The Lions of Fifth Avenue, by Fiona Davis

 

Characters
1913, 1914, 1918	1993
Laura Lyons Jack – husband, library superintendent, author Harry – son Pearl – daughter   Lions – Leo Astor and Leo Lenox   Mr. Anderson – library director   Mr. Gaillard – library detective   Thefts: Leaves of Grass – first edition Tamerlane, by Poe Two other books   Columbia Journalism School Professor Wakeman – advisor, plagiarized work   Miss Quinn – Laura’s secretary starting in 1935   Dr. Amelia Potter   Heterodoxy Club   Red Paddy – boy Harry skipping school with, steals and resells valuable books   Max Eastman – editor of “The Masses,” publish Laura’s articles giving her full editorial control	Sadie Donovan – works in library on Berg Collection Exhibit “Evergreen” Pearl – mother   Lonnie – brother, doctor LuAnn – wife Valentina – daughter Robin - nanny   Lions – Patience and Fortitude   Dr. Humphrey Hooper – library director Claude – works at library with Sadie Marlene Jenkinson – Berg Collection curator, took post in Boston Mr. Babenko – Binding and Processing Dept.   Thefts: Virginia Woolf diary – last one before death The Scarlett Letter – first edition Title page from The First Folios, by Shakespeare Jane Eyre – one volume of three   Nick Adriano – consultant about thefts   Mrs. Hillary Quinn – Laura’s former secretary, burned Laura’s papers as directed   Mr. Jones-Ebbing – library board of directors   Harry Lyons

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

Laura’s story:

1.       Did you think it was a good idea for Laura to write the story about the Heterodoxy Club for a school assignment?  Did you have a premonition about what would happen?   Should Laura have been wiser? She knew that he had stolen ideas from other students (page 234).

2.       Was it partly Laura’s fault that Harry had skipped school for two months and she did not know?

3.       Given the time period, 1913-1914, was it unrealistic for Laura to think she would be able to have her own interests and career? 

4.       Did you understand why Harry burned Jack’s manuscript?  He saw Jack grab Laura’s arm and her saying it hurt, and also her telling him, “You love that book more than any of us.  Even when Harry was sick, you still crept away to edit” (page 277).

5.       Four years after Jack’s death Laura, found Harry.  He did not know that his father was dead or what happened. When Laura asked him to come home with her, he said “I have no home” (page 318).  Was there anything she could have done or said to change his decision?

6.       How well did the author present the relationship between Amelia Potter and Laura?   Was that a little progressive for the times or just right?  What did it add to Laura’s character development?

7.       When you read the last section of Laura’ story, chapter 26, did you want to know more?

8.       Why do you think Laura had her secretary, Miss Quinn, burn all of her papers when she died?   Do you think Miss Quinn should have followed her wishes?

Sadie’s story:

9.       Do you think Sadie should have told the others at the library and Nick about her family’s past and how she was connected to the library?

10.   Did Harry’s story after the trial help you understand his actions any better?  He told Sadie, “Red Paddy – the gang leader – threatened my family if I stopped stealing books for him” (page 347). 

11.   Were you surprised with the connection between Robin and Harry?   When he had turned his life around, why do you think he teamed up with her and shared all the information about how to get around the safe guards in the library?

12.   Sadie realized “she was more willing to forgive her uncle than Robin, even though they had both done terrible things.  Yet Harry had tried to atone for his actions by fostering a love of reading in customers and kids from tough circumstances, while Robin allowed reading to bring joy to her life, and then embarked on a crime spree that would take that love away from others” (page 349).  Do you understand her reasoning and do you think she was correct?   Would others agree with her?

Both stories:

13.   Before reading this in the story, did you know how valuable manuscripts were protected and kept safe while still allowing access to them?

