The Deepest Secret
Carla Buckley, 2014
Random House
480 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780553393736
Summary
Part intimate family drama, part gripping page-turner, exploring the profound power of the truths we’re scared to face . . . about our marriages, our children, and ourselves.
Twelve years ago, Eve Lattimore’s life changed forever. Her two-year-old son Tyler on her lap, her husband’s hand in hers, she waited for the child’s devastating diagnosis: XP, a rare genetic disease, a fatal sensitivity to sunlight.
Eve remembers that day every morning as she hustles Tyler up the stairs from breakfast before the sun rises, locking her son in his room, curtains drawn, computer glowing, as he faces another day of virtual schooling, of virtual friendships. But every moment of vigilance is worth it.
This is Eve’s job, to safeguard her boy against the light, to protect his fragile life each day, to keep him alive—maybe even long enough for a cure to be found.
Tonight, Eve’s life is about to change again, forever. It’s only an instant on a rainy road—just a quick text as she sits behind the wheel—and another mother’s child lies dead in Eve’s headlights. The choice she faces is impossible: confess and be taken from Tyler, or drive away and start to lie like she’s never lied before. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Washinton, D.C., USA
• Education—B.A., Oberlin College; M.B.A., University of Pennsylvania
• Currently—lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Carla Buckley is the author of The Good Goodbye (2016), The Deepest Secret (2014), Invisible (2012), and The Things That Keep Us Here (2010), which was nominated for a Thriller Award as a best first novel and the Ohioana Book Award for fiction.
She is a graduate of Oberlin College and the Wharton School of Business. Before turning to fiction, Buckley worked as an assistant press secretary for a U.S. senator, an analyst with the Smithsonian Institution, and a technical writer for a defense contractor.
She now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with her husband and three children. She is almost always at work on her next novel. (Adapted from the publisher.)
Book Reviews
A harrowing story.
New York Daily News
Exceptionally moving and unrelentingly suspenseful...everything a great novel, and thriller, should be.
Providence Journal
A taut family drama . . . smart and thrilling.
People
(Starred review.) Superb.... The story offers the intricate suspense and surprise of a thriller, along with rich characterizations and nuanced writing.... A gripping read and a memorable reflection on the conflicting imperatives of love.
Publishers Weekly
[A] masterful thriller....as winding and treacherous as a slick road.
Library Journal
[A] mother’s desire to protect her child from the dangers of the outside world at any cost. Eve, her husband, and Tyler narrate the story in turn, weaving personal bias and suspicion into the overarching drama. [A] unique blend of poignant emotion and thrilling suspense. —Stephanie Turza
Booklist
Discussion Questions
1. How do you think Melissa’s and Tyler’s involvement in the crime (Melissa as a suspect and Tyler planting evidence) impacted Eve’s actions? Would she have confessed if her children had not been involved?
2. Eve’s efforts to guard her son from light are sometimes considered excessive—by her son, her husband, and her neighbors. Notably, Eve’s determination to prevent Sophie from installing outdoor lights on her house leads to a neighborhood fight. What do you think of Eve’s protective instincts? Does she take things too far, or is she behaving as any concerned parent would?
3. At one point, Holly asks Tyler "Do you think it’s better to have dreams and lose them, or not have dreams at all?" How would you respond? What do you make of Holly and her relationship with Tyler?
4. David wants to move the family to Washington, but Eve -considers this impossible given Tyler’s condition. Is David’s desire to move selfish, or is he looking out for the family’s best interests?
5. What sacrifices does Eve make for the sake of her family? Are they necessary? Is it worth it?
6. Describe the relationship between Tyler and Eve. In the end, Tyler’s desire to protect his sister led him to make questionable choices. How are his choices similar to Eve’s? How are they different?
7. Discuss the nature of secrets. Is it human nature to keep secrets? Do our secrets define us? Is it human nature to want to know the secrets of others and to confess our own? Do you believe that all secrets eventually come to light? What is The Deepest Secret?
8. Tyler learns some surprising truths about his neighbors during his nighttime wanderings. How do people change in the moments during which they believe themselves to be alone? During unobserved moments, are people more themselves? How much of life is a performance, and to what extent are we defined by the external perceptions and behavioral expectations of others?
9. How much did you sympathize with Eve? Would you feel differently about her actions if she had not been texting at the time of the accident? What if Tyler had not been burned while playing basketball with David? Would you have felt differently about Eve’s behavior if Melissa had been the one to hit Amy?
