You Should Have Known
Jean Hanff Korelitz, 2014
Grand Central Publishing
448 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781455599493
Summary
Grace Reinhart Sachs is living the only life she ever wanted for herself.
Devoted to her husband, a pediatric oncologist at a major cancer hospital, their young son Henry, and the patients she sees in her therapy practice, her days are full of familiar things: she lives in the very New York apartment in which she was raised, and sends Henry to the school she herself once attended.
Dismayed by the ways in which women delude themselves, Grace is also the author of a book You Should Have Known, in which she cautions women to really hear what men are trying to tell them. But weeks before the book is published a chasm opens in her own life: a violent death, a missing husband, and, in the place of a man Grace thought she knew, only an ongoing chain of terrible revelations.
Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster, and horrified by the ways in which she has failed to heed her own advice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and herself. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—May 16, 1961
• Where—New York City, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Dartmouth College
• Currently—lives in New York City
Jean Hanff Korelitz was born and raised in New York and graduated from Dartmouth College and contined with post-baccalaureate studies at Clare College, Cambridge.
She is the author of one book of poems, The Properties of Breath (1989), and five novels (see below). She has also written a novel for children, Interference Powder (2003), and has published essays in the anthologies Modern Love and Because I Said So, as well as in Vogue, Real Simple, More, Newsweek, and others.
She lives in New York City with her husband (Irish poet Paul Muldoon, poetry editor at The New Yorker and Princeton poetry professor). They have two children. (Adapted from the publisher.)
Novels
• 1996 - A Jury of Her Peers
• 1999 - The Sabbathday River
• 2006 - The White Rose
• 2009 - Admission
• 2014 - You Should Have Known
Book Reviews
[S]mart and devious…Ms. Korelitz is able to glide smoothly from a watchful, occasional sinister comedy of New York manners into a much more alarming type of story.
Janet Maslin - New York Times
Dramatic irony isn't the only pleasure of You Should Have Known; Grace's husband's pathology is erratic enough for behavior that holds genuine surprise. But the real suspense here lies in wondering when Grace will catch up to the reader. When and how will she come to know what she should have known and at some level maybe already did? The momentum of the novel, not to mention the writing, takes off just as Grace starts stumbling her way, arms outstretched, toward a glimpse of her husband's true nature.
Susan Dominus - New York Times Book Review
(Starred review.) This excellent literary mystery...with authentic detail in a rarified contemporary Manhattan.... The novel’s first third offers readers an authoritative glimpse into the busy-but-leisurely lives of private-school moms.... [until] one....was found murdered.... The plot borders on hyperbole when it comes to upending what we know about one character, but that doesn’t take much away from this intriguing and beautiful book.
Publishers Weekly
[I]n the vein of Gone Girl or The Silent Wife; unfortunately, the suspense is marred by the overwritten prose. The book tends to be very New York-centric, so readers unfamiliar with the vagaries of life in Manhattan may find little to enjoy; still, fans of Korelitz's first novel may be curious enough to give this a shot. —Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH
Library Journal
Grace Reinhart Sachs...lives the perfect life.... Karma being what it is, it only stands to reason that the perfection of her life...will fall apart at the mere hint of scandal. And so it does.... Korelitz writes with clarity and an unusual sense of completeness.... A smart, leisurely study of midlife angst.
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)
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher. In the meantime, use our generic mystery questions.)
GENERIC 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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A Circle of Wives
Alice LaPlante, 2014
Grove/Atlantic
325 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780802122346
Summary
When Dr. John Taylor is found dead in a hotel room in his hometown, the local police find enough incriminating evidence to suspect foul play.
Detective Samantha Adams, whose Palo Alto beat usually covers small-town crimes, is innocently thrown into a high-profile murder case that is more intricately intertwined than she could ever imagine. A renowned plastic surgeon, a respected family man, and an active community spokesman, Dr. Taylor was loved and admired.
But, hidden from the public eye, he led a secret life—in fact, multiple lives. A closeted polygamist, Dr. Taylor was married to three very different women in three separate cities. And when these three unsuspecting women show up at his funeral, suspicions run high. Adams soon finds herself tracking down a murderer through a web of lies and marital discord.
