Golden Hill: A Novel of Old New York
Francis Spufford, 2017
Scribner
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781501163890
Summary
2017 Costa Award - First Novel
The spectacular first novel from acclaimed nonfiction author Francis Spufford follows the adventures of a mysterious young man in mid-eighteenth century Manhattan, thirty years before the American Revolution.
New York, a small town on the tip of Manhattan island, 1746.
One rainy evening in November, a handsome young stranger fresh off the boat arrives at a countinghouse door on Golden Hill Street: this is Mr. Smith, amiable, charming, yet strangely determined to keep suspicion shimmering.
For in his pocket, he has what seems to be an order for a thousand pounds, a huge sum, and he won’t explain why, or where he comes from, or what he is planning to do in the colonies that requires so much money. Should the New York merchants trust him? Should they risk their credit and refuse to pay? Should they befriend him, seduce him, arrest him; maybe even kill him?
Rich in language and historical perception, yet compulsively readable, Golden Hill is a story "taut with twists and turns" that "keeps you gripped until its tour-de-force conclusion" (The Times, London).
Spufford paints an irresistible picture of a New York provokingly different from its later metropolitan self but already entirely a place where a young man with a fast tongue can invent himself afresh, fall in love — and find a world of trouble. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1964
• Where—Cambridge, England, U
• Education—B.A., Cambridge University
• Awards—Costa First Novel Award; Ondaatje Prize; Somerset Maugham Award
• Currently—lives near Cambridge, England
Francis Spufford is the British author of five highly praised books of nonfiction and one work of fiction. He was raised in Cambridge, England, by two Cambridge academics: his father was an economic historian, and mother a social historian.
Spufford, himself, attended Cambridge, but earned his degree in English literature. For three years (1987-90) he was Chief Reader at Chatto and Windus, a noted English publisher, which had taken over Hogarth Press, once operated by Leonard and Virginia Woolf.
His first book, I May Be Some Time, won the Writers’ Guild Award for Best Nonfiction Book of 1996, the Banff Mountain Book Prize, and a Somerset Maugham Award. It was followed by The Child That Books Built, Backroom Boys, Red Plenty (which was translated into nine languages), and most recently, Unapologetic. He published his first novel, Golden Hill, in 2017.
In 2007 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and currently teaches in the creative writing program at Goldsmiths College in London. He lives near Cambridge with his wife and daughter. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 7/14/2017.)
Book Reviews
[E]bullient, freewheeling historical fiction.… Its action is so vivid that you seem to be consuming (imagine Wolf Blitzer’s voice here) breaking news. Delirious storytelling backfilled with this much intelligence is a rare and happy sight.… [A] a high-level entertainment, filled with so much brio that it’s as if each sentence had been dusted with Bolivian marching powder and cornstarch and gently fried. Some of this swashbuckling action goes over the top, but you will probably be turning the pages too quickly to register a complaint.
Dwight Garner - New York Times
Admirably eccentric.… The boisterous plot is perfectly in keeping with its mid-18th century setting.… This wonderful novel concludes with one further revelation, one that will make you reflect once again what a gloriously tricky fellow this Francis Spufford is.
Boston Globe
Francis Spufford’s fiction début is a fast-paced romp, but it keeps its eyes on the moral conundrums of America.… [He is] an author capable of making any topic, however unlikely, at once fascinating and amusing. Golden Hill is both.
The New Yorker
The intoxicating effect of Golden Hill is much more than an experiment in form. [Spufford] has created a complete world, employing his archivist skills to the great advantage of his novel.… This is a book born of patience, of knowledge accrued and distilled over decades, a style honed by practice. There are single scenes here more illuminating, more lovingly wrought, than entire books.
Financial Times (UK)
Like a newly discovered novel by Henry Fielding with extra material by Martin Scorsese. Why it works so well is largely down to Spufford's superb re-creation of New York.… His writing crackles with energy and glee, and when Smith's secret is finally revealed it is hugely satisfying on every level. For its payoff alone Golden Hill deserves a big shiny star.
