The Stories We Tell
Patti Callahan Henry, 2014
St. Martin's Press
272 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250040312
Summary
Patti Callahan Henry is back with a powerful novel about the stories we tell and the people we trust.
Eve and Cooper Morrison are Savannah’s power couple. They’re on every artistic board and deeply involved in the community. She owns and operates a letterpress studio specializing in the handmade; he runs a digital magazine featuring all things southern gentlemen. The perfect juxtaposition of the old and the new, Eve and Cooper are the beautiful people. The lucky ones. And they have the wealth and name that comes from being part of an old Georgia family.
But things may not be as good as they seem.
Eve’s sister, Willa, is staying with the family until she gets "back on her feet." Their daughter, Gwen, is all adolescent rebellion. And Cooper thinks Eve works too much. Still, the Morrison marriage is strong. After twenty-one years together, Eve and Cooper know each other. They count on each other. They know what to expect. But when Cooper and Willa are involved in a car accident, the questions surrounding the event bring the family close to breaking point. Sifting between the stories—what Cooper says, what Willa remembers, what the evidence indicates—Eve has to find out what really happened. And what she’s going to do about it.
A riveting story about the power of truth, The Stories we Tell will open your eyes and rearrange your heart. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
• Education—R.N., Auburn University; M.C.H., Georgia State
• Currently—lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama
New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry has published nine novels: Losing the Moon, Where the River Runs, When Light Breaks, Between the Tides, The Art of Keeping Secrets, Driftwood Summer, The Perfect Love Song, Coming up for Air, and And Then I Found You—her most recent. Hailed as a fresh new voice in southern fiction, Henry has been shortlisted for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, and nominated four different times for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Novel of the Year. Her work is published in five languages and in audiobook by Brilliance Audio.
Henry has appeared in numerous magazines including Good Housekeeping, skirt!, South, and Southern Living. Two of her novels were Okra Picks and Coming up For Air was selected for the August 2011 Indie Next List. She is a frequent speaker at fundraisers, library events and book festivals. A full time writer, wife, and mother of three—Henry lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
Patti Callahan Henry grew up in Philadelphia, the daughter of an Irish minister, and moved south with her family when she was 12 years old. With the idea that being a novelist was “unrealistic,” she set her sights on becoming a pediatric nurse, graduating from Auburn University with a degree in nursing, and from Georgia State with a Master’s degree in Child Health.
She left nursing to raise her first child, Meagan, and not long after having her third child, Rusk, she began writing down the stories that had always been in her head. Henry wrote early in the mornings, before her children woke for the day, but it wasn’t until Meagan, then six, told her mother that she wanted “to be a writer of books” when she grew up, that Henry realized that writing was her own dream as well. She began taking writing classes at Emory University, attending weekend writers’ conferences, and educating herself about the publishing industry, rising at 4:30 AM to write. Her first book, Losing the Moon, was published in 2004. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Henry has mastered the art of the slow reveal, leading the reader down unexpected paths. Readers who enjoy southern women’s fiction a la Joshilyn Jackson (Someone Else’s Love Story, 2013) will appreciate this emotionally satisfying novel.
Booklist
Discussion Questions
1. The book opens with the narrator, Eve, telling us about her eye color changing. In what ways was this event a premonition of the other changes in Eve’s life?
2. Let’s talk about the title of this book—The Stories We Tell. What do you believe the author means by “stories?” What are the stories we tell in a relationship as we come to know each other?
3. The art and craft of letterpress is an integral part of the story. What do you think about Eve’s obsession with typography, letterpress machines, and fonts? How does it fit in with the notion of “stories?”
4. Creativity and art are healing balms for both Willa and Eve in different ways. How do you believe working has helped Eve and singing/songwriting has helped Willa? What is it about the creative process that helps people to heal?
5. Willa has a traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), which affects her memory and her emotions. How do you think this injury affected Eve’s willingness to believe Willa’s version of that night? Were you able to trust Willa’s story and perceptions?
6. Gwen is rebelling in different ways during the crisis, and Eve talks about adolescence meaning “a disturbance.” How much do you think Gwen’s behavior was a reflection of the tension in her parents’ marriage?
7. Eve and Max have an obvious attraction to each other, yet both of them try to keep it professional. Do you think they could have avoided falling in love? Or can you avoid such a thing?
8. What do you think of the term “financial infidelity? ”In what ways do you think this kind of infidelity breaches ethics? Or does it?
9. Image, family, and success appear to be of the utmost importance to Cooper. Do these ideas oppose each another? At what point in the story did you, as a reader, start to doubt Cooper’s story?
10.The Ten Good Ideas came from Willa and Eve’s childhood remodeling of The Ten Commandments. What ideas, both as a child and as an adult, would you include in this list? Which idea resonated the most with you?
11. The tagline for Eve’s company is, “There’s a story behind everything.” Max often expressed himself with stories—fables, folk tales, and fairy tales. Willa expressed herself in songs and she also believed her dreams told her about her life. In what ways do you incorporate this kind of storytelling into your own life?
12. Eve’s family plays a pivotal role in her life and in her beliefs. How do you believe this influenced her belief in Cooper? How do you believe this affected her final decision?
13. Savannah, as a city, seems almost like a character in the novel. In what ways does this distinct setting influence the story? Would this have been a different kind of story if it had been set elsewhere?
14. Did you have a sense of who was telling a “true story” throughout this novel—and who wasn’t? Did that change throughout your read? How did you think it would end?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
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