The Kitchen God's Wife, by Amy Tan

 

Characters
Louies	Kwongs
Jiang Sao-yen - father   Winnie – second narrator Sent to live with Aunt and Uncle Peanut – cousin   Wen Fu – first husband Mochou – stillborn first child Yiku – daughter, died when Wen Fu didn’t want doctor to stop playing cards to care for her Danru – son, deceased   Min - concubine   Jimmy Louie – second husband, deceased   Pearl Louie Brandt – daughter with Wen Fu, MS, first narrator Phil – husband Tessa and Cleo – children   Samuel – son   San Ma and Wu Ma – raised Winnie	Hulan “Auntie Helen” Jiaguo - husband Uncle Henry - husband   Mary Chou – daughter Doug - husband Jennifer and Michael - children   Frank   Roger ”Bao-bao” Mimi Wong – fiancé   Grand Auntie Du
Others
Wan Betty “Beautiful Betty” – telegraph operator, helped arrange divorce from Wan Fu   Little Yu’s Mother – helped women out of bad marriages

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition, 22^nd printing.

1.       The author switched narrators four times:  Pearl first, then switched to Winnie on page 61, Pearl on 397, and finally Winnie on 411?  Did this approach add to the story?  Did it take you a while to figure out what happened? 

2.       Pearl did not tell her mother, Winnie, that she had MS.  Pearl said the reason as that she did not her to worry, but Aunt Helen said, “This is her right to worry…She is your mother” (page 36).   Do you think Pearl was right not to tell Winnie?

3.       Discuss the role of women in a marriage.  When she was getting married, Winnie’s father told her, “From now on you must consider what your husband’s opinions are.  Yours do not matter so much anymore” (page 145).  Later, when she was in the hospital after having Yiku and Wan Fu was acting terribly, she said, “But that was how I was raised – never criticize men to the society they ruled” (page 257).

4.       Discuss the concept of taonan, “It means terrible danger is coming, not just to you but to many people, so everyone is watching out only for himself” (page 207).   When the Japanese planes dropped sheets of paper with propaganda about the good treatment the Chinese will receive from them, the narrator said that on that day the “fear sickness” spread and “everyone became a different person.  You don’t know such a person exists inside of you until you become taonan” (page 215).  Why did the people have this reaction?

5.       In 1941 Winnie remembered a common saying in China, “If you can’t change your fate, change your attitude” (page 284).  She did this in regards to her marriage.  At the same Hulan began to eat more and gain weight.  Winnie thought, “when she looked at the misery in other people, she saw what she once was – and what she still might be” (page 285).  How did the characters in the novel change their attitude throughout the story?  Is this good advice?

6.       After the war when Winnie and her family returned to her father’s home, she discovered her father’s businesses ruined and her father ill.  Do you think he cooperated with the Japanese or did they take advantage of him because he was ill?   On page 326 the author wrote “he had already had a stroke when the Japanese took over his businesses.”  Were the events his fault?

7.       Superstitions played a big part in the Chinese culture. For example, when Winnie dropped a pair of scissors and they landed point down, she blamed that bad fortune on the death of her baby.  Later at the market, she knocked over a table full of scissors and that was immediately followed by Wan Fu’s accident.  Do you recall any other examples from the novel?

8.       The characters kept many secrets in the novel.  How would the story have changed if they had been told?

a.       Pearl did not tell her mother she had MS.

b.       Winnie did not tell Pearl that her father was Wen Fu.

c.       Winnie and Helen were not really sisters-in-law (page 72).

d.       Winnie’s father knew negative things about the Wen family but let Winnie marry Wen Fu anyhow.

9.       Did you like the author’s use of foreshadowing?  For example:

a.       Page 188 “I will tell you about that later.”

b.       Page 219 “Any now I will tell you how we escaped with our lives and didn’t even know it.”

c.       Page 391 “Can you blame me for what happened after that?”