Times (UK)
Splendidly entertaining and ingenious.… Throughout Golden Hill, Spufford creates vivid, painterly scenes of street and salon life, yet one never feels as though a historical detail has been inserted just because he knew about it. Here is deep research worn refreshingly lightly.… [A] first-class period entertainment.
Guardian (UK)
Paying tribute to writers such as Fielding, Francis Spufford's creation exudes a zesty, pin-sharp contemporaneity.…[C]olonial New York takes palpable shape in his dazzlingly visual, pacy and cleverly plotted novel.
Daily Mail (UK)
Golden Hill shows a level of showmanship and skill which seems more like a crowning achievement than a debut . [Spufford] brings his people and situations to life with glancing ease.… They all live and breathe with conviction.… His descriptive powers are amazing.… Spufford's extraordinary visual imagination and brilliant pacing seems to owe more to the movies than anything else.
Evening Standard (UK)
Spufford’s…New York bursts with energy, danger, and potential. His ironic, sometimes bawdy sense of humor and coy storytelling may frustrate those who do not "cotton" to the "cant," but patient readers are rewarded with a feast of language, character, local color, and historical detail.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred reivew) In 1746, a man named Smith arrives in New York City, population 7,000, in his hand, a bill for 1,000 pounds payable in New York. No one can vouch for him, and he won't explain why he needs so much money.… [A] successful homage to the great master of the picaresque novel, Henry Fielding.—David Keymer, Modesto, CA
Library Journal
(Starred reivew) A virtuoso literary performance.
Booklist
(Starred reivew) [S]parkling.… Spufford suggests in an afterword that he was aiming for "a colonial counterpart to Joseph Andrews."… A first-rate entertainment with a rich historical feel and some delightful twists.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. "What a difference a frame makes!" thinks Mr. Smith while first looking in on the room occupied by Tabitha, Flora, and Zephyr, less than an hour after arriving in New York (p. 10). What difference does the frame of Golden Hill, revealed in Tabitha’s postscript on pages 295-299, make in your understanding of the novel? What difference does it make in your enjoyment of the novel?
2. Saracen conjurer, agent of the French, actor, rogue, mountebank: Mr. Smith is called each of these things at some point during his time in New York. Which label is most fitting and why?
3. Mr. Lovell offers a definition of "commerce" in the following: "Commerce is trust, sir. Commerce is need and need together, sir. Commerce is putting a hand in answer into a hand out-stretched" (p.5). How does this definition apply to Mr. Smith’s mission as revealed later on? Would you call his purpose in New York "commerce" or something else?
4. Though he is never identified, who do you think the long-haired thief who stole Mr. Smith’s pocket book is? For whom was he working?
5. Golden Hill is set in 1746, eighty-two years after Manhattan passed from Dutch to British sovereignty, and thirty-seven years before it became American. Describe the various attitudes of the Manhattanites toward Britain and Holland. Where do you see fault lines that portend the coming revolution?
6. Examine Mr. Smith’s dreams during his nights of fitful sleep, first on Septimus’s too-small sofa (p. 89-90), and later on the night after his thumb is branded (p. 266-267). From the chessboard to the "wine-coloured snowman," what do the symbols in these dreams reveal to us about Mr. Smith and his feelings toward his mission?
7. Why was Tabitha pretending to be crippled? Why do you think Mr. Smith refrained from asking her to explain her behavior (p. 97)?
8. Cato, the play put on by Septimus, is the account of the final hours of Marcus Porcius Cato, a Stoic whose deeds, rhetoric, and resistance to the tyranny of Caesar made him an icon of virtue and liberty. As Septimus says, it "tickles all the themes that New-York loves best." Considering the political atmosphere of New York in 1746, do you agree? Considering the New York City of today, do you agree?
9. "A villain is hard to do without," says Mr. Smith to Septimus, about the role of Sempronius in their production of Cato (p. 205). Who, if anyone, is the villain of Golden Hill?
