The Language of Flowers

Our discussion covers all the main themes of the book, plus we talk about The Camellia Network, co-founded by Diffenbaugh.

For more information we highly suggest listening to our interview with Vanessa, we promise you will be inspired by her – she is made of awesome.

*SPOILERS abound and as always you can find us on itunes*

We talk about a range of topics, including her never published YA novel, the foster care system in the US and what she’s doing about it*, news on the movie front (keeping our fingers crossed!) and of course her writing. Vanessa is a true inspiration, we can’t praise her enough. For more information, follow her on twitter or  facebook.

Do you agree with our assessments? Think we’re off base? Let us know in the comments!

What potential do Elizabeth, Renata, and Grant see in Victoria that she has a hard time seeing in herself?

Amanda – Her ability to love and be loved.  This central theme in so many works of literature just shows how vital being loved is and what can happen to a person’s self-worth when they believe that they cannot be loved or love in return.

While Victoria has been hungry and malnourished often in her life, food ends up meaning more than just nourishment to her. Why?

Stacy – Food means survival.

Amanda – I’m going to have to agree with Stacy, and say that for someone like Victoria, who has been denied even the simplest pleasures, food becomes part of her experiences and memories.  In the chapters about her life with Elizabeth, details about the food she was cooked, what smells she encountered, and what she saw and touched are all key visual stimulants for the reader; seeing the world through Victoria’s eyes is key to the reader understanding, deeper than a base level, who Victoria is.  Without key components like this, Victoria could be an unsympathetic character.

Victoria and Elizabeth both struggle with the idea of being part of a family. What does it mean to you to be part of a family? What defines family?

Stacy – A family means unconditional love. It also means forgiveness, guidance and trust. Does a family have to be blood relations? Frankly, no.

Amanda – I learned a long time ago that family isn’t necessarily blood.  Knowing that I have people I can depend on, trust, talk to, and build great memories with beats “blood ties” for me any day.  When you can’t trust your own blood, who do you turn to?  This is why I understood, at least on some level, why Victoria struggled to understand family.

One of the major themes in The Language of Flowers is forgiveness and second chances — do you think Victoria deserves one after the things she did (both as a child and as an adult)? What about Catherine? And Elizabeth?

Stacy – Everyone deserves forgiveness, Victoria is no exception. However, second chances? I say yes because I was emotionally invested in her story and wanted her to have a happily ever after. At the same time, I realize that Victoria made some very poor choices that severely affected and hurt several people. I think Victoria should count herself lucky.

What did you think of the structure of the book — the alternating chapters of past and present? In what ways did the two storylines parallel each other, and how did they diverge?

Amanda – The way the stories diverted made me want to care for a character (Victoria) that I was already emotionally invested in.  Because only bits of her past were revealed at a time and then you were shoved into the present-day narration, I needed to know what had happened that made Victoria who she was as an adult.  You can easily see that Victoria’s emotional instability started early and affected decisions across her childhood and into her adult life.

The novel touches on many different themes (love, family, forgiveness, second chances). Which do you think is the most important? And what did you think was ultimately the lesson?

Stacy – Forgiveness and love, they go hand in hand. If you truly love someone, you forgive them. This doesn’t mean you give them second chances, but it does mean that you’re not carrying around that heavy yoke.

As for the ultimate lesson – family. When you have a “true” family you will find that love, forgiveness and second chances are natural components.

At the end of the novel, Victoria learns that moss grows without roots. What does this mean, and why is it such a revelation for her?

Stacy –  Sadly, Victoria’s life is without roots. When she learns that moss grows without roots, she realizes that’s her as well. It’s at this moment that she understands that she can have a wonderful life and flourish, despite her horrific beginnings. That life is about choices, not always just circumstances.

Based on your reading of the novel, what are your impressions of the foster care system in America? What could be improved?

Stacy – Let’s hope the foster care system isn’t as dire as the novel makes it out to be, that Diffenbaugh took some literary liberties. However, “aging out” is not fiction and to me that is heartbreaking. Can you imagine moving out at 18 with nobody to rely on but yourself?

Thankfully, Diffenbaugh is co-founding a non-profit that strictly address this issue, The Camellia Network.

Amanda – Based strictly on the novel, I would be scared to death of the foster care system.  And I would also want to adopt a whole of bunch of kids to protect and love!

We’re on board for this months Ladies Home Journal book club pick, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  We’re so excited we can’t stand it, because we’ve read this book (read review here) and have met the fabulous Vanessa Diffenbaugh – it’s one of our many BEA 2011 highlights!!

We would LOVE for you to read along with us – and of course, talk FLOWER POWER!!!!

publisher: Random House
release: April 3, 2012 (paperback)
book links: goodreads / facebook / twitter / LHJ

from goodreads - A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past.

Please join us for one of our discussions:

April 13  - we’ll tackle those scholarly discussion questions

April 15 – Vanessa Diffenbaugh will be on the blog talking all about her book!

April 22 –  listen in to our podcast for our candid thoughts and opinions

And make sure to join in the discussion on twitter, just use the hashtag #LHJbookclub . We’re always open for academic debate!!!

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For more information about Ladies Home Journal book club and The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, click here.