10.   The book was first published in 1991 and my book is the 22^nd printing.  Why has it remained popular for so long?

The Deep End of the Ocean, Jacqueline Mitchard

 

Characters
Family	Others
Beth Cappadora – photographer Pat – co-owner Wedding in the Old Neighborhood Vincent “Reese” Ben Kerry   Jill – Pat’s cousin who lives with family and helps with children   Beth’s family: Bill – father Evelyn – mother, deceased Ben “Bick” – brother Paul – older brother   Pat’s family: Angelo and Rose – parents Teresa – sister, husband Joey	Ellen – Beth’s best friend from high school   Laurie – Beth’s best friend after college   Nick – Beth’s high school boyfriend, wife Trish   Candy Bliss – Detective Supervisor   Jimmy Daugherty – high school classmate, detective   Loretta Quaid “Crazy Lady” – helped people find lost things – “saw” Ben in a wooden box   Compassionate Circle – support group for parents who have lost children   Dr. Tom Kilbore – Vincent’s psychologist   Cecilia Lockhart   George Karras   Teeter – school basketball coach

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.       How well did the author depict Beth and Pat’s feelings?   Consider Beth, not really caring about her other children, and Pat eventually wanting to move on.  Were you able understand how each felt and why they felt that way?   Do you think their feelings were realistic?

2.       Did you think the behavior of the press was intrusive or necessary?  Why?

3.       When Beth and Pat took lie detector tests, each result indicated deception when asked if they were responsible for Ben’s disappearance.  Why?

4.       Discuss Vincent and how he grew up. 

a.       Would it have been possible for both Beth and Pat to behaved differently toward him?

b.       He felt Beth hated him.  He told Dr. Kilbore, “my mom has spoken to me like ten times in nine years...my mom sort of generally hates my guts” (page 391).

c.       In four years, Beth had only checked in with Dr. Kilgore about him once or twice.

d.       At the family counseling session, the family completely ignored Vincent and focused on Ben.

e.       He picked fights in school.

f.        Why was everyone so upset when, as a young child, he asked Santa to bring Ben back for Christmas.

5.       Discuss the different reactions of the family members six months after Ben’s disappearance.  Could you understand each different point of view?

a.       In December of the first year the family was divided about how to celebrate Christmas.  Pat’s parents bought Ben gifts and continued to hope while Beth wanted to give up and cancel the whole holiday. 

b.       Pat’s sister criticized Beth and said “Life goes on” (page 142) and complained that Beth would not respond to any of their overtures.

c.       Teresa said to Beth, “You don’t own every choice about Ben.  He was ours, too” (page 142).

6.       Vincent’s friends at school teased him about his name (Vincent Paul like St. Vincent de Paul) and gave him the nickname Reese after “re-sale.”  Why do you think he started to go by Reese all the time, even with his family?

7.       Vincent started to see Dr. Kilgore in 1991, six years after Ben disappeared.  Why did they wait so long?

8.       Once you knew the whole story, why did Cecilia leave the second shoe at the next high school reunion five years later?

9.       In November 1991, Vincent told Dr. Kilgore about a dream he had of a woman following Ben out the door of the hotel and holding the door open for him.  Then Vincent told him, “I think it’s part of the dream because it really happened” (page 235).  If he had remembered this and/or told it to someone earlier, would it have made a difference?

10.   At the very end of the novel, Vincent told Dr. Kilgore that he was responsible because, in the hotel lobby, he had told Ben to “Get lost” (page 395).  Even though Vincent was just a child himself, did you understand why he felt responsible?  Should he have felt responsible?  

11.   In October 1987, Pat told Beth he and others blamed her for what happened to Ben.  He said, “Don’t you think everyone thinks that if you just had a minute to take care of your kids, none of this would ever have happened…[kids] don’t get lost.  People lose them” (page 162).  Was this fair?

12.   Vincent overheard the above conversation.   He then ran directly to Kerry’s room and tried to smother her (pages 162-3).   Why did he do this?

13.   What did you think about the basketball coach, Teeter, and his interaction with Vincent?  Was that a responsible way for an adult to behave?  Why did he act that way?

14.   Were you surprised to read on page 291 that Vincent had been sleeping with Ben’s stuffed bunny under his sheet?  Did that change your idea of Vincent?

15.   Did you think the arrangement between George and Beth and Pat was the best thing for Ben/Sam?  How do you think things will work out as the years progress?  Will Vincent and Sam become close?

16.   Discuss your reading experience.  Did you enjoy the book or did the subject matter make you uncomfortable?  Did you peek at the end to see if everything turned out all right?