10. Mr. Smith says a phrase to Zephyr in the Ghanaian language Twi that is not translated: "Aane, me ara ni nnipa a wo twen no" (p. 288). What do you think he is saying to her?
11. Mr. Smith tells Tabitha that she is "a bird and a cage" (p. 281). What does he mean? Is this true of other female characters in the novel? Is this true of Mr. Smith himself? What other literary figures or film characters fit this description?
12. Golden Hill presents a society in which novels are shown to inspire addiction (Flora consumes them "like laudanum") as well as aversion (Tabitha calls them "Slush for small minds," "pabulum for the easily pleased"). Find other examples of meta-textual references throughout Golden Hill, including places where the narrator overtly intrudes upon the story. How do these moments force us to reevaluate the novel’s universe and purpose? What shortcomings of the novel as a form do these moments expose?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Final Girls
Riley Sager, 2017
Penguin Publishing
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781101985366
Summary
Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre.
In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout's knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him.
The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media's attempts, they never meet.
Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.
That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy's doorstep. Blowing through Quincy's life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out.
And when new details about Lisa's death come to light, Quincy's life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam's truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Supposedly, Riley Sager is a pseudonym for an author who has published under another name. But, then again, it might not be a pseudonym at all … but rather her actual name. Riley Sager appears to be the daughter of famed sports announcer Craig Sager, who died in 2016. Riley would be one of his five children, a daughter from from his second marriage. Riley says she is a writer, editor and graphic designer, a native of Pennsylvania who now lives in Princeton, New Jersey.
The question remains: if she is a previously published author, what name has she been writing under. 'Tis a mystery. (Based on our own clever sleuthing via the Google search bar.)
Book Reviews
[An] uneven thriller debut.… Sager does a good job building suspense, but some readers may find the book’s themes of casual male power and female subservience after trauma deeply unsettling.
Publishers Weekly
The tale builds to a fantastic conclusion that will have readers thinking of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train. Verdict: Sager (a pseudonym for a published author) is a "new" star in the making. This brilliant horror/psychological thriller will fly off the shelves. —Jason L. Steagall, Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI
Library Journal
(Starred review) An original take on a…[familiar] trope … the young woman who … lives to tell the tale.… [Even] knowing the outcome of this horrible event makes watching it unfold nerve-wracking.… Sager does an excellent job throughout of keeping the audience guessing until the final twist. A fresh voice in psychological suspense.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
(We'll add publisher questions if they're made available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for The Final Girls … then take off on your own:
1. How would you describe Quincy Carpenter? Do you find her sympathetic as a character? Did you opinion of her change during the course of the novel?
2. (Follow-up to Question 1) It has been 10 years after the Pine Cottage Murders, and Quincy believes she has recovered from the trauma. What suggests differently, and why does she seem unwilling to admit the murders continue to haunt her? Consider what current research suggests about the effects of trauma and survivor guilt, as well as all the ways we humans manage to repress both?
3. What do you think of Samantha Boyd and the effect she has on Quincy? Why is she so insistent that Quincy relive the past? Trace the change in Sam's behavior — the way it becomes increasingly erratic. What does it reveal about Sam?
4. What role does the media play in this story?
5. Then there is the dinner party in which everyone behaves despicably. Care to unpack that one? Consider the red wine spills and the "white fabric turning red."
6. Whom did you suspect at first? Did your suspicions turn toward Quincy herself? Sam? Joe Hannen, perhaps? Were you surprised by identity of the real killer … or see it coming?
7. The author intersperses scenes from the night of the slaughters into the narrative, most of which is told from Quincy's perspective. What effect do those scenes have on your reading of the story? Do they provide more information or heighten the suspense (even though we know the outcome)? If you're a slasher fan, how do the details of these scenes parallel other slasher movies (e.g., an isolated cabin and badly behaved, privileged teens … etc.)?
