Discussion Guide

Welcome Readers!

You and/or your book club group may find this guide helpful in discussing the book.

Content:  Questions/Topics followed by List of the Book's Characters.

Ideas for Topics/Questions to Discuss

(Possible Spoiler Alert: It might be best to read the book first before reading on)
 

1.  With regard to the story’s time and place, set in the early 50s to early 90s: How do you think the book captured the essence of those times? Could the story be told in another time and place effectively, and how did the descriptions of time and place help you relate to the story?

2.  Do the characters in the book feel "real,"  and to which did you relate the most?

3.  Regarding the music in the story (CHECK OUT THE NEW AUDIOBOOK VERSION OF THE BOOK WITH CLIPS OF MUSIC AND DOVE CALLS):  If you didn’t recognize the music, did you have a sense of it without actually hearing it (BUT NOW YOU CAN HEAR IT TOO!) ? That said, how were you affected by Alice Bock’s music the evening the book began, the song on the radio playing just before the tragedy, and by Renata’s piano performance in Chicago?  How do you think the music was important to the story?

4.  Do you think that the Concho City law firm and private detective hired by the senior Randolphs acted any more ethically than did Cully and his lawyer in Pecan Valley? Is there any circumstance when unethical behavior is “right?”

5.  How do you think Cady felt about her grandparents deceiving her about Renata being dead, about their not telling her about the existence of Turner, and about learning that they'd told Renata and her family that Jonas was dead? How did you feel about the deceit?

6.  Regarding the hamburger that Jonas went to buy for Renata the night of the tragedy: In what ways do you think it impacts Cady’s life going forward when she meets Bill Armand, and how might her life/choices have been different if she'd met Mr. Armand earlier?

7.  How do you feel Renata’s letter of admission to Cady impacted Cady’s feelings toward Renata? How did that letter impact your view of Renata?

8.  Regarding Cully, Park, and Turner:  Why do you think Cully was who he was , that Park made the choices he did; and how did you react toward the end of the book when Turner did what he did to Cully?

9.  Do you think being given Jonas's ring will change Park’s life going forward?

10.  Do you think there’s a moral to this story? If so, what would you say it is?