Tapestry of Fortunes (Berg) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
1. Cecelia is a motivational speaker who preaches that "getting lost is the only way to find what you didn't know you were looking for" (8). Do you think Cecelia is able to take her own advice? How does mov­ing in with Lise, Joni, and Renie help her explore this philosophy?

2. Throughout the novel, Cecelia and the other women often rely on her box of fortunes to help them search for answers to their big questions. How do these answers affect their decision-making? Do their fortunes make a difference, or is it something else that ultimately guides them to these answers?

3. "I, the motivational speaker, have not been able to motivate myself into making a new life without her," Cecelia says, referring to Penny's death (10). What eventually changes for Cecelia and enables her to start a new life? Does Penny play a part in this change, even after her death?

4. When Brice, Penny's husband, tells Cece that he is getting re­married, she is initially surprised, but also happy that he is moving on. "People with people, good. People alone, bad," Penny always used to say to Cece (35). Is it difficult for Cece to heed this advice? Why might it be easier for Brice?

5. Soon after Cece receives the postcard from Dennis, she decides to go visit him. What makes Cece so certain about seeing him again? Do you ever get over your first love? How might this relate to Lise's situation?

6. When Cece moves into the house, Renie is initially defensive and skeptical. Her career as a columnist, too, highlights her skeptical and sarcastic tendencies. Why do you think Renie shows only this side of herself for much of the novel? How are the other women eventually able to uncover the more sensitive side of Renie?

7. When Cece volunteers at the Arms and meets Michael, she opens up to him about Penny's death. She explains that it was "one of the most beautiful experiences" of her life (124). What does Cece mean about Penny's death being beautiful? How does that beauty continue to influence Cece's life?

8. Renie asks the women whether they believe in the truth of the saying "Be kind, for everyone is carrying a heavy burden'' (174). Wanda, the waitress they meet during the road trip, asserts that al­though not everyone carries a heavy burden, everyone does carry the burden of fear (175). How is this "burden of fear" a theme throughout the novel?

9. Mother-daughter relationships are central to the story: Renie struggles with meeting her estranged daughter; Lise's daughter urges
her not to reunite with her ex-husband after their divorce; Cece grows annoyed with her mother for acting more like a girlfriend than a parent (110). What makes a mother-daughter relationship so special? What makes it so fraught, and sometimes difficult?

10. After Michael dies, Cece remembers a conversation that she and Penny once had: Cece asked, "What's the point in loving anything when it will just change or be taken away?," and Penny replied, "The point in loving is only that. And when you lose something, you have to remember that then there is room for the next thing. And there is always a next thing." (213) How does this idea relate to the broader theme of the novel? What is the "next thing" that Cece, Phoebe, and the other characters manage to find?

11. Toward the end of the novel, Cece mentions something that Dennis said about photography, which she feels reverberates in her own life: "The greatest understanding of a thing is when you can't reduce it any further." (217) How does this statement relate to Cece's views on love and friendship? How might it relate to your own?

12. Lise, Joni, Renie, and Cecelia are all very different. What do you think makes their relationships with one another thrive, in spite of their differences? Consider how this relates to the quote at the end of the novel: "We are a convergence of fates, a tapestry of fortunes in colors both somber and bright, each contributing equally to the Whole." (218-19)
(Questions issued by the publisher.)

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