*SPOILERS and as always you can find us on iTunes*

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The Bird Sisters is set in Spring Green, Wisconsin, a small farming community by the Wisconsin River. Spring Green seems to be distinct in nearly every way from Deadwater, Minnesota, which is where Cousin Bett has grown up. How does each location shape the story, each community, and our characters? Can you imagine Milly and Twiss in Deadwater? How do the places we live shape us?

Nancy – Deadwater sounds about as inviting as its name – Bett called it “officially irrelevant” and made up wild stories about the town  and its inhabitants; stories that thrilled and fascinated Twiss but repelled Milly.  Spring Green was as bucolic as it sounds, a lush farming community that prospered.  Twiss would have loved the adventure of staying in Deadwater; Milly would have hated it.

Sarah – I think Bett came from death (Deadwater) and tried to live life fully -a bit too fully in terms of the affair with Milly and Twiss’s  dad.  I think Milly and Twiss came from a theoretical “always green” kind of life-at least it must have looked like that to Bett -as they had both parents, enough to eat and a decent sized house.  Also their father was always (in his head after he lost his job) on the greens of a golf course.  The sisters’ also never married, making them “green” virgins perpetually.  However, it seems like they too were living in a type of Deadwood created by their mother and her bitterness.  Overall, all three girls wanted to escape their hometowns, but only Bett succeeded in doing so, mostly through her cousins sacrificing their own plans.

Stacy – Locations, places (settings) shape everyone’s life, including novel characters. For example, if you grow up in the city, it’s more  likely you’ll be exposed to a variety of arts, nationalities, have several dining choices, etc. In contrast, growing up rurally your choices are typically limited. Not to mention that every community has customs, idiosyncrasies, environment factors etc.  that are influential. Just like Nancy and Sarah pointed out, Deadwater and Spring Green couldn’t be more different. The girls from these cities were in part, a product of where they came from.

The novel is primarily set during the late 1940s, when the pace of life was a little bit slower than it is today. There seems to be a pervasive cultural nostalgia and a renaissance with regard to skills and cultural mores from the recent past (for example, folks learning how to can vegetables, a love of vintage clothing, etc.). Why do you think this is?

Nancy – My goodness, everything is rosy the further away you get from it.  People always are looking for the easier, simpler times.  As a  society, people tend to romanticize the happier aspects and gloss over the ugly parts.  But humanity is made up of people who are complicated in any time period.

Sarah – I think Nancy rocked this question- no more to add!

Stacy – Nancy, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Memories play such a powerful role in Milly and Twiss’s lives because, in many ways, their lives were arrested while both were teenagers. Can they ever be at peace? Is there always time for a fresh start?

Nancy – I think they may not be at peace, but they have learned to live with it.  They both have regrets, and I think that if they had wanted a fresh start they would have done it long ago.  Why didn’t Milly try to find love again (or at least another suitor), or Twiss leave after their parents died?  I believe Milly finally found peace by forgiving and letting go of the past when Asa puts the note in her soaps, saying I know why you did it, she swings the club just like him.

Sarah – I think the fact that both characters are reliving their memories to become at peace with their decisions (I remain bitter on  their behalf, however).  Although frustrated by the woman who accuses Milly of ignorance because of her lack of children, Milly- and also Twiss -both seem to take satisfaction in taking care of broken birds and one another.   I think that it is too late for a fresh start, but they are at peace by the end of the novel.

Stacy – It’s never too late for peace, but like Sarah and Nancy said, Twiss and Milly have learned to live with their decisions. If Milly  and Twiss want a fresh start, I suggest online dating. I’m not saying love is the answer, but it would provide new and exciting experiences for them, something out of their normal.

Milly and Twiss will do anything and everything for each other in the novel, but they won’t talk openly about all that has happened to them over the course of their lives — especially events in their youth. Why is it so difficult for them? After so many years together, do you think that each knows of the other’s disappointments, vulnerabilities, and heartbreaks without having to explicitly say it? Or do you think that even after all this time the two do not know each other as well as they think?

Nancy – I think part of it may have been the era they grew up in.  People just didn’t talk openly about sexual issues – infidelity, homosexuality, out of wedlock pregnancy – all had a terrible social stigma that made the people involved cover it up.  Even though they may think they know how the other feels, it’s tacitly understood they won’t talk about it, and they are too stubborn to bring it up – even though talking about it could begin a new chapter in their lives.  However, that doesn’t mean they don’t love each other – on the contrary, they love each other enough that they won’t embarrass the other by talking about it.

Sarah – I agree with Nancy, but also feel that bringing up the ngative aspects of their lives would just bring them down, and they are clinging to the few strings of happiness daily life brings them.  To bring up old wounds with one another would just make the pain that much worse.

Money is a constant source of tension for Milly and Twiss’s parents in the novel, but in the beginning of their relationship, their mother thought that her dreams would come true without her family’s money, and their father thought that his dreams would come true through his proximity to money at the country club. How were they right and how were they wrong? Money, and lack of it, is also a source of conflict between other characters (for example, Father Rice steals the entire meager collection from the church and Mr. Peterson pays for Bett’s medical care). How does money solve problems in the novel as well as create them?

Nancy – Ahhh, money, the root cause of many a failed marriage.  Maisie believed love would compensate for the lack of money.

Stacy – While I think money was an issue in Maisie’s marriage, the real problem was her husband’s selfishness. Love can conquer all, but that love can only conquer all if both parties are fully committed and act selflessly.