8. A number of reader and reviewer comments mention the actual writing of Final Girls, some finding it poor, clumsy, even childish. Others have given the book starred reviews, calling it "brilliant" and "well-crafted." Where do you fit into that argument?
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 flat, one-dimensional heroes and villains?
2. What do you know...and when do you know it? At what point in the book do you begin to piece together what happened?
3. Good crime writers embed hidden clues in plain sight, slipping them in casually, almost in passing. Did you pick them out, or were you...clueless? Once you've finished the book, go back to locate the clues hidden in plain sight. How skillful was the author in burying them?
4. Good crime writers also tease us with red-herrings—false clues—to purposely lead readers astray? Does your author try to throw you off track? If so, were you tripped up?
5. Talk about the twists & turns—those surprising plot 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 implausible?
- Do they feel forced and gratuitous—inserted merely to extend the story?
6. Does the author ratchet up the suspense? Did you find yourself anxious—quickly turning pages to learn what happened? A what point does the suspense start to build? Where does it climax...then perhaps start rising again?
7. A good ending is essential in any mystery or crime thriller: it should ease up on tension, answer questions, and tidy up loose ends. Does the ending accomplish those goals?
- Is the conclusion probable or believable?
- Is it organic, growing out of clues previously laid out by the author (see Question 3)?
- Or does the ending come out of the blue, feeling forced or tacked-on?
- Perhaps it's too predictable.
- Can you envision a different or better 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.)
top of page (summary)
The Breakdown
B.A. Paris, 2017
St. Martin's Press
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250122469
Summary
If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?
Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside — the woman who was killed.
She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home.
And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.
But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.
The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt. Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her… (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
B. A. Paris grew up in England but has spent most of her adult life in France. She has worked both in finance and as a teacher and has five daughters. Behind Closed Doors is her first novel. Like her first, her second, The Breakdown, is also a thriller and came out in 2017.
In an online interview, Paris said her life-long love of books began when she was bedridden as a child with chicken pox. She was given The Mountain of Adventure by Enid Blyton and, after finishing it, "got [her] hands on every book that [Blyton] had written and then went on to C.S. Lewis, Agatha Christie, Jane Austen...and Leon Uris."
When asked about how she developed her characters from Behind Closed Doors, Paris admitted that she was "proud of having created Grace and Millie" but was "a little appalled" that she could create "someone as horrible as Jack." She didn't set out to make him such a villain, but "he just seemed to take over." (Adapted from the publisher and from Books, Chocolate and Wine.)
Book Reviews
[A] first-rate psychological thriller.… Tension quickly builds to a crescendo as Cass’s fears about her mental state—and those mysterious phone calls that may be from the killer — become palpable.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) Would you stop to help the driver of a stalled vehicle on an isolated wooded road during a major storm?… This riveting psychological thriller pulls readers into an engrossing narrative in which every character is suspect. With its well-formed protagonists, snappy, authentic dialog, and clever and twisty plot, this is one not to miss. —Marianne Fitzgerald, Severna Park H.S., MD
Library Journal
A murder committed on a rainy night on a spooky backwoods road opens Paris' second thriller.… The childish antics of a couple of bumbling, utterly cold villains are more exasperating than compelling. Paranoid and claustrophobic but tries too many tricks for its own good.
Kirkus Reviews
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 flat, one-dimensional heroes and villains?
2. What do you know...and when do you know it? At what point in the book do you begin to piece together what happened?
3. Good crime writers embed hidden clues in plain sight, slipping them in casually, almost in passing. Did you pick them out, or were you...clueless? Once you've finished the book, go back to locate the clues hidden in plain sight. How skillful was the author in burying them?
4. Good crime writers also tease us with red-herrings—false clues—to purposely lead readers astray? Does your author try to throw you off track? If so, were you tripped up?
5. Talk about the twists & turns—those surprising plot 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 implausible?
- Do they feel forced and gratuitous—inserted merely to extend the story?
