Another Woman's Husband, Gill Paul

Another Woman’s Husband

By Gill Paul

(Tansley Reads Rating: 64%)

Icebreaker

Events of historical significance, such as 911 and the assassination of JFK, for example, stay with us.  Do you remember where you were/what you were doing when you heard of Diana’s death?  Did you watch the funeral?

Questions

1.  Did the linking of the two plots add or detract from your enjoyment of this book?

2.  Both Wallis and Diana moved among the jet set, partying and dressing to the nines. How else were they similar or different?

3.  Describe Wallis and Mary, each in five words or less?

4. What did you think of Ernest?

5. Do you think Mary betrayed Wallis when she had an affair with Ernest and then subsequently married him?

6. Wallis’s character is complicated.  We are told she didn’t want to marry “Peter Pan”.  Was it out of “duty” that she did so or was there another reason?  What do you think of Edward?

                     

7.  Did you find all the friendships convincing?

8.  What do you think of Alex and Rachel’s relationship?

9. Why did Alex become so obsessed with his conspiracy theory of Diana’s death?

10.  Wallis generally had  bad press since the abdication crisis.  Do you think there was misogyny involved?  Would it have been different if she had been a divorced man whom a female heir of the throne fell in love with?

                     

11.  This novel mentions some living people who were affected by Diana’s death – in particular, her sons. Do you think it does so respectfully? Is it always acceptable for a novelist to write about people who are still alive?

12.  Had Edward VIII married Wallis Simpson, remained King, but had no heirs, Elizabeth would still have become Queen, but 20 years later than she did. (Edward died in 1972) How might the commonwealth she inherited have been different?

13. Quick round: What did you think of the book? Is there anything you want to discuss that we missed?

The Alice Network, Kate Quinn

The Alice Network

By Kate Quinn

(Tansley Reads Rating: 80%)

Icebreaker

We sent out an email asking everyone to wear a favourite/meaningful/interesting hat.

Talk about this hat, or one you may have had, that you loved, or was significant to you.

Questions

1.  Female friendship is a big theme in this novel. How does each friendship grow and change over the course of events? (Eve and Charlie, Eve and Lili, Lili and Violette, Eve and Violette?)

2.  What was your impression of the day-to-day descriptions of working as a spy? What part of the work could you do?

3.  Eve’s spy journey becomes more difficult when she becomes Rene’s lover. While Eve hates him, it becomes complicated when they’re intimate. What were your impressions of their relationship?

4. Finn Kilgore and Captain Cameron have very similar stories. How are they similar and why do their lives have such different outcomes?

5. Why was Charlie so obsessed with finding her cousin Rose Fournier?

6. The disappearance of Charlie’s cousin provides the story’s driving search.  How did Rose’s fate change the focus of the search?

                     

7.  Charlie, Eve and Finn each have their own secrets that slowly come out as the book goes on. What is it about their past and secrets that made them kindred spirits?

8.  Each of the three main characters wants to fix things. What does “fixing” mean to Charlie, to Eve and to Finn?

9. There were at least 3 suggested scenarios when Eve and Charlie found Rene – a)  they would kill him;  b) report him to the authorities to be tried, punished and humiliated;  or c)  that he would escape from them  and disappear once again to start a new life.  Were you satisfied with Rene’s ending or would you have preferred a different one for him?

10.  In this book and others, we’ve seen instances of sadism.  Is sadism an inherent human quality or is it only manifested in times of war and upheaval?

                     

11.  There were numerous horrific episodes portrayed in this book.  Which one affected you the most?  (e.g.:  Rene crushing Eve’s knuckles; the killing of citizens and burning the town  of Oradour-sur-Glane;   Rene shooting young man in back for stealing some money;  killing of Rene)

12.  Although Violette knows that Eve has been tortured and drugged, she blames Eve for Lili’s capture and death, why?

13. Quick round: What did you think of the book? Is there anything you want to discuss that we missed?

Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

By Heather Morris

(Tansley Reads Rating: 68%)

Icebreaker

If you were going away, the  destination and purpose of trip not fully known or understood, what books would you take with you for a sense of home/comfort/normalcy?

Questions

1.  What was your perception of Lale as he arrived in Auschwitz?  How did your understanding of him change throughout the novel and then after reading the notes in the back?

2.  When Gita met Lale she refused to tell him where she came from or her last name. Why?

                     

3.  The phrase “To save the one is to save the world” is repeated throughout this novel.  Discuss some of the small acts of humanity carried out by individuals in The Tattooist of Auschwitz. How did these small acts of kindness have greater implications?

4.  Neither Lale nor Jakub wanted to hurt people, but both had a strong desire to live. How can we label their actions?  Were they actions of kindness, guilt, humanity, apology or ...?

5. Lale tattoos numbers on the prisoner’s arms. Gita files prisoners’ names in the administrative office. How does this impact the way they perceive the prisoners?

6.  What qualities did Lale and Gita have that allowed them to survive when so many others died?         

7.  Why did the girls take the risk of smuggling valuables out of Canada House to give to Lale?

8. Cilka is forced to become Schwarzhuber’s mistress, Lale was the Tätowierer and Gita worked in an office for the Germans.  All of them received privileges for this.  After the war, Cilka was punished as a collaborator, should all of them have been?

9.  Although we know Lale, Gita, Jakub, Cilka and Baretski were real, the book is called a novel. Which incidents, interactions or dialogues in the book, while likely fictitious, gave you a sense that you better understood conditions at Auschwitz because of reading this book?

10.  Why did Lale only record his account of his romance in Auschwitz once his wife died?

           

11.  Why do you think Lale wanted to tell his story to someone who wasn’t Jewish?

12.  How do you think Heather Morris’s experience as a screenplay writer has influenced her writing of this book?

 14:  Quick round: What did you think of the book? Is there anything you want to discuss that we missed?