Sarah – I think the need for money overtakes the sense of love that characters have for one another. Milly and Twiss’s parents (as did their aunt and uncle) believed that their love would overcome financial worries. However, it seemed to drive Milly and Twiss’s mother and aunt away from their husbands; it caused the sisters to become bitter because their husbands could not provide the type of life they were accustomed to and learning how to function without such money was a hardship neither sister ever got over.  I think Mr. Peterson is able to solve Bett’s medical problems through paying for her medical care -but also drives her away from the sisters in the process.

Cousin Bettie — Bett — comes down from Deadwater, Minnesota, to stay with Milly and Twiss for the summer and in doing so changes the dynamics of their family. Bett grows close to each of the sisters in very different ways. How would the family have changed if not for Bett? In other words, do you think that the changes were the result of Bett’s particular personality? Or do you think that she was just in
the right place at the right time to be seen as a catalyst?

Nancy – I think the family would have imploded even if Bett had not come for the summer, but it would have been much later rather than sooner. While Bett was in the right place at the right time to alter the family, I do think Bett’s personality was partly responsible for the problems.  She was plain and sickly, and worried she’d never find a better life. Bett behaved in a sometimes reckless manner – plunging her arms into a bee-filled sand pile, for example. Afterwards, Millie thinks “…she couldn’t find a polite way to explain what she’d seen: a person so untouched by fear she was certain something terrible had happened to Cousin Bettie, or would.”

Stacy – I truly believe Bett was a catalyst. Her visit was at a pivotal time, coupled with her personality, the perfect formula was established for the life changing summer.

Sarah – I think Bett brings out Twiss’s homosexuality and Milly’s fears, but without Bett, these would have been there, just not as exposed.  It is Bett’s affair with her father, subsequent pregnancy and Milly’s sacrifice of Asa for Bett that brings about the real change-not Bett’s personality itself.

Both Milly and Twiss sacrifice their personal dreams for, they think, the betterment of the other. When is personal sacrifice for the sake of the larger goal noble and valiant? At what point is it foolish? Do you think that they make the right choices? How do you think Bett feels about her choices? What do you think she was trying to tell Milly by sending her the book?

Nancy – Oh man, do I want to give Bett an earful.  Looking at the situation from my modern perspective, I definitely have a different opinion than Milly and Twiss would about sacrificing my happiness for the sake of my family’s reputation.  However, even looking at it from their perspective, I think Milly could have worked things out without losing her chance at happiness and a family.  Why couldn’t Bett go back to Deadwater to have the baby?  Or go to a home for unwed mothers and give it up for adoption?  Why couldn’t Milly have taken Twiss with her if she got married? Bett may have felt guilty, but not guilty enough to not marry Asa.

Sarah – I TOTALLY agree with Nancy.  The most frustrating aspect of the book for me was how Milly and Twiss just seemed to roll over and let Bett walk all over them.  However, I also tend to be a proactive woman in an age that allows me to do so; I find their choices valiant and foolish simultaneously.

Overall, I think Bett does feel guilty-but allowed Milly to make the sacrifice for her (just as she let Mr. Peterson pay for all her medical treatment).  It is like Bett is the reverse of her mother and aunt-she moves up from poverty to wealth because of who she chooses to marry (and Milly kindly and stupidly sacrificed that for her).

Milly and Twiss love their parents deeply, but they don’t know quite how to forgive them. How do you think their lives might change if they were able to forgive them? Are they able to forgive Bett and Asa?

Sarah – I think it is not so much about forgiving their parents and Bett and Asa but being comfortable with who they are.  I think the book is ultimately about both of them learning to accept the decisions they made and move on; but if they had done so early on, they could have had more fulfilling lives.

Stacy – They’ve never truly forgiven their parents, because their parents never forgave each other. As well, forgiveness was never doled out to Bett and Asa. Forgiveness is a powerful act, its bondage breaking. Like Sarah said, Twiss and Milly accepted everyone transgressions but had they actually forgiven them they could have moved on and had more fulfilling lives.

Asa, Mr. Peterson, and Joe all seem to make significant life choices based on snap judgments. How has this impulsive streak served them well? How has it hurt them? If Asa truly loved Milly as he seemed to, how could he so quickly abandon her? Do you think he understood at the time what Milly was asking of him? And by asking it, do you think she was asking too much of someone she loved?

Sarah – I don’t think Asa truly loved Milly or he would not have abandoned her for Bett without a fight. I think Milly too made a snap decision by sacrificing her love for Asa for her cousin -which clearly does not serve her well.  I don’t think snap decisions are shown in a positive light-but really none of the characters make good choices-whether thought through or made quickly.

Throughout the novel, Twiss and Father Rice exchange letters. In these letters, Twiss often reveals her secret feelings. Father Rice, in turn, reveals his. In the age of the Internet, have we lost the intimacy that can be found in this old-fashioned form of correspondence, the traditional letter? How do we choose to share what we do when it’s by letter, e-mail, text, Twitter, Facebook update, blog post, or telephone? When was the last time you handwrote a letter?

Nancy – I dunno, I think we can still be profound and meaningful and intimate even when limited to 140 characters…LOL.  I still write letters to people, I just send them electronically instead of in an envelope with a stamp.  But I handwrite thank you notes and birthday cards, because that is just the way you do it.

