear your parents did to you by loving you too
little” (pages 135 &6). How did the
abundance of love harm Rafe?
9.
Were you surprised that Rose and Tony stayed
behind when Elsa and children left for California?
10.
Discuss the writing. Were you able to visualize or imagine the
heat and dust storms after reading those passages?
11.
When Hugh Bennett from the Conservation Corp met
with the farmers to present the government’s plan, he said their land was a
“dire ecological disaster, maybe the worst in the country’s history, and you
have to change your faming methods to stop it from getting worse” (page
147). When Tony asked if it was the
farmers’ fault, Bennett answered, “I’m saying you contributed” (page 147). At this the farmers all walked out. Could Bennett have presented his case better?
12.
Were you surprised at the treatment the workers
received from everyone in the towns where they went to escape the dust storms
and find work? Could you understand how
the town citizens felt?
13.
There were many people who were kind to the
travelers, such as Betty Ann and Ned at Betty Ann’s Beauty Shop. Would you have welcomed strangers into your
home like they did to shower?
14.
After the haircut, Loreda saw “the girl she’d
been before all this. A dreamer, a believer” (page 273). Have you ever experienced the transformation
of a make-over or haircut?
15.
This is the perfect book for a library
discussion group because of the importance of the library to Loreda. Elsa gave her a library card for Christmas
because she “knew that a library card – a thing they had taken for granted all
of their lives – meant there was still a future. A world beyond this struggle” (page
283). How did the library help
Loreda? Why did the librarian accept
Loreda without hesitation? Would she
have reacted the same if Loreda had gone in before the beauty shop makeover?
16.
Did you like Loreda? Did your feelings for her change throughout
the novel?
17.
Do you think this is a book that you will
remember awhile after you have finished it?
Why or why not? Will you
recommend it to others?
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