10. How would you describe Eve’s relationship with Melissa? Melissa’s needs in her family are often viewed as secondary to Tyler’s, given his illness. How do you think this attitude impacted her psychologically? How did it affect her relationships with Tyler, Eve, and David?
11. It seems clear by the end that a number of people played some role in Amy’s death, including Charlotte, Robbie, and Eve. Who, if anyone, do you hold responsible?
12. What do you consider appropriate punishment for the driver in a hit-and-run accident? Can there ever be extenuating circumstances, such as Tyler’s condition, that justify fleeing the scene of a deadly accident? If so, what are those circumstances?
13. Toward the end of the novel, Charlotte says, "If it were my Amy—I’d have done just what Eve did." What do you think of this statement? If you had been in Eve’s position, how would you have acted on the night of the accident? In the weeks following?
14. What did you think of the conclusion of the novel? Did it end as you expected it to? Were you satisfied?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
The Good Goodbye
Carla Buckley, 2016
Random House
368 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780553390582
Summary
Two families come to terms with a devastating tragedy.
Arden and Rory Falcone have always considered themselves more like sisters than cousins, even opting to room together when they leave for the same college.
A few weeks into their first semester, Arden’s mother, Natalie, receives a devastating phone call: a fire has destroyed the girls’ dorm room, killing Rory’s boyfriend, Hunter, and leaving both girls in critical condition.
As Rory and Arden fight for survival, their stories unfold, and secrets emerge about the cousins’ relationships with their families, their peers, Hunter, and, of course, each other. But the secret of how the fire started is the one weighing most heavily on Natalie, and with the police and media asking relentless questions, she begins to doubt everything she knew about her own daughter and niece.
Told variously from the first-person viewpoints of Natalie, Arden, and Rory, each chapter reveals a tantalizing new detail that further complicates the cousins’ bond. The three narrative voices are nearly identical, and the climactic twist feels a bit forced, but Buckley’s characters are well-developed and interesting. (From .)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Washinton, D.C., USA
• Education—B.A., Oberlin College; M.B.A., University of Pennsylvania
• Currently—lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Carla Buckley is the author of The Good Goodbye (2016), The Deepest Secret (2014), Invisible (2012), and The Things That Keep Us Here (2010), which was nominated for a Thriller Award as a best first novel and the Ohioana Book Award for fiction.
She is a graduate of Oberlin College and the Wharton School of Business. Before turning to fiction, Buckley worked as an assistant press secretary for a U.S. senator, an analyst with the Smithsonian Institution, and a technical writer for a defense contractor.
She now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with her husband and three children. She is almost always at work on her next novel. (Adapted from the publisher.)
Book Reviews
(Mainstream online reviews are not yet available for this book. Instead, we've included author blurbs. Head to Amazon to read helpful customer reviews.)
Twisty and beguiling, Carla Buckley’s The Good Goodbye shudders with revelations from its first pages. As suspense, it ensnares you, and as an emotionally rich novel about the formidable and fraught bonds of family, it will have you holding your breath until its final, moving paragraphs.
Megan Abbott, author of The Fever
Carla Buckley has a way of writing about a family in crisis that touches on our worst fears, and an uncanny ability to create characters who are so real it’s as though they are pulling you into their living room. Evocative and poignant, this story will curl around you like a glowing flame and suck the air out of your lungs with its power.
Chevy Stevens, author of Those Girls
Cousins as close as sisters, a mysterious fire, a tangled web of lies: It all adds up to a fluid, suspenseful story that keeps you turning the pages to find out what happened—and what will happen next. I devoured this novel.
Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train
A tender portrait of an ordinary family torn by rivalry and disaster.... By turns touching and sinister, The Good Goodbye calls to mind Robert Frost’s definition of tragedy: something terrible happens and nobody’s to blame—though in Carla Buckley’s sure hands, nobody’s entirely innocent, either. A rich and satisfying family drama.
William Landay, author of Defending Jacob
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher. In the meantime, use our generic mystery questions.)
GENERIC DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Mystery / Crime / Suspense Thrillers
1. Talk about the characters, both good and bad. Describe their personalities and motivations. Are they fully developed and emotionally complex? Or are they more one-dimensional heroes and villains?
2. What do you know...and when do you know it? At what point in the book do you, the reader, begin to piece together what happened?
3. Good suspense writers are skillful at hiding clues in plain sight. How well does the author hide the clues in this work?
