The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah

 

Characters

Vianne Mauriac Antoine – husband, drafted Sophie – daughter, stuffed bear Bebe (gave to Ari) Julian – son   Isabelle Rossignol– Vianne’s sister, always sent away to school after mother died Juliette Gervaise – false name, took downed airmen across the mountains to safety   Rossignol -father, forger for underground   Rachel de Champlain – Vianne’s best friend, taught together, Jewish Sarah – daughter, shot by Germans Ari – infant son, given to Vianne to save, “Daniel”   Gaetan Dubois “Gaet” - helped saved downed airmen, romance with Isabelle   Paris underground: Monsieur Levy Gaet Anouk Henri – ran hotel in town Didier   Captain Holfgang Beck – lived with family, good to family, killed by Vianne to save Isabelle   Sturmbannfuher Von Richter – second soldier living with Vianne, raped her

 

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2017 paperback edition.

1.      Discuss the various characters.  Were there any that you keep thinking about after you finished the book?  How did Isabelle’s childhood prepare her for her work with the resistance?

2.      Were you surprised when you read that Vianne and Isabelle’s father was really working for the resistance and that is why, toward the end of the novel, he did not want Isabelle around?

3.      When Vianne discovered Isabelle and the dead airman in the hiding place in the garage (page 372), should she have asked more questions or was her reaction to yell at Isabelle understandable?

4.      What do you think prompted Captain Beck to search Vianne’s house and subsequently find Isabelle, thus leading to Vianne killing him?  Did Vianne suddenly look guilty when he was talking about not finding the downed pilot and how that would hurt his reputation?

5.      Were you able to understand the complicated relationship between Vianne and Beck?  He basically was a good man and did things to help such as getting Ari papers so he was saved.  Also, the family would have greatly suffered without his help with food.

6.      When Beck asked Vianne for the names of teachers at the school, did she have any choice but to comply?  This basically insured that Rachel would be sent to a concentration camp.

7.      Did you like the ending?  Were you surprised to learn that Vianne had saved 19 Jewish children.

8.      Discuss your reading experience.   How did you approach the difficult subject in the book?  Would you recommend the book to a friend?

All the Colors of the Dark, by Chris Whitaker

 

Characters

“Patch” Joseph Macauley Ivy – mother   Saint – career in law enforcement, devoted much of life to finding Patch Norma – grandmother   Misty Meyer – Patch saved her from attack Mary - grandmother   Chief Nix   Dr. Tooms – in jail for taking girls   Eli Aaron – photographer, did high school pictures – admitted to taking girls, stabbed Patch and help captive Grace – daughter, visited Patch when he was held by Aaron   Jimmy Walters – married to Saint   Sammy – Monta Clare Fine Art – displayed and sold Patch’s paintings, gave him studio space to paint   Candice and Nicholas Addis – adopted Theodore, Saint and Jimmy’s child (although Saint told Jimmy she had an abortion)   Charlotte -daughter of Misty and Patch

Timeline of the sections

1975 – 1 and 2 1976 1978 1982 1983 ·       Patch searching for Grace across country.  Robbing banks.  Saint found, shot him and he ended in jail. 1990 ·       Misty died of cancer, gave Patch sole custody of Charlotte 1995 ·       Aaron alive – bought more rosary beads 1998 ·       Patch in jail for punching and accidentally killing Jimmy Walters, escaped ·       Rearrested at Aaron’s barn by Saint after he shot Aaron to save her ·       Saint – Chief of Monta Clare Police Department 2001 ·       Patch missing, on sailboat in Outer Banks

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.       There were a lot of characters in the novel.   Which ones did you find most interesting?  How did you keep everyone straight?

2.       After Patch saved Misty and he was rescued, she kept wanting to be with him.   After a while he told her, “You’ve done it now Misty.  You reached out and I’m grateful and all…It’s just a reminder that things aren’t right with your world” (page 80).  She asked what she should do, and Patch answered, “you go back to your side of the street, Misty” (page 80).  Do you think she was relieved or sad to finally quit and move on?