6. Does the author ratchet up the suspense? Did you find yourself anxious—quickly turning pages to learn what happened? A what point does the suspense start to build? Where does it climax...then perhaps start rising again?
7. A good ending is essential in any mystery or crime thriller: it should ease up on tension, answer questions, and tidy up loose ends. Does the ending accomplish those goals?
- Is the conclusion probable or believable?
- Is it organic, growing out of clues previously laid out by the author (see Question 3)?
- Or does the ending come out of the blue, feeling forced or tacked-on?
- Perhaps it's too predictable.
- Can you envision a different or better 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.)
top of page (summary)
Lying Game
Ruth Ware, 2017
Simon & Schuster
468 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781501156007
Summary
On a cool June morning, a woman is walking her dog in the idyllic coastal village of Salten along a tidal estuary known as the Reach. Before she can stop him, the dog charges into the water to retrieve what first appears to be a wayward stick, but to her horror, turns out to be something much more sinister.
The next morning, three women in and around London — Fatima, Thea, and Isabel — receive the text they had always hoped would NEVER come, from the fourth in their formerly inseparable clique, Kate, that says only, "I need you."
The four girls were best friends at Salten, a second rate boarding school set near the cliffs of the English Channel. Each different in their own way, the four became inseparable and were notorious for playing the Lying Game, telling lies at every turn to both fellow boarders and faculty, with varying states of serious and flippant nature that were disturbing enough to ensure that everyone steered clear of them.
The myriad and complicated rules of the game are strict: no lying to each othe r— ever. Bail on the lie when it becomes clear it is about to be found out. But their little game had consequences, and the girls were all expelled in their final year of school under mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the school’s eccentric art teacher, Ambrose (who also happens to be Kate’s father).
Atmospheric, twisty, and with just the right amount of chill that will keep you wrong-footed — which has now become Ruth Ware’s signature style — The Lying Game is sure to be her next big bestseller. Another unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1977
• Raised—Lewes, Sussex, England, UK
• Education—B.A., Manchester University
• Currently—lives in London
Ruth Ware is the British author of mystery thrillers. She grew up in Sussex, on the south coast of England. After graduating from Manchester University she moved to Paris, before returning to the UK. She has worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language, and a press officer. She now lives in London with her husband and two small children.
After her debut In a Dark, Dark Wood was published in 2015, Ware was asked by NPR's David Greene about mystery writers who had influenced her:
I read a huge amount of it as a kid. You know, Agatha Christie, Josephine Tey, Dorothy L. Sayers, Sherlock Holmes. And I didn't consciously channel that when I was writing, but when I finished and reread the book, I did suddenly realize how much this kind of structure owed to...Agatha Christie. And it wasn't consciously done, but...I would say I definitely owe a debt to Christie.
Indeed many have noticed Christie's influence in both of Ware's books, including her second, The Woman in Cabin 10, released in 2016. Ware's third novel, The Lying Game, came out in 2017, and her fourth, The Death of Mrs. Westaway in 2018. (Adapted from the publisher.)
Book Reviews
[An] engrossing psychological thriller…. Alternating between the past and present, Ware builds up a rock-solid cast of intriguing characters and spins a mystery that will keep readers turning pages to the end.
Publishers Weekly
The mystery unfolds slowly and the "big reveal" is likely to be guessed at by observant readers. Verdict: Though not as chill-inducing as her previous titles, Ware's latest offers nuanced characters, an atmospheric small-town British setting, and a satisfying mystery. —Kiera Parrott
Library Journal
(Starred review.) Ware masterfully harnesses the millhouse’s decrepit menace to create a slow-rising sense of foreboding, darkening Isa’s recollections of the weeks leading to Ambrose’s disappearance.… [W]ith arguably her most complex, fully realized characters yet, this one may become her biggest hit yet.
Booklist
(Starred review.) Suspense queen Ware's third novel in three years introduces four women who have been carrying a terrible secret since their boarding school days, a secret that is about to be literally unearthed.… Cancel your plans for the weekend when you sit down with this book, because you won't want to move until it's over.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Describe the Lying Game and its rules. What inspired Thea originally to come up with the idea for the game? Why do she and Kate decide to include Fatima and Isa in the Lying Game? What about the game is appealing to the girls?