Sarah - I think e-mails can be just as intimate as letters-they just get delivered faster. I do write letters to people-but I think I am more communicative in an email because my feeling and thoughts can be communicated faster through typing than writing.

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Gotta love twitter, you never know who you’re going to tweet or what random comment will generate an idea that leads to something productive, something good and something downright fun. This happened not too long ago, and out of the frenzy of tweets came #GoneBookClub.

#GoneBookClub is a twitter book club (of sorts) where we’ll read and discuss, you guessed it, Gone by Michael Grant. Never fear, it’s not too late to join us on our, as we like to call it, ‘adventure in reading a really great, best-selling series that is like a YA version of something Stephen King would write, if he had thought of it first.’ Yea, it’s that.

Here are the deets (are we too old to say that?):
Read – Gone by Michael Grant (goodreads)
Twitter chat date – January 8, 2012 (an all-day event, use #GoneBookClub)

Not yet convinced to join in the merriment? Need to know who else is taking the #GoneBookClub plunge? Well, here is the official list of le grand twitter participants:

*Reading Vacation – twitter. blog
*Katie’s Book Blog – twitter. blog
*Emily’s Reading Room – twitter. blog
*Good Books & Good Wine  – twitter. blog
*Electrifying Reviews – twitter. blog
*Dizneeee’s Wonderful World of Books – twitter. blog

To join, or not to join? What’s it gonna be? If you’re game, fill out the Linky’s form below. We want to stalk you…

The Bird Sisters

from goodreads - When a bird flies into a window in Spring Green, Wisconsin, sisters Milly and Twiss get a visit. Twiss listens to the birds’ heartbeats, assessing what she can fix and what she can’t, while Milly listens to the heartaches of the people who’ve brought them. These spinster sisters have spent their lives nursing people and birds back to health.

But back in the summer of 1947, Milly and Twiss knew nothing about trying to mend what had been accidentally broken. Milly was known as a great beauty with emerald eyes and Twiss was a brazen wild child who never wore a dress or did what she was told. That was the summer their golf pro father got into an accident that cost him both his swing and his charm, and their mother, the daughter of a wealthy jeweler, finally admitted their hardscrabble lives wouldn’t change. It was the summer their priest, Father Rice, announced that God didn’t exist and ran off to Mexico, and a boy named Asa finally caught Milly’s eye. And, most unforgettably, it was the summer their cousin Bett came down from a town called Deadwater and changed the course of their lives forever.

Rebecca Rasmussen’s masterfully written debut novel is full of hope and beauty, heartbreak and sacrifice, love and the power of sisterhood, and offers wonderful surprises at every turn.

The Bird Sisters is a lovely book about two sisters who sacrificed their own happiness for their cousin and each other. The story is told through the two sisters who live together and are known for nursing wounded birds back to life (metaphor, anyone?). They are living in the present day, but after a woman brings a bird to their doorstep, her comments to them trigger each sister to reflect back on the summer their cousin came to stay with them, and the havoc (and clarity) it brought to their lives.

Author Rebecca Rasmussen is clearly a lyrical poet with her prose, and this book has several bookmarked pages where I just loved her turn of phrase. The story itself dragged a bit, unfortunately, as the end of the book delivers punches that have to be built up, but seem less meaningful during the reading. The sisters’ reflections throughout the day reveal the flaws of all the characters-from family members to eccentric townspeople – so it was hard to really root for any one specific character. However, in the end, the sisters’ love for one another triumphs over all the ugliness of their parents’ unhappy marriage and subsequent actions and that was a nice redemption after being rather frustrated with most people in the story.

For a finally developed story focused on revealing the beauty in the midst of unhappiness, The Bird Sisters is a finely honed and beautifully written novel. Clearly a labor of love, Rasmussen revealed on her site for the book that the characters and plot were based on her own family’s background, and I’m intrigued to know what facts specifically have been embedded into this fictional story, although it seems a bit of a depressing one.

Sarah

If you would like to join us, check out our discussion schedule below:
 January 6, 2012 – we’ll tackle those scholarly discussion questions
January 8, 2012 –listen in to our podcast for our candid thoughts and opinions

And make sure to join in the discussion on twitter, just use the hashtag #LHJbookclub . We’re always open for academic debate!

We had so much fun participating with Ladies Home Journal for their August book club pick, Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong that we have decided to join them again and read their December/January pick, The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen.  Again, this is not a normal genre read for us, but we are nothing if not adventurous. Plus, we think it’s good to branch out and stretch our brains.

Find more information here about Ladies Home Journal book club and The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen.

The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen
publisher: Crown
release: April 12, 2011
book links: goodreads author LHJ twitter

from goodreads - When a bird flies into a window in Spring Green, Wisconsin, sisters Milly and Twiss get a visit. Twiss listens to the birds’ heartbeats, assessing what she can fix and what she can’t, while Milly listens to the heartaches of the people who’ve brought them. These spinster sisters have spent their lives nursing people and birds back to health.