14.   Did you enjoy one part of the book more than the other?  Why?

15.   How was your reading experience?  Did you like the format of switching back and forth between the two stories?

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Hello Beautiful, by Ann Napolitano

 

Characters

Waters family: William Caroline – sister, deceased Mother and father   William’s career: 1978 undergrad student at Northwestern and on basketball team 1982 teaching assistant and doctoral student 1983 suicide attempt 1983 assistant coach at Northwestern 1989 with Chicago Bulls in player development and a physio   Padavano family: Rose and Charlie – Charlie quoted Walt Whitman Julia – married William, organizer in family Sylvie – reader, became librarian Cecilia – twin, artist, became pregnant in high school Emeline – twin, nurturer, opened day care center with Josie   Josie – Emeline’s partner   Alice – William and Julia’s daughter   Isabelle Rose Padavano “Izzy” – Cecelia’s daughter Mrs. Ceccione – took in Cecelia when pregnant   Kent – basketball player with William, became a doctor Nicole – wife, divorced   Gus and Washington – two friends from team   Arash – basketball team physical trainer   Ernie – electrician, romance with Sylvie   Dr. Dembia – William’s therapist

 

 

 

 

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1.       Discuss Charlie and Rose’s treatment of their daughters.  Charlie always greeted them with “Hello, Beautiful (page 74).  “Sylvie and her sisters had known themselves under their father’s gaze” (page 74).  On the other hand, Sylvie felt that from Rose’s view, her “second daughter wasn’t enough, and would never be enough” (page 75).  How did their attitudes shape the girls’ personalities?

2.       When Cecelie got pregnant, Ruth told her to carry around a picture of St. Clare of Assisi for at least a week telling her it was her “scarlet letter” (page 58).  What did you think of this?

3.       What did you think of Charlie’s philosophy of life: “We’re all interconnected, and when you see that you see how beautiful life is” (page 73).  How was this evidenced throughout the novel?

4.       Discuss Julia and William’s relationship.  He felt that reading his book “had permanently damaged Julia’s opinion of him” (page 96). 

5.       Should Julia have known how unhappy William was?   Was there any way she could have prevented what he did?

6.       After his suicide attempt when William was an assistant coach at Northwestern, he found that the “impact of helping seemed to be cumulative; the more kids he helped, the more solid he felt in how own chest” (page 246).  Did you understand his feelings? 

7.       Discuss Kent.  Throughout the story he was very important to William.  While William was in the hospital after his suicide attempt, he thought of Kent that “No one had ever loved him unconditionally like this” (page 162).  Where else in the novel did you see that type of unconditional love?

8.       Arash, while not a major character, was very important to William’s development.  Through him, William’s “understanding of the physiology of the athletes was better informed now, and he was able to diagnose injuries and vulnerabilities with accuracy” (page 253).  Also, Arash wanted “to build more infrastructures of kindness” (page 253).

9.       Did William treat Alice the same way his parents treated him after his sister died?

10.   Did you understand William’s thought process when he gave up Alice?  What were the positive aspects of what he did, if any?

11.   When Cecelia became pregnant, Julia advised her to give the baby up for adoption.  She said to Cecelia, “Why should you ruin your life because of a mistake?” (page 59).   How does this fit into her feelings about William giving up Alice?

12.   What did you think about the various characters.  Did the author do a good job of describing them?  Could you understand their various personalities and motivations?   Which one would you likely be friends with?

13.   How important was the connection with the novel Little Women?  On page 41 the author described how the sisters tried to decide who was each character and on page 302 Alice was copyediting a modern adaptation of the novel.

14.   Books were an important part of the novel: William’s book about basketball, Sylvie’s book about her memories growing up, comparison to Little Women, Sylvie was a librarian and sometimes using a book as a “handy shield for when the wanted to deflect the attention of other people” (page 308).  Did this add to the story for you?

15.   When Sylvie was writing her memories, she realized two important coincidences.  “Only in writing about them did Sylvie truly comprehend that the same day her beloved Izzy had entered the world, Charlie left.  And the day Alice was born, Rose had departed Chicago” (page 304).  Have you ever experienced such a revelation when writing in a journal or diary?  Why hadn’t anyone made the connections before?

16.   Discuss your reading experience.  Did you like the overlapping time frames?  Would you recommend the book to a friend?