3.       What did you think of Sammy and his art gallery?  He encouraged Patch to paint and then eventually Charlotte.

4.       What did you think about Marty Tooms, the doctor.   Where you surprised to read that he really was innocent except for doing secret abortions to help the high school girls?  Were you also surprised to learn that he was in a relationship with Chief Nix?

5.       The author lives in London. Being from Pittsburgh, what did you think when you read the reference to Mister Rogers, Lady Aberlin and Joe Negri on page 163.   The author obviously felt they had world-wide appeal and would be recognized by anyone.  Do you think the reference was taken differently by Pittsburghers compared to other readers not from this area?

6.       There was a lot about loss in this novel.  For example, on page 68, when talking with her grandmother, “Saint wanted to ask what it was like, to lose the thing that defined you.  But perhaps she knew: it left you someone else.”  Did this offer any insights to your thinking about loss?  How did this play out in the rest of the story?  Who else experienced loss – or did no one in the book escape it?

7.       Did you like the part where Patch escaped from jail with the help of all the people working there who were connected to the missing girls that he helped find?  (Owen Williams who cut power line was Lucy’s father, Patch found Cooper Strike’s missing sister and brought her home.)

8.       In chapters 252 and 253, Patch shot Aaron to save Saint who then arrested him, probably because he was an escapee.  What do you think happened between then and 2001 when Patch was in the sailboat?

9.       If he could have, do you think Patch would have gone back to Grace?

10.   What was your reading experience?  Did you sometimes skip ahead, maybe at some point read the ending?  Did you have trouble keeping the characters, the dead girls, and their parents straight?  Could the book have been shorter?

11.   Why is this book so popular?

Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney

 

Characters

Peter Koubek – older brother, lawyer Sylvia Larkin – professor, chronic pain Naomi – college student   Ivan Koubek – younger brother, chess champion Margaret Kearns – Peter’s age, runs arts and recreation center   Father – died of cancer at beginning of story   Christine – mother, left family when Ivan was 5 Frank – new husband Darren – son, 3 ½ years older than Ivan   Alexei – dog

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: All page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.      There were a very small number of important characters in the novel.  How well did the author develop their personalities and feelings?  Which ones did you feel connected to?  Which ones would you have liked to know?

2.      Did you like the author’s writing style – no quotation marks, short incomplete sentences,  (see page 68 when describing Peter’s drug use), very long paragraphs sometimes four pages?  Was her writing style effective to the topic of the book?

3.      Grief was a major topic running throughout the novel, particularly with Peter.  How did the author handle this topic?  Was she effective?

4.      The author addressed other heavy subjects such as what work has value (page 107) and Jesus vs. God (pages 189-190).  Did this add to the novel for you or was it a distraction?

5.      Ivan was concerned about the environment and therefore would not fly or wear new clothes except for underwear?  What did that tell you about his character?

 

6.      Peter and Sylvia were in a serious relationship when Sylvia’s accident happened.  She told him she was not going to ruin his life and to leave.   At that point Peter threw a candlestick to the ground and eventually contemplated suicide.  Could this situation have been saved or handled differently?

7.      Peter also had a falling out with Ivan and stopped all contact with him.  Were these things Peter’s fault?  Should others have seen what a difficult time he was having after his father’s death and helped him?

8.      In the end, Peter and Sylvia decide to go ahead with what feels right to them which involved including Naomi in their relationship.  And then Margaret and Peter decide that perhaps all five will spend Christmas together and not worry about what others will think.  Do you think this will work?

9.      This book received multiple awards and mentions including being a finalist for the Barnes and Noble Book of the Year, Associated Press Top 10 Books of the Year, a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times and others.  Why do you think it received so much attention?  Would you recommend this book to a friend?  Why or why not?