But back in the summer of 1947, Milly and Twiss knew nothing about trying to mend what had been accidentally broken. Milly was known as a great beauty with emerald eyes and Twiss was a brazen wild child who never wore a dress or did what she was told. That was the summer their golf pro father got into an accident that cost him both his swing and his charm, and their mother, the daughter of a wealthy jeweler, finally admitted their hardscrabble lives wouldn’t change. It was the summer their priest, Father Rice, announced that  God didn’t exist and ran off to Mexico, and a boy named Asa finally caught Milly’s eye. And, most unforgettably, it was the summer their cousin Bett came down from a town called Deadwater and changed the course of their lives forever.

Rebecca Rasmussen’s masterfully written debut novel is full of hope and beauty, heartbreak and sacrifice, love and the power of sisterhood, and offers wonderful surprises at every turn.

If you would like to join us, check out our discussion schedule below:

December 13, 2011 – we’ll provide a detailed review of the book

January 6, 2012 – we’ll tackle those scholarly discussion questions

January 8, 2012 –listen in to our podcast for our candid thoughts and opinions

And make sure to join in the discussion on twitter, just use the hashtag #LHJbookclub . We’re always open for academic debate!

As part of the Ladies Home Journal Book Club, we continue our book club discussions this month (see here for all posts) today we are tackling those book club questions, and we’ll just say that they are insightful and really make you ponder your opinions, thoughts and perceptions of the book…

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Bitter in the Mouth is a novel that invites us to consider what it means to be family. How are families defined and constructed within it’s pages?

Shannan - The families are defined as those that are destined to be together.  They are from all backgrounds with different qualities within each one. Adoption, heterosexual, homosexual  She even got broken up with bc she couldn’t provide the “normal” family with her boyfriend.

Sarah - I think family, according to Bitter in the Mouth, is defined as those that are kind and accepting through it all.  It is Linda’s great uncle and best friend Kelly that are her truest “family” in that they love her unconditionally, while her mother and grandmother judge her harshly. Especially because Linda is adopted under difficult circumstances, her definition of family is that much harder for her to “sense.”

Linda Hammerick begins her story with her great-uncle Harper because she believes that “a family narrative should begin with love.” How does her great-uncle, a.k.a. Baby Harper, help her to understand what it means to be loved?

Stacy - He has shown unconditional love to her. He made her feel valued and special.

Shannan - He is the only one who loved her for who she is and always wanted her to achieve what she has in her heart.

Linda’s “secret sense,” auditory-gustatory synesthesia, causes her to taste words. How does her unusual relationship with “the word” shape Linda’s personality and life? What other characters in the novel have a unique relationship to “the word”?

Shannan - It shaped who she was by making her choose what to say and hear.  She took what she tasted and formed them to what her world could offer her.  It was related to her memories too.  Her friend and she wrote their letters to each other.  Her grandmother, Iris, could only speak the truth. Her mother didn’t say much of anything to her.

According to Linda, “[w]e keep secrets to protect, but the ones most shielded—from shame, from judgment, from the slap in the face—are ourselves. We are selfish in our secret keeping and rarely altruistic. We act out of instinct and survival and only when we feel safest will we let our set of facts be known.” Consider the secrets that are kept in the novel and by whom. Do these instances prove Linda’s assertion or disprove it?

Stacy - They whole heartedly prove Linda’s point. See DeAnne.  See Baby Harper. See Iris. See Thomas.

Shannan - Yes, see above…

Sarah  - This is true for everyone except Linda’s best friend Kelly.  She does not want to keep her own secret about being pregnant, but does so for her family’s sake, more than for her own.  She would have kept her baby and allowed her secret to be shared with the world, had it not been for her family’s worry about “the slap in the face”.

Linda’s grandmother Iris is the “family truth teller.” What are the examples in the first half of the novel of Iris telling us the truth? Did you understand them to be “truths” or were they, in a way, hidden in plain sight?

Stacy - I think Iris was a selective truth teller. There were lots of secrets being kept. At the same time if Linda had been older, more discerning the truth may have been more evident than she realized.

Shannan - She told the truth that she wanted to tell to shock people, to hurt people’s feeling, to prove her point.  Sometimes a truth teller isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Sarah - As Shannan says, sometimes a truth teller is helpful, but Iris told only half truths and damaged people more than helped them with her  judgements embedded in the truths.

Linda Hammerick and Kelly Powell have been best friends since the age of seven. What did they have in common that brought them together?

Shannan - They were both different – Linda was Asian and Kelly was overweight.  They both loved the written word, letters that it.

 Sarah - One part of what kept them together, after their initial friendship, was their mutual secret of Kelly’s cousin’s sexual abuse of them.  Both never told the truth until it was too late, but I think that both of their families did not teach them how to speak such truths.  Their mutual anguish over the secrets they kept (later including Kelly’s secret preganancy and Linda’s synesthesia) allowed them both to have an outlet in each other.

“Fat is not fate.” This is one of the ways that Linda distinguishes herself from her best friend Kelly. What is fate then? What are the examples of fate in Bitter in the Mouth?

 Stacy - Fate is something that unavoidably befalls a person. However, I believe that we have free will. We don’t have to let fate choose our destiny. To me,  Linda is saying that Kelly chooses to be fat. A prime example of fate (and the girl’s desires to manipulate it) is evident as the girls decided their ‘fate’ in high school.

 Shannan - Fate is fact.  It is something that is happening.  Kelly “chose” to be fat and could change.  Linda couldn’t change her sensory of words.