2. Isa says that Kate "knows what we’ll say—what we’ve always said, whenever we got that text" (p. 5). Were you surprised by how quickly Isa, Fatima, and Thea rushed down to Salten upon receiving Kate’s text? Why do they rush to her aid so quickly? Do you have any friends whom you would do the same for?
3. Describe the Tide Mill. What role has it played in the adolescence of the girls in the clique, and why is it so important to Kate, in particular? Isa is convinced that Kate will never leave the Tide Mill or Salten. Did you think she was correct in her assessment as the novel progressed? Why might Kate be unwilling or unable to leave?
4. When Isa and her friends reunite at Salten seventeen years after they have been dismissed from school there, Thea gives the same toast that she gave when they were students: "To us… May we never grow old" (p. 56). What is Isa’s reaction to Thea’s toast? Were you surprised by it? Why do you think Isa reacts the way she does? How has she changed since leaving Salten as a student?
5. Each section of The Lying Game begins with a rule from the game. What’s the effect of having the rules as chapter headings? How do they inform your reading of the story?
6. Isa says, "I once tried to describe Ambrose to an old boyfriend … but I found it almost impossible" (p. 73). How would you describe Ambrose? What kind of a teacher and parent was he? Mary Wren says that Ambrose would have done anything for his children whereas Fatima describes him as "an irresponsible fool" (p. 243). Why do each of the women feel so differently about Ambrose? What did you think of him?
7. Isa’s housemistress tells her, "I’m very glad you’ve found friends. But remember, part of being a well-rounded young woman is having a wide variety of friends" (p. 99). Do you agree with the housemistress? What were some of the benefits of having such close friends? Mary describes Isa and her friends as a "little clique" (p. 105). Is that an accurate description? How does Isa feel about Mary’s description and the clique itself as an adult? Were there any disadvantages to being part of it?
8. Rick praises Kate for staying in Salten, telling her, "Your dad was a good man, no matter what others in this place say, and you done well to stick it out here with the gossips" (p. 23). Do you think that Kate is brave for staying in Salten? Why or why not? Discuss some of the rumors about Kate and her father. What are they? Why might the townspeople find them plausible? Were there any rumors that you thought had merit? Which ones and why?
9. On Isa’s first morning back at the Mill, Kate discovers a dead sheep. Who or what did you think was responsible for the sheep’s death? Why? Describe the note that Isa finds in Kate’s pocket. What does it say? Although Isa’s initial impulse is to tell Fatima, "a kind of instinct takes over" (p. 88). Why doesn’t Isa tell Fatima about the note? Would you?
10. When Isa reflects upon the events that took place, she muses that she will tell Freya "a story about bravery, and selflessness, and sacrifice" (p. 366). Do you agree with Isa? Do any of the characters in The Lying Game embody the traits that Isa enumerates? If so, who? How would you characterize the events that have taken place at Salten both during Isa’s school days and at the friends’ reunion?
11. When describing the events that happened shortly before their expulsion from Salten, Thea proclaims that the girls had no choice but to take the actions that they did. Do you agree with Isa when she cries, "Of course we had a choice!" (p. 197). Why or why not? Why might the girls have felt that they had no other options in the moment? Do you think that Kate took advantage of her friends when she asked for their help? If so, how?
12. Although Isa wants to tell Owen what she and her friends did while they were students at Salten, she feels she "can’t. Because it’s not only my secret — it’s theirs, too. And I have no right to betray them" (p. 223). Do you agree with Isa’s decision to withhold this information from Owen? Explain your answer. Do you think that there are any instances when it is permissible to betray a shared secret? If so, what are they?
13. Isa says that she and her friends "have spent seventeen years running and hiding, in our different ways" (p. 93). What are they hiding from? Describe the ways that each of the women has attempted to run from their shared past. Have any of their attempts been successful? Why or why not?