4. Does the author use red-herrings—false clues—to purposely lead readers astray?
5. Talk about plot's twists & turns—those surprising developments that throw everything you think you've figured out into disarray. Do they enhance the story, add complexity, and build suspense? Are they plausible? Or do the twists & turns feel forced and preposterous—inserted only to extend the story.
6. Does the author ratchet up the story's suspense? Did you find yourself anxious—quickly turning pages to learn what happened? How does the author build suspense?
7. What about the ending—is it satisfying? Is it probable or believable? Does it grow out of clues previously laid out by the author (see Question 2). Or does the ending come out of the blue? Does it feel forced...tacked-on...or a cop-out? Or perhaps it's too predictable. Can you envision a better, or different, ending?
8. Are there certain passages in the book—ideas, descriptions, or dialogue—that you found interesting or revealing...or that somehow struck you? What lines, if any, made you stop and think?
9. Overall, does the book satisfy? Does it live up to the standards of a good crime story or suspense thriller? Why or why not?
(Generic Mystery Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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The Good Neighbor
A.J. Banner, 2015
Amazon Publishing
196 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781503944435
Summary
Named by Harper’s Bazaar (UK) as a book that could be the next Gone Girl.... A new voice in suspense fiction and a new book that will forever change the way you look at the people closest to you.
Shadow Cove, Washington, is the kind of town everyone dreams about—quaint streets, lush forests, good neighbors. hat’s what Sarah thinks as she settles into life with her new husband, Dr. Johnny McDonald.
But all too soon she discovers an undercurrent of deception. And one October evening when Johnny is away, sudden tragedy destroys Sarah’s happiness.
Dazed and stricken with grief, she and Johnny begin to rebuild their shattered lives. As she picks up the pieces of her broken home, Sarah discovers a shocking secret that forces her to doubt everything she thought was true—about her neighbors, her friends, and even her marriage.
With each stunning revelation, Sarah must ask herself, Can we ever really know the ones we love? (From the back cover.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—India
• Raised—Canada and California
• Currently—lives on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington
A. J. Banner (Anjali Banerjee) is the debut author of The Good Neighbor, published in 2015 by Amazon. Born in India and raised in both Canada and the U.S., Banner attended high school in southern California and eventually earned degrees from the University of California at Berkeley.
Even as a child, A.J. was drawn to mysteries, especially the great masters of the genre: Agatha Christie, Daphne du Maurier and the films of Alfred Hitchcock. She wrote her first book—Mystery at Crane Corner—at the age of 11, drawing her own cover and binding the pages with staples. It remains to be seen, however, whether the book is as psychologically astute as her later effort in The Good Neighbor.
After college A.J.'s desire to continue writing took a backseat to earning a living. She tried a bit of law school, a management position in an office and was even a veterinarian's assistant before finally turning to her first (published) book.
She lives with her husband on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. (Adapted from the author's website.)
Book Reviews
There are no mainstream press reviews online as yet. Head to Amazon for helpful customer reviews (more than 4,000 of them).;
Discussion Questions
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher. In the meantime, use our generic mystery questions.)
GENERIC DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Mystery / Crime / Suspense Thrillers
1. Talk about the characters, both good and bad. Describe their personalities and motivations. Are they fully developed and emotionally complex? Or are they more one-dimensional heroes and villains?
2. What do you know...and when do you know it? At what point in the book do you, the reader, begin to piece together what happened?
3. Good crime writers are skillful at hiding clues in plain sight. How well does the author hide the clues in this work?
4. Does the author use red-herrings—false clues—to purposely lead readers astray?
5. Talk about plot's twists & turns—those surprising developments that throw everything you think you've figured out into disarray. Do they enhance the story, add complexity, and build suspense? Are they plausible? Or do the twists & turns feel forced and preposterous—inserted only to extend the story.
6. Does the author ratchet up the story's suspense? Did you find yourself anxious—quickly turning pages to learn what happened? How does the author build suspense?
7. What about the ending—is it satisfying? Is it probable or believable? Does it grow out of clues previously laid out by the author (see Question 2). Or does the ending come out of the blue? Does it feel forced...tacked-on...or a cop-out? Or perhaps it's too predictable. Can you envision a better, or different, ending?
8. Are there certain passages in the book—ideas, descriptions, or dialogue—that you found interesting or revealing...or that somehow struck you? What lines, if any, made you stop and think?