 Sarah - Fate is unavoidable.  Uncle Harper is gay, Linda has synesthesia, Kelly is kind.

Author Monique Truong states that “while my first novel, The Book of Salt, features an unreliable narrator, Bitter in the Mouth is a novel that plays with the idea of the unreliable reader.” She goes on to say that “the first half of Bitter is constructed as an invitation to the reader to fill in the blanks.” What do you think Truong means by this? What were the blanks in Linda’s story,and how did you fill them in? Was your “fill in” based on the stories that Linda tells about her immediate family, your own life experiences, or perhaps on what you know about the author of the novel?

Stacy - Truong left many things up to us. I for one thought that Linda was white, and that Baby Harper was molesting her. I suppose I based this on my own life experience or experiences lived through others.

 Shannan - Firstly, I loved that the novel was constructed in two parts that allowed us to know the person  before knowing what exterior qualities she exhibited.  I had no idea she was adopted let alone a different race.  I too, thought Baby Harper was molesting her.  Then after finishing the novel I understand why I thought that but disappointed that I perceive men that way.  Why, when an uncle or man in the family loves a girl in the family, does it have to be sexual?  Why can’t they love each other because God gave them each other to love?

 Sarah - Interestingly I too perceived Linda as white and living with her birth family, but did not perceive Baby Harper as a potential molester.  I too projected my own experiences onto Linda when filling in the blanks and so was a bit “slapped in the face” by her revelations of being both Asian and adopted.  I liked the author’s manipulation of us into looking at our own assumptions, especially because of the themes of truth and secrets that play throughout the novel.  Because I have not read The Book of Salt, I only used my own judgements to color the reader, but I know that when I read books by the same author, I’m always looking for connections, so I’m sure my perceptions would have been different had I read the author’s other work.

In the second half of the novel, Linda reveals a significant part of her life story to us. Did the revelation of this fact change the way that you understand her and her story? Did you go back and re-read the first half of the novel? If yes, what did you “see” that you did not see upon the first reading?

Stacy - I did not, in fact, re-read the first half of the book.

Shannan - I didn’t re-read the first half but did spend some time thinking about the book and wondering  why I thought things in the beginning of the book that proved to be  false after reading the second half of the book.  The news and life sure do influence the way we perceive things.

Sarah - I was listening to the novel, so I was not going to re-listen to the CDs but definitely anticipated more “reveals” rather than taking everything at face value.

Consider your first impression of Linda. Although her synesthesia is a rare neurological condition, were there still ways in which you found yourself relating to her sense (pun intended) of being different and disconnected from her family and from the other children in Boiling Springs?

Stacy - I think it’s a universal knowledge that we all feel different and disconnected from our family, at least at times.

Shannan - We are at a time now where people are celebrating the differences we have that make us unique.  Of course, we all feel different from our friends and family no matter how much we have in common with them.  That is what makes us unique.  Does it make you feel lonely sometimes?  Yes.

Sarah - I think everyone feels like an outsider at some point in their lives.  Having moved often growing up, I related to Linda’s impression of being the “new kid” who did not have a history with the town.  I also think all kids think their parents should realize more about what is going on in their kids’ lives-whether it be the trouble other teenagers are getting into or how to do the homework assigned. As kids, we have this sense that parents should know it all and they let us down when they do not see what we see or know more than we do.

 What if the author had switched the order of how she told you Linda’s story? In other words, what if “Revelation” came before “Confession,” and you were presented with the opportunity to identify and to relate to Linda based on her “outer” difference first, as opposed to her “internal” difference. Consider how your own identification with Linda would have been different. Would it have been lessened or heightened or unaffected?

Shannan - I think I would have related better to Linda as I would have known  her story of how she was adopted and a different race from her family.  Although I wouldn’t change the order of the book if I could.  I loved reading it that way.  However,  I would have thought more of DeAnne knowing what her husband felt about another woman.  I wouldn’t have thought things about Baby Harper and maybe wouldn’t have hated Iris so much.

Sarah - I think I too would have felt more sympathy for DeAnne and would have liked watching the family drama unfold, rather than not realize what was happening until it was over. I think I also would have rooted for Linda more as an underdog, rather than my initial perception of her as a whiner.

Linda tells us that her first memory was a word that triggered a bitter taste. What word do you think it was and who spoke it? What are the clues that lead you to the word?

 Stacy - I am assuming it was her father or DeAnne, but I have no idea what the word was. Hate? Adulterer?

Shannan - I keep thinking that I need to re-read the bitter words and try to piece it together.  Her real parents?

Sarah - I think her first memory was probably the night of the fire in the trailer when her birth mother put her outside of harm’s way as she said at one point that she vaguely remembered someone saying something to her in her native tongue, as if in a dream.  Perhaps right before this, her birth father said something cruel to her birth mother (like “adulterer” or “bitch”), which triggered the fire/murder that occurred as a result.

Is Linda Hammerick a southerner? Is Bitter in the Mouth a southern novel? Why or why not?

Stacy - Southern is as southern does.

Shannan - Linda is a southerner.   Linda came from a southern family and when you are born into a southern family, you can run (to NY) but you can’t hide.

