BOOKS
MEETING INFORMATION
Next Meeting: April 28th
Time: 7:00-8:00 P.M.
Where: Adult Fiction, can meet in alley next to Coldwater weather permitting
April
A Fall of Marigolds
Susan Meissner
September 1911. New York Harbor. Nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan where the man she loved was killed in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.
While caring for a fevered immigrant, she is intrigued by a name embroidered on the scarf he carries. She soon finds herself caught in a dilemma that leads her to confront the truth about the assumptions she's made.
September 2011. Manhattan's Upper West Side. Widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself she's living fully working in a specialty fabric store and raising her daughter alone. A long lost photo appears in a national magazine and she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died during 9/11. A chance reconnection and an old scarf may open Taryn's eyes to the larger forces at work in her life.
May
The Demon of Unrest
Erik Larson
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving closer to destroying the Union with states seceding and Lincoln unable to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.
The Demon of Unrest is the account of the chaotic months between Lincoln's election and the Confederacy's shelling of Fort Sumter. At the heart of this narrative are Sumter's commander and former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor, and the wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over marriage and slavery, seeing parallels between them. In the middle is Lincoln, desperately trying to avert a war that he fears is inevitable.
Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson gives us a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink.
MONTHLY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- A Fall of Marigolds Discussion Questions
- Discuss the ways in which the contemporary and historical sections of the novel relate to each other. What story elements do they share? How do they echo and amplify each other? Did you enjoy going back and forth between the two narratives, or did you much prefer one over the other?
- When Clara Wood finds Lily’s letter to Andrew and the certificate of annulment, she faces an ethical dilemma—should she tell Andrew the truth about the woman he loved and break his heart, or leave him in ignorance? What would be the most ethical choice? What would you have done?
- Have you ever gone to, or wanted to go to, an “in-between place”? Would you share that experience?
- Despite the little interaction they had, Clara is convinced that Edward would have become her lover and eventually her husband. Have you ever experienced a similar certainty about someone after just meeting them? Do you believe in “love at first sight?”
- Ten years after her husband’s death, Taryn seems to be living a full life, but once her photo is published, she begins to realize that she has also been in an “in-between place.” How has she been held back? How are her circumstances similar to and different from Clara’s?
- Discuss the role of the marigold scarf in the story. Trace its path from Lily to Taryn. How does the scarf enrich the experience of the characters? Would you react to the scarf in the same way that the characters do?
7. Andrew plays a key role in Clara’s life. Is it okay with you that she doesn’t end up in a romantic relationship with him? Does Ethan seem a better or worse choice to you? The book ends with Taryn and Mick heading toward a romantic relationship. Do you find that believable and satisfying?
8. Taryn and Clara each experience a horrific tragic event in which someone they love dies. Have you ever been personally touched by tragedy? Would you be willing to share how your experience compares to what Taryn and Clara go through?