With a rare combination of gripping storytelling, vivid prose, and remarkable insight into character, Alice LaPlante brings to life a story of passion and obsession that will haunt readers long after they turn the final page. A charged and provocative psychological thriller, A Circle of Wives dissects the dynamics of love and marriage, trust and jealousy, posing the terrifying question: How well do you really know your spouse? (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Education—B.A., M.B.A., University of Illinois
• Awards—Wallace Stegner Fellowship; Welcome Prize
• Currently—lives in Palo Alto, California
Alice LaPlante is an award-winning fiction writer and university creative writing instructor. She was a Wallace Stegner Fellow and a Jones Lecturer at Stanford University, and teaches creative writing at both Stanford and San Francisco State University. The author of both fiction and nonfiction books, Alice includes among her publications a writing textbook, Method and Madness: The Making of a Story (2009), Playing For Profit: How Digital Entertainment is Making Big Business Out of Child's Play (2000); and Passion to Profits: Business for Non-Business Majors (2008).
Her novel, Turn of Mind (2011) became a New York Times, NPR, and American Independent Booksellers Association bestseller within a month of release. Turn of Mind was also designated a New York Times Editors' Choice, an NPR, O Magazine, Vogue, and Globe and Mail Summer Reading Pick, and is featured in Barnes and Noble 2011 Discover Great New Writers program. Turn of Mind was also the first work of fiction to win the Welcome Prize.
Three years later, in 2014, LaPlante published her second novel, A Circle of Wives, about the murder of a respected plastic surgeon, who is later discoverd to have been a polygamist.
Alice also has more than 25 years experience as an award-winning journalist, corporate editorial consultant, writing coach, and university-level writing instructor. She has written for Forbes ASAP, BusinessWeek, ComputerWorld, InformationWeek, Discover, and a host of other national publications. Her corporate clients include some of the best-known brands in the technology industry, including IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Symantec, Deloitte, and HP. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
I finished reading this absorbing novel after 11 last night. That’s the mark of a successful mystery.
Carolyn See - Washington Post
Exhilarating and smart, A Circle of Wives is a wild ride of love, loss, marriage and murder, with a finale that's provocative, thrilling and grand. It all shows that while some deaths are a mystery, so, too, are some loves.
San Francisco Chronicle
Surprising, swift and sure-footed...[LaPlante] has taken an intriguing premise and, having hooked the reader, delivers an equally intriguing book.
Seattle Times
Insightful.... [An] engrossing tale of tangled relationships, unfilled needs, and the endless human talent for self-deception. The question it plants in the reader’s mind is the most chilling of all: How well do I know the person I love?
Washington Independent Review of Books
Marriage is as mysterious as murder in LaPlante’s captivating psychological thriller. . . . a smart, intricate tale about murder and the elusive mysteries of marriage.... In LaPlante’s world knowing who did the deed is never as fascinating as wondering why. (3.5 stars)
People
The pleasures of this novel—as with LaPlante's last, Turn of Mind—lie less in the plot, which is strewn with only a few clues and red herrings, and more in the sharply drawn and carefully shaded characters. (A-)
Entertainment Weekly
Told in the alternating...the novel explores love, loss, control, the influence of past relationships, and passion. The multi-narrator approach may strike some as choppy at first, but LaPlante quickly settles into a captivating rhythm. She paints a sympathetic picture of the enigmatic John while channeling the women’s voices to explore how their separate stories converged on him.
Publishers Weekly
Though a murder mystery serves as the backdrop to LaPlante's tale...[the] investigation of a crime becomes an exploration of the choices these women made and the resulting impact. Fans of character-driven puzzles will find much to like in this psychological novel. —Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI
Library Journal
Plastic surgeon [John] Taylor's passion is reconstructing the faces of damaged children. Taylor was... "competent, straight-talking, yet compassionate," and so there's widespread shock when Taylor's found dead at a local hotel. The confusion's compounded when it's discovered that Taylor was a bigamist.... Love, passion and marriage reflected in a mystery's fun-house mirror.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The book is narrated by four different characters: Detective Samantha Adams and Dr. Taylor’s three wives: Helen, MJ, and Deborah. How does this structure provide a more well-rounded understanding of each character? Which of these characters voices do you connect with most? Why?