Sarah - I think that for me, Baby Harper’s eccentricies were much like those in The Garden of Good and Evil which made the novel, in the end,  a Southern one.  Linda herself is a Southerner by her upbringing and her adopted family which is a Southern bred family-both well-heeled and crazy!

Since Stacy already posted the information from Goodreads here, I thought I’d go ahead with the review!

Monique Truong’s second novel, Bitter in the Mouth, is about Linda, a girl who has synesthesia, a rare disorder in which the sound of words trigger food tastes. The word “mother” tastes like chocolate milk and her own name, “Linda,” tastes like mint. The associations interestingly do not seem to have rhyme or reason as negative words can have positive tastes and vice versa. The novel describes her upbringing in a small town, the numerous letters she writes to her best friend Kelly, how she deals with her synesthesia (as it is difficult to process word meaning with all of the initial flavors bombarding the senses), her eccentric uncle, Baby Harper, and finally, the big reveal of the factors surrounding the difficulties in her childhood with her mother.

I found the book interesting as she would often narrate a sentence by saying “What (graham cracker) do (licorice) you (lollipop) want (meatball)?” so that we too were bombarded with the tastes and could not process the sentence either (especially because I was listening, I couldn’t go back and reread so I felt like I was Linda that much more). I kept wondering what words should taste like, based on sound or meaning, and wanted to link every new vocabulary word I learned with a taste. Reader Jennifer Ikeda was properly “bitter” and unhappy throughout the novel, mimicking the narrator’s mood (and also articulated the taste sensations in a slightly different tone than the words themselves-hard to do!).

What I found somewhat problematic was how she described the awfulness of her mother’s nightly dinners- varieties of the same chicken casserole baked with a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup-yet she had such a multitude of flavors for words. How had she tasted so much (that she could then identify each word with a separate flavor), when she was clearly limited in her gastronomic palate at home?

I also just never found myself rooting for Linda or reveling in the plot. The book is constructed somewhat strangely, which reinforces the “danger of keeping secrets” theme, but also kept me from really latching on to Linda. I thought the plot was a slow-paced one, and while the end reveal was interesting, it still did not make up for much of the book’s blandness.

In retrospect (after answering the Bitter in the Mouth discussion questions for LHJ), I did appreciate the literary academic-ness of the novel; if you are ready for an academic challenge and go in looking for themes and motifs, you may be more satisfied with the lack of loveable characters and the slow pace. As Stacy, Shannan and I all agreed, this is definitely a book club book, because even if you didn’t like the read, there is a LOT to talk about (and figure out).

Instead of a rating, I’ll let our podcast and discussion questions give the GitS opinion and let the commentary continue the reviews!

-Audiobibliophile Sarah
P.S. Find out more information on the audio recording at www.recordedbooks.com

IT’S BOOK CLUB TIME!!!!

Along with Ladies Home Journal (click here for all the LHJ details) us girls have embarked on a journey to read Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong.  While it’s not a normal genre read for us, we dove in head first – and frankly, it left us scratching our heads and pondering the pure genius of Truong.

Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong
Publisher: Random House
Release date: August 31, 2010
book info: goodreads

From Monique Truong, the bestselling and award-winning author of The Book of Salt, comes a brilliant, mesmerizing, beautifully written novel about a young woman’s search for identity and family, as she uncovers the secrets of her past and of history.

Growing up in the small town of Boiling Springs, North Carolina, in the 70’s and 80’s, Linda believes that she is profoundly different from everyone else, including the members of her own family. “What I know about you, little girl, would break you in two” are the cruel, mysterious last words that Linda’s grandmother ever says to her.

Now in her thirties, Linda looks back at her past when she navigated her way through life with the help of her great-uncle Harper, who loves her and loves to dance, and her best friend Kelly, with whom Linda exchanges almost daily letters. The truth about my family was that we disappointed one another. When I heard the word “disappoint,” I tasted toast, slightly burnt.

This astonishing novel questions many assumptions—about what it means to be a family and to be a friend, to be foreign and to be familiar, to be connected and to be disconnected—from others and from the past, our bodies, our histories, and ourselves.

WANT TO JOIN US? PLEASE DO!
Just read the book and check back here, our schedule for discussion is:

8/18 – we’ll be reviewing the book

8/26 – we’ll discuss those deeply deep discussion questions, a la school style

8/28 – listen in as we discuss this heavily themed book (podcast)

And make sure to join in the discussion on Twitter, just use the hashtag #bitterBC . No twitter? No problem! Join us on Facebook, look under the discussions heading!! We’re always open for academic debate!

Insatiable by Meg Cabot…juicy and vampire-y. Nancy joins Shannan and Stacy as they discuss this soap-opera style book filled with not one, but two love interests…and yes, there will be a sequel.

As always *SPOLIERS* and you can listen and download on iTunes.

 Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Borders.com description…Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal, professional, twenty-something young women don’t get visited by ghosts. Or do they?

Traditional, face-to face book club:
date: August 17
time: 7pm
location: 4103 Windermere Colleyville, Texas

Online book club, LIVE CHAT:
date: August 18
time: 9pm (CEN)
location: bookclubsonline.org (it’s fast and easy to sign up, then join our book club, “girlsinthestacks.com” )

Insatiable by Meg Cabot

description from Borders.com…Sick of hearing about vampires? So is Meena Harper. But her bosses are making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.  Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die. (Not that you’re going to believe her. No one ever does.) But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets-then makes the mistake of falling in love with-Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side…And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future. . . .If she even has one.