14. What were your initial impressions of Luc? Did you trust him? Why or why not? Describe his relationship with Ambrose and Kate. Were you surprised by his anger as an adult? Why does he harbor such resentment toward Kate? Do you think he is justified in doing so?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Spoonbenders
Daryl Gregory, 2017
Knopf Doubleday
416 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781524731823
Summary
Teddy Telemachus is a charming con man with a gift for sleight of hand and some shady underground associates. In need of cash, he tricks his way into a classified government study about telekinesis and its possible role in intelligence gathering.
There he meets Maureen McKinnon, and it’s not just her piercing blue eyes that leave Teddy forever charmed, but her mind—Maureen is a genuine psychic of immense and mysterious power.
After a whirlwind courtship, they marry, have three gifted children, and become the Amazing Telemachus Family, performing astounding feats across the country. Irene is a human lie detector. Frankie can move objects with his mind. And Buddy, the youngest, can see the future. Then one night tragedy leaves the family shattered.
Decades later, the Telemachuses are not so amazing. Irene is a single mom whose ear for truth makes it hard to hold down a job, much less hold together a relationship. Frankie’s in serious debt to his dad’s old mob associates. Buddy has completely withdrawn into himself and inexplicably begun digging a hole in the backyard.
To make matters worse, the CIA has come knocking, looking to see if there’s any magic left in the Telemachus clan. And there is: Irene’s son Matty has just had his first out-of-body experience. But he hasn’t told anyone, even though his newfound talent might just be what his family needs to save themselves — if it doesn’t tear them apart in the process.
Harnessing the imaginative powers that have made him a master storyteller, Daryl Gregory delivers a stunning, laugh-out-loud new novel about a family of gifted dreamers and the invisible forces that bind us all. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1965
• Where—Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Education—B.A., Illinois State University
• Awards—Crawford Award; World Fantasy Award; Shirley Jackson Award
• Currently—Oakland, California
Daryl Gregory is an American science fiction, fantasy and comic book author and won the 2009 Crawford Award for his novel Pandemonium. His most recent novel, Spoonbenders, was released in 2017.
Personal life
Daryl Gregory was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, with his two sisters. He graduated from Illinois State University in 1987 with majors in English and theater. After graduation, he taught high school in Michigan for three years and attended the Michigan State University Clarion science fiction workshop.
When his wife, Kathleen Bieschke, attained a job at the University of Utah, the couple moved to Salt Lake City. Later they moved to State College, Pennsylvania, where Bieschke took a job with Penn State University. Gregory worked for Minitab, a company producing statistical analysis software. They have two adult children but are now divorced. In 2016 Gregory moved to Oakland, California, where he writes full time and lives Liza Groen Trombi, Locus Magazine Publisher and Editor in Chief.
Career
In 1990 Gregory sold his first story to the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His first novel, Pandemonium, came out in 2008, winning him the Crawford Award for best first fantasy book. The novel was also nominated for the World Fantasy Award, the Mythopoeic Awards and the Shirley Jackson Award.
Gregory's second novel, The Devil's Alphabet, was published in 2009 and named one of the best books of 2009 by Publishers Weekly. It was additionally nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award. In 2011 he published Raising Stony Mayhall, as well as the short story collection, Unpossible and Other Stories. Publishers Weekly named the collections one of the five best science fiction books of the year.
In 2010 Gregory was hired by Boom! Studios to co-write Dracula: Company of Monsters with Kurt Busiek and later the Planet of the Apes tie-in comic. He also wrote the stand-alone graphic novel, The Secret Battles of Genghis Khan, published in 2013.
Neuro-SF novel Afterparty came out in 2014, and his novella, "We Are All Completely Fine," in 2014. The novella was a Nebula Award finalist, and won the 2015 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella, as well as the Shirley Jackson Award. (Adapted from Wikiipedia. Retrieved 7/13/2017.)
