Clara Callan, Richard B. Wright

Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright

 

(Tansley Reads Rating: 72% -- winner for the year)

·       Icebreaker (posed by all of us as people arrive): Other than those we read for this group, what was the best book you read this year? What would you recommend to the rest of us for summer reading?

Discussion Questions

1.    Richard Wright has been widely praised for his convincing portrayal of his female protagonist. Do you agree?

2.    How would you describe Nora? In what ways does she differ from Clara? Do these differences come across in their letters to each other? What do you think explains their deep connection as sisters?

3.    Clara Callan takes the form of letters and journal entries. What did you think of this epistolary form of narration of Clara Callan? How did reading the constant stream of correspondence between Nora and Clara facilitate your understanding of their relationship?

4.    Discuss Clara’s sudden lack of belief in God. Is this loss of faith really significant in her life?

5.    What does Clara reveal about her hopes, dreams, and fears in her letters? How do her letters to Nora and Evelyn compare to her journal entries? What kinds of information does she choose to keep private? What does she decide to share?

6.    What would you say is Clara’s greatest fear? How do her actions throughout the book point to this?

7.    How does Clara deal with being raped? Did any of her revenge fantasies surprise you?

8.    How is 1930s Europe portrayed in Clara Callan? What did you think of the trip to Italy described in the book? Did it make any aspects of this era more vivid?

9.    What role does poetry play in Clara's day-to-day existence? What are some of her poetic aspirations?

10.Why did Clara enter the relationship with Frank, in particular knowing that he was married?

11.Clara and Frank discuss his family, his career, his life and his faith. After the affair has finished, why does Clara think she didn’t know Frank?

12.How is Clara's unmarried expectant state received by her community? How does she handle this development in her life? In what ways will the arrival of Elizabeth Ann change Clara?

13.Early in the book (p. 23) Clara says “hanging is a man’s choice for death...a woman... steps in front of a freight train’s yellow eye” – her mother’s death must have coloured the community’s view of the Callan family. How did the community’s attitude affect the Callan girls?

14.Clara’s observations about the time and place in which she lived are vivid, atmospheric, and often humorous. What is your favourite anecdote from the book?

15.What is the role of Elizabeth Ann’s afterword? How does it affect your perception of Clara?