~*~Jan Book Club Discussion Time~*~
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~*~Jan Book Club Discussion Time~*~
| Wed, 01-17-2007 - 8:35am |
For those of you who are participating in our January Book Club----we are discussing today, the first half of the book!

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"I don't think she was morally obligated to tell Norah. I don't think she thought it was her place to tell. David should have done it , but since he chose not to, I think she would have seen herself as interfering in their marriage.
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Linda
mom to
Alex (16), Rachel (14), Matthew (12)
When David hands his baby girl over to Caroline and tells Norah that she has died, what was your immediate emotional reaction? At this early point, did you understand David’s motivations? Did your understanding grow as the novel progressed?
I was saddened but I also realized that he felt he was doing Norah a favor...saving her from the heartbreak he experienced with his family with his sister. He didn't want to see her grieve like his mother did. At this point I felt he was acting on his mother's pain. As the novel progressed I realized it was more about HIS pain, with the feelings HE didn't want to deal with again.
Denise
David describes feeling like "an aberration" within his own family (p. 7) and describes himself as feeling like "an imposter" in his professional life as a doctor (p. 8). Discuss David’s psyche, his history, and what led him to make that fateful decision on the night of his children’s birth.
I think he was really scarred by his childhood, the poverty, his mother's pain, his own pain at losing his sister. He moved out to attend high school, working in the shop and living in the town. This probably seared into him how poor his family was, and was probably relieved to drop his family name when he went to college. He worked hard to extinguish his past, to seperate himself from the pain and shame of where he came from. Of course you can't do that, but in building that wall he realized there were two parts to him...his past and his 'new' life. By seperating them he couldn't fully participate in his new life...part of him would alway be part of his hidden past. I think he transferred his pain at losing his sister to being poor...instead of accepting his past, he felt the PAIN as his memory of the past. Maybe seeing his daughter, reliving the pain he'd experienced at losing his sister...that made him feel that he couldn't escape his past if he had to live with his pain on a daily basis with his daughter.
When David instructs Caroline to take Phoebe to the institution, Caroline could have flatly refused or she could have gone to the authorities. Why doesn’t she? Was she right to do what she did and raise Phoebe as her own? Was Caroline morally obligated to tell Norah the truth right from the beginning? Or was her moral obligation simply to take care of Phoebe at whatever cost?
As a nurse, I'm sure she was aware that these babies routinely disapeared into institutions in those days. Being in love with David, she was willing to do anything to please him. She rightly assumed that by doing this, they would have a 'secret' together, something they would have that would exclude Norah. Making her special to him.
When she got to the institution she couldn't bear leaving a part of David to fester in those surroundings..She had a part of him and she wanted to take care of it as she would him if she had the opportunity. In her love for him, she felt she'd be leaving HIM there in some way. In her mind, is was absolutely the right thing to do, taking the baby to nurture and love in place of David...who she knew she'd never get to openly love.
Was she morally obligated to tell? In a perfect world, yes. But David had committed the worse crime. He'd tried to throw his baby away, to forget about her. She probably felt that the child wouldn't be as loved if she was taken back to the family and was doing the child a favor by keeping her. I don't think she kept her out of moral obligation, but more out of a need to have a part of David in her life at any cost.
Denise
Though David wanted no part of her, Phoebe goes on to lead a full life, bringing much joy to Caroline and Al. Her story calls into question how we determine what kind of life is worth living. How would you define such a life? In contrast to Phoebe’s, how would you describe the quality of Paul’s life as he grew up?
Paul's quality of life was scarred by his parent's choices and relationship. Typical disfunctional family. Great house, plenty of opportunity, yet shadowed by by parents who really weren't there for him. Phoebe on the other hand had people fighting for her at every turn, cheering her on and focused on her success. She had family who really showed how much they cared, but Paul just had parental shadows...parents who were so busy hiding their own pain that they couldn't be there for his.
Denise
Throughout the novel, the characters often describe themselves as feeling as if they are watching their own lives from the outside. For instance, David describes the moment when his wife is going into labor and says "he felt strangely as if he himself were suspended in the room . . . watching them both from above" (p. 10). What do you think Edwards is trying to convey here? Have you ever experienced similar feelings in your own life?
I too think this is a coping mechanism. In times of extreme stress or pain that wall allows you to not feel and to step away to look at the situation from an outsiders point of view. I too am notorious for my 'emotional walls' so yes I can relate. Since I'm such a 'feeler' is helps me to emotionally step away so I can react with my brain instead of my heart when I need to.
Denise
There is an obvious connection between David and Caroline, most aptly captured by a particular moment described through David’s point of view: "Their eyes met, and it seemed to the doctor that he knew her—that they knew each other—in some profound and certain way" (p. 12). What is the significance of this moment for each of them? How would you describe the connection between them? Why do you think David married Norah and not Caroline?
I think they saw in each other's hearts, felt the trust and emotions they shared. I think at this point David realized that if he chose Caroline to be with that he'd have to open his heart, and the fear of exposing his real self was too much. He chose Norah because she was suitable and because he didn't feel that emotional deepness with her. He knew he could keep her at arms length and be able to hide who he really was and where he came from. Knowing Caroline 'knew him in some profound and certain way' meant that the relationship would only deepen and his secrets would surely spill out...he didn't want to face them.
Denise
After Norah has successfully destroyed the wasps’ nest, Edwards writes that there was something happening in Norah’s life, "an explosion, some way in which life could never be the same" (p. 139). What does she mean, and what is the significance of Norah’s "fight" with these wasps?
Oh it was definitely a stomping of all the 'little stinging bugs' that had been hurting her in her life...by stomping them out she was freeing herself to move on.
Denise
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