Book Reviews
Daryl Gregory’s heartfelt and immensely entertaining novel takes us inside a wacky family endowed with psychic gifts. Maybe “gifts” is the wrong word — because not one of the family’s psychic powers is in good working order, nor does anyone in the family even want them. For the most part, the Telemachus family would prefer to be ordinary suburban folks left alone to live their lives in peace. But of course … that won’t happen. And we know it won’t because we’re told, right at the outset, that 14-year-old Mattie Telemachus has just taken his first astral-plane trip out of his body. What else would a kid do with such power but get into trouble? READ MORE …
P.J. Adler - LitLovers
[F]unny and charming.… Gregory writes with humor and charm, offering up a rollicking and quick-paced plot tailor-made for summer, but what makes the novel magical is his exploration of what it means to harbor these gifts, and to be the World’s Most Powerful Psychic.… At times, Gregory speeds us through moments that should be lingered over or leaves loose ends untied. Other ends he ties too tightly.… But as with all novels, choices must be made, and the danger of creating such an enjoyable world is that it leaves a reader longing for more.
Manuel Gonzales - New York Times Book Reivew
A family plagued with malfunctioning superpowers, persistent federal agents, and the mafia should make for a fast-paced and enthralling story, but a stalled plot grounds the [novel]…. Gregory seamlessly switches between different points of view, creating vivid voices for each Telemachus family member. But the intermittent bursts of incomplete information…result in a less-than-concrete understanding.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) Masterful.… [G]racefully balances the outrageous melodrama of Chicago mobsters and shadowy government agencies with the ordinary mysteries of family dynamics.… Readers will emerge from the fray sure they know each Telemachus down to the smudges on their hearts. A skillfully written family drama that employs quirk and magic with grace.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. What happens when the Telemachus family goes on Mike Douglas’s television show? What leads to the act not going as planned? What impact does it have on the family thereafter?
2. Why is Irene unable to trust anyone? How does this affect her relationships, including her relationship with Joshua? Is she able to overcome this? What advice does her father give her about this dilemma? Why is Irene exhilarated by online communication?
3. Why does Teddy refuse to invest in any of Frankie’s proposed ventures? What does Teddy believe is "the ultimate test of evolutionary fitness" (50)? How has Teddy succeeded in this test?
4. Why doesn’t Buddy speak most of the time even though he is able to? What is the question that haunts him the most? What does he mean when he thinks "Duty eats free will for breakfast"?
5. According to Teddy, what effect did "fear of the Russians" have on the U.S. government during the Cold War? What is the correlation between fear and gullibility?
6. What is "the great catch" in Irene’s ability? What might this suggest about truth?
7. After Maureen falls ill, she confesses to Teddy that she allied herself with a dissident Russian and reported false results to her government employer. Why did she choose to do this? Were her actions justified? Explain.
8. Why does Buddy take Frankie to the casino boat even though he knows what will happen to his brother? Where does Buddy go when he disappears?
9. Who is Archibald and what is his relationship to the Telemachus family? Is Archibald responsible for Maureen’s death as Frankie believes?
10. What does Maureen make Teddy promise before her death and why? Does Teddy honor his promise? Why or why not?
11. Are the Telemachuses’ powers ultimately beneficial or are they more of a hindrance or a curse? Discuss.
12. Despite their powers, what common problems or obstacles does the Telemachus family face? How do they resolve these issues? What seems to unite the family?
13. What does the book indicate about the power of suggestion? Which of the characters in the book are swayed by placebos, cons, and the power of suggestion? What is the most surprising example of this? Do we learn what causes these characters to believe in something that isn’t true or real?
14. What are "the moment the future ends" (86) and "the Zap"? What favor does Buddy ask of his sister on the day the future ends? How is he changed as a result?
15. At the end of the story, where does Matty go? Who does he believe is his "partner in transparency" (399)? What does Matty ultimately realize navigation is an act of?
(Questions issued by publishers.)