2. Detective Samantha Adams’s first lines in the book are: “I am nothing if not irresolute. Excuse the double negative” (p. 1). What do these opening lines tell us about her character? Discuss how this introduction fits with the stereotype of a police detective.
3. Dr. Taylor’s second wife, MJ, is introduced at his funeral mass. What do we initially learn about MJ’s character? Consider how this chapter foreshadows what we ultimately discover about MJ and her path in the book.
4. Dr. Taylor’s third wife, Helen, tells MJ and Deborah that they are “a circle of wives” (p. 33). Why does she use this turn of phrase? Is it accurate? What meanings does this phrase have in addition to its literal one? Discuss the contributions that each wife makes to the “circle.”
5. Detective Adams interviews MJ, Helen, and Deborah in back-to-back chapters. What are the similarities and differences in how each wife responds to learning that her husband was married to two other women? What clues are revealed about each wife’s potential guilt or innocence in their interviews?
6. Helen opens up to a woman she thinks is a neighbor before realizing the woman is a reporter. Then Helen muses on whether modern psychiatry will develop medication to help keep a person’s guard up. “The world will be a healthier place. But even so, despite all that’s happened, I think it will be a far less interesting one” (p. 82). What does she mean by this statement? Discuss whether or not talking to the reporter is cathartic for her. Does she feel more can be gained in her life by letting her guard down, even if the consequences are messy?
7. Samantha’s relationship with her boyfriend, Peter, deteriorates throughout the book. On page 87, Samantha says, “Something about the Taylor case and its web of love and deceit is souring what used to sustain me.” Discuss how the case causes growing dissatisfaction with her relationship. Is she dissatisfied with Peter, herself, or both?
8. On page 95, MJ notes that Samantha is “very professional” despite her pigtails, which MJ had never seen a grown woman wear. Yet when Samantha interviews Helen on page 100, Helen observes that Samantha “seems more nervous than [me],” and notes the “multiple piercings up the sides of both [her] ears” as well as “the remnants of a nose piercing.” What is revealed by these observations about Samantha? Are these observations indicative of MJ and Helen’s values, of Samantha’s personality, or both?
9. Deborah reveals a brief flirtation with a man named Gerald early on in her marriage with John. Gerald, who had a “streak of cruelty,” told her about his recurring temptation to stop the heart of a patient while conducting an operation just because he could. To Deborah this made him “a much more admirable man” than her husband (p. 105). Deborah then reveals that Gerald and his wife were killed when his car crossed over the road’s center line. Deborah says, “Death. Always interrupting things” (p. 106). Does Deborah assume that Gerald’s deadly impulses finally got the better of him? Were Deborah and Gerald a better match for each other? Discuss what else has been interrupted in Deborah’s life by death.
10. MJ reveals that she has a close relationship with her brother Thomas. “[H]e’s my baby brother, and I love him dearly. I would do anything for him, and he knows it” (p. 112). Talk about how MJ’s relationship with her brother compare and contrast with Samantha’s feelings for her deceased brother. How do these relationships inform our understanding of their personalities?
11. When Deborah learns of John’s relationship with MJ, she drives to MJ’s house and, due to stress, vomits outside. MJ comforts Deborah and offers her a glass of water. Deborah drives away because she doesn’t want to be indebted to MJ, and she is incapable of giving/receiving genuine acts of kindness. Later, she says that MJ “saved” her marriage. According to her own belief system, she now owes MJ, and this debt “is not a trivial one” (p. 121). Do you think Deborah’s belief system makes sense, or is it contradictory?
12. Helen discovers she’s pregnant with John’s baby and decides to keep it. She feels guilty for this decision because “if John had lived, this child would not have. It was in our agreement: no children” (p. 154). Why did she decide to keep the baby after John’s death, despite their agreement? What does this decision suggest about their relationship?
13. Samantha asks Peter to role-play as Deborah to prepare for interviewing her. The interview turns cruel as Peter uses the exercise as a way to indirectly express his true feelings about her. Discuss the significance of this role-play. Why does it sting her so much? Examine how this scene foreshadows later events with both Peter and Deborah.
14. As Samantha enters Deborah’s house, she says, “I see a world that will always be out of my reach” and she becomes inexplicably furious (p. 159). In the next chapter, Deborah says that