|
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?
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