Traditional, face-to face book club:
date: July 20
time: 7pm
location: 4103 Windermere Colleyville, Texas

Online book club, LIVE CHAT:
date: July 21
time: 9pm (CEN)
location: bookclubsonline.org (it’s fast and easy to sign up, then join our book club, “girlsinthestacks.com” )

Girls, we finally decided (seriously, it was hard) on our JULY BOOK for BOOK CLUB, it’s  none other than…

 Insatiable by Meg Cabot

description from Borders.com…Sick of hearing about vampires? So is Meena Harper. But her bosses are making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.  Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die. (Not that you’re going to believe her. No one ever does.) But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets-then makes the mistake of falling in love with-Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side. It’s a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire hunters, would prefer to see him dead for. The problem is, Lucien’s already dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met whom she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future. . . .If she even has one.

Traditional, face-to face book club:
date: July 20
time: 7pm
location:  4103 Windermere Colleyville, Texas

Online book club, LIVE CHAT:
date: July 21
time: 9pm (CEN)
location: bookclubsonline.org (it’s fast and easy to sign up, then join our book club, “girlsinthestacks.com” )

This past week we hosted a face-to-face (traditional) book club, as well as hosted an online version. What can we say, but that they were both enlightening, fun, we made new friends and we TALKED about the book!

 Here is what we thought of The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen:

Nancy - I thought this was such a sweet story.  It was offbeat, heartwarming and dramatic all at the same time.  A perfect summer book! 
I give it 4 STACKS

Shannan - I loved this book!  It was a sweet, magical ride through a quirky town with a interesting history. The story had depth and a lovely conclusion. A wonderful summer read! (read Shannan’s full review here)
I give it 5 STACKS!

Stacy - I wanted to pack my bags and move to Mullaby…this southern fried novel offered mystery and sweet romance with a little paranormal for flare!
I give it 4.5 STACKS

Yea, we all three used the term “sweet” to describe this book. We also all agreed that this is a perfect beach read. Oh, we also have to give a HUGE shout-out to Sarah Addison Allen, she sent us lots of goodies for our first book club, “ You RoCK Sarah!”

as if it isn’t obvious, this is a pic from our face-to-face book club.

A sensitive and intelligent teenager, Emily, has to move in her grandfather she never knew existed after her mother dies. She meets Julia, who is in her 30’s, that lives next door and a friendship forms.  Julia tries to help Emily adapt to Mullaby, North Carolina when hurtful stories of her mother’s actions turn the town against her.  Win, the Mayor’s son, has a special attraction to Emily. Can the town keep them apart?

Julia has had a hard life and is trying to save enough to open her own bakery while living far away from the town that she grew up in. After her father dies and leaves her his restaurant back home, she decides to manage it while saving up enough to leave for good once more.   Will she be able to leave her troubles behind and start life anew?  Will she be able to find the love that she so whole heartily deserves?  Will Emily be able to fit into a town that is determined to hate her?

I couldn’t love this story any more if I tried.  Each chapter was the perfect length.  Each character was developed and cared about.  The stories of the characters are well adapted, interesting, and resolved.  Could I ask for more than talking about food (love), relationships (love) and magic (Love, love) in a well written story?  I think not.

I give The Girl Who Chased the Moon a very tall, it’s almost falling down 5 STACKS!

Love, love, love, STACKGirl Shannan who is so ready for book club and already made the yummy Hummingbird Cake!

Join us tonight at bookclubsonline.org  for a LIVE book chat discussing the southern fried novel, The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen, at 9PM (CEN).

Once you join (it is simple and easy) just search for our book club, girlsinthestacks.com.

Hope to see you there!

Windview Estates Clubhouse
4103 Windermere
Colleyville, Texas 76034

There will be signs on Cheeksparger pointing the way. We can’t wait until next week!!
MAP

come ready to talk/discuss The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen…but mostly be ready for some fun!!

STACKGirls Stacy, Shannan, and Nancy

ps - for those coming to the “online” book club click here for more info.

Date:

here’s the skinny… sign up at the above link. Then join our book club, girlsinthestacks.com.  Then on the night of the LIVE chat, sign in and start chatting with us. It’s that easy. The best part (besides being free) is that you will never get spam or any type of email from this site and registration is simple with nothing to download.

That now makes two ways you can join us as we discuss The Girl Who Chased the Moon, the traditional meeting on June 22 in Texas and the LIVE chat on June 23 at the above link. Join us, we promise it will be fun!

If you have any questions please leave a comment or send me an email at stacy@girlsinthestacks.com

The Girl who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

From the Publisher… Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother’s life. Such as, why did Dulcie Shelby leave her hometown so suddenly? And why did she vow never to return? But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew—a reclusive, real-life gentle giant—she realizes that mysteries aren’t solved in Mullaby, they’re a way of life: Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor bakes hope in the form of cakes.

Please join Stacy, Shannan, Nancy and all the other STACKGirls in discussing this novel and having some refreshments on June 22, 2010 in Colleyville, Texas.  We will send out the details about our meeting place closer to the 22nd.

If you know for sure that you will be able to join us, just leave us a quick note.

Happy Reading, The Girls In The STACKS