9. Overall, does the book satisfy? Does it live up to the standards of a good crime story or suspense thriller? Why or why not?
(Generic Mystery Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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Fallen Land
Taylor Brown, 2015
St. Martin's Press
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250077974
Summary
Fallen Land—Taylor Brown's debut novel—is set in the final year of the Civil War, as a young couple on horseback flees a dangerous band of marauders who seek a bounty reward.
Callum, a seasoned horse thief at fifteen years old, came to America from his native Ireland as an orphan. Ava, her father and brother lost to the war, hides in her crumbling home until Callum determines to rescue her from the bands of hungry soldiers pillaging the land, leaving destruction in their wake.
Ava and Callum have only each other in the world and their remarkable horse, Reiver, who carries them through the destruction that is the South.
Pursued relentlessly by a murderous slave hunter, tracking dogs, and ruthless ex-partisan rangers, the couple race through a beautiful but ruined land, surviving on food they glean from abandoned farms and the occasional kindness of strangers.
In the end, as they intersect with the scorching destruction of Sherman's March, the couple seek a safe haven where they can make a home and begin to rebuild their lives. Dramatic and thrillingly written with an uncanny eye for glimpses of beauty in a ravaged landscape, Fallen Land is a love story at its core, and an unusually assured first novel by award-winning young author Taylor Brown. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—October 18, 1982
• Where—state of Georgia, USA
• Education—B.A., University of Georgia
• Currently—lives in Wilmington, North Carolina
Taylor Brown grew up on the Georgia coast. He has lived in Buenos Aires, San Francisco, and the mountains of Western North Carolina.
His fiction has appeared in more than twenty publications, including the Baltimore Review, North Carolina Literary Review, and storySouth. He is the recipient of the Montana Prize in Fiction, and was a finalist in both the Machigonne Fiction Contest and the Doris Betts Fiction Prize.
An Eagle Scout, he lives in Wilmington, North Carolina. Fallen Land is his first novel. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
[A] Civil War odyssey in the tradition of Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain... written in a vernacular that resurrects the era and fully brings alive Callum and Ava’s adventures on the road. At the center of the story is the couple’s growing love for each other, which powers the story to a suspenseful ending and a satisfying epilogue.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) [T]he lawless days at the close of the Civil War. Young Callum...finds a lone girl named Ava and tries to save her from the brutish Colonel.... [Their] frantic journey toward a new life is full of danger.... A nail-biting journey from first page to last. —Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Palisade, CO
Library Journal
(Starred review.) Drawing from the shadows of America's epic tragedy, the Civil War, Brown's debut novel offers a tale of endurance and love in the face of adversity.... Like McCarthy's Border Trilogy or Frazier's Cold Mountain, this is American literature at its best, full of art and beauty and the exploration of all that is good and bad in the human spirit.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for Fallen Land:
1. What is the significance of the book's title, "Fallen Land"? Consider that the setting is immediately after America's brutal Civil War. How is that struggle reflected in the action of the book and, metaphorically, in the title?
2. Who seemed to commit the greater atrocities: Sherman's organized troops in his orchestrated "March to the Sea"? Or the disorganized bands of looters, who simply took advantage of the mayhem in the nearly defeated South, pillaging and plundering at will?
3. Talk about the two young characters, Callum and Ava. How would you describe them? What prompts Callum to risk all and return to Ava?
4. Reiver, the horse—he's almost mythical, as is the beauty of the land itself. What might Taylor Brown be getting at by pitting a magical steed and an almost "unearthly" natural setting against the brutality of humankind?
5. The young couple depends on the kindnesses of strangers. Talk about some of the characters who aided Callum and Ava along their journey.
6. Callum wonders, at one point, if something evil has implanted itself in him...
if something mean had slipped into him. Something vicious. For the first time, he touched the pale worm of scar growing along the side of his head, still tender above his dead ear.
Has he been corrupted by his association with the Colonel and his marauders? And why might the author have him touch his "still tender" scar? What's the symbolic meaning there?
7. Comparisons are being made between this book and both Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy and, especially, Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain. Have you read any of those books? If so, what parallels exist between them and Taylor Brown's Fallen Land?
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher. In the meantime, feel free to use these LitLovers questions...online of off...with attribution. Thanks.)
Stars Over Sunset Boulevard
Susan Meissner, 2016
Penguin
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780451475992
Summary
Two women working in Hollywood during its Golden Age discover the joy and heartbreak of true friendship.
Los Angeles, Present Day. When an iconic hat worn by Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind ends up in Christine McAllister’s vintage clothing boutique by mistake, her efforts to return it to its owner take her on a journey more enchanting than any classic movie…
Los Angeles, 1938. Violet Mayfield sets out to reinvent herself in Hollywood after her dream of becoming a wife and mother falls apart, and lands a job on the film-set of Gone With the Wind.
There, she meets enigmatic Audrey Duvall, a once-rising film star who is now a fellow secretary. Audrey’s zest for life and their adventures together among Hollywood’s glitterati enthrall Violet...until each woman’s deepest desires collide.
What Audrey and Violet are willing to risk, for themselves and for each other, to ensure their own happy endings will shape their friendship, and their lives, far into the future. (From the publishers.)
Author Bio
• Birth—January 9, 1961
• Where—San Diego, California, USA
• Education—Point Loma Nazarene University
• Currently—lives in San Diego, California
Susan Meissner is an American writer born and raised in San Diego, California. She began her literary career at the age of eight and since then has published more than a dozen novels (though that part came a bit later in her life).
Early years and career
Susan attended Point Loma Nazarene University, married a U.S. Air Force man, raised four children, and spent five years overseas and several more in Minnesota. Those were the years she put her novel-writing itch on hold. In 1995, however, she took a part-time reporting job at her county newspaper, became a columnist three years later, and eventually editor of a local weekly paper. One of the things she is most proud of that her paper was named the Best Weekly Paper in Minnesota in 2002.
That was the same year Susan's latent novel-writing itch resurfaced, and she began working on her first novel, Why the Sky is Blue. In a little more than a year, the book was written, published, and in the bookstores. She's been noveling ever since—with a string of 12 books under her name. Historical Fiction is one of her favorite genres.
Booklist placed A Fall of Marigolds on its "Top Ten" list of women's fiction for 2014. In 2008, Publishers Weekly named The Shape of Mercy as one of the year's 100 Best Novels.
Personal
Susan lives with her husband and four children in San Diego where her husband is a pastor and Air Force Reserves chaplain. She teaches in writing workshops. In addition to writing books, she enjoys spending time with her family, making and listening to music, reading, and traveling. (Based on the author's website.)
Books
2016 - Stars Over Sunset Boulevard
2015 - Secrets of a Charmed Life
2014 - A Fall of Marigolds
2013 - The Girl in the Glass
2011 - A Sound Among the Trees
2010 - Lady in Waiting
2009 - White Picket Fences
2008 - The Shape of Mercy
2008 - Blue Heart Blessed
2006 - A Seahorse in the Thames
2006 - In All Deep Places
2005 - The Remedy for Regret
2003 - Why the Sky is Blue
Book Reviews
Meissner spins an entertaining, touching story of two friends who meet on the buzzing set of one of the most famous movies in history and whose dreams, hopes, and ambitions will be forever entwined. A lovely, well-crafted story that peeks at a fascinating moment in cinematic history and examines the power and vulnerability of sincere friendship.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for Stars Over Sunset Boulevard:
1. Consider the two protagonists, Violet and Audrey. How are they different (or similar?) in their personalities, their dreams, and in the way each reacts to life's events? Did you admire or sympathize with one over the other? Did your attitudes toward either change by the novel's end?
2. What secrets was each woman hiding...and why?
3. What did you learn about the behind-the-scenes filming of Gone With the Wind? Did you know, for instance, that Vivienne Leigh was cast only after filming had begun?
4. Are there parallels between what happens in the film...and what happens in the novel? Consider, for example, destroying the draperies to make a dress—and the way Violet uses that analogy to justify her own choices.
5. Consider this quote: "Unhappiness has an insatiable appetite. It does not care what it might have to kill to feed its cravings.” What does that mean? If you were in either woman's shoes, how much would you be willing to sacrifice to attain your lifelong dreams?
6. Much of the story is taken up with the idea of beauty and desire. Locate and discuss passages in the book that relate to those concepts. For instance...
Beauty is all about perception, Vi. Your own perception is right up there with everyone else's. True...or not? Is our concept of beauty truly subjective? How much of our own lives, as well as the lives in this story, is driven by the attainment of beauty?
Don't ever sleep with a man to get what you want, because you wont' get it. He will, but you won't." Does that maxim hold true today?
7. Was the ending a suprise or predictable?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution.)