Thank you for selecting my book for your book club! I hope you have a wonderful discussion (along with something good to eat…). Let me know if you’d like to talk about a Zoom visit. You’ll find my email address under “contact.” And I’m always interested to hear your thoughts about the book or try to answer any questions!
PEARS ON A WILLOW TREE
- Why is this book not told chronologically? How does this reflect the motif of “time” that runs through the novel (i.e. the clock on the mantel, Ginger arriving late for her grandmother’s funeral, the painting of Kala that Amy wants to see in Thailand)?
- Is the story of the wolves running through the snow true? Does it matter if it isn’t? “And just because I wasn’t there, that doesn’t mean I don’t remember [the story] too, Matka,” Rose writes. (p. 17)
- How would this book be different if it were told from only one point of view–for example, Amy’s? Or Ginger’s?
- Why is Helen the only one of the four women who is never able to physically leave her mother?
- How do each of the five superstitions in “Things Women Know” relate to the real lesson that follows?
- Why does Amy decide to stay in Thailand for another year after meeting Taklaw? How does her decision compare to Ginger’s decision to move to Phoenix? Rose’s decision to leave Poland? Did they all leave for the same reasons?
- How does Amy’s sense of being foreign in Thailand compare with Rose’s sense of being foreign in America? In what ways do Helen and Ginger feel “foreign”?
- Why does Helen name her daughter after a movie star? How does Rose feel about changing her name when she arrives in America? Why does Ginger not give her real name in “No Last Names” until the end? Why does Amy say “I am a teacher in Bangkok” several times to Taklaw?
- Does Ginger find redemption in the end? Does she ever understand herself? Is she understood by those around her? In “Wigilia: The Vigil,” she asks Helen, “Why am I so far away? Why?” and Helen replies, “Always so many questions, Ginger. I know you. You’ll find answers for every one, I promise.” (p. 131) Does she?
- How does “Wedding Day” compare with “Shortcuts,” the only two chapters in which all four of the women are present?
- Each woman struggles to find and maintain her own identity, separate from that of the family. In what ways does each succeed? Fail? Where and when does each woman feel most comfortable with herself?
- Helen says, “A mother understands her daughter better than the daughter ever knows” (p. 257). Is this true for these mothers and daughters?
- “It’s impossible for a good daughter to leave; it’s impossible for a good daughter to stay,” Rose says. (p 265) Is the message of this novel that leaving one’s family is bad? Is staying with one’s family good?
- “Pears on a willow tree with you–always wanting what’s impossible,” Rose says to Ginger. (p. 7) What “impossible pear” is each of these women looking for?
- Why does the book open and end with photographs?
- “Because a boy will not be you. But a girl you expect will be you. And then she isn’t,” Rose says. (p. 21) How is this true for the mothers and daughters in this book?
- Why do the men in this book have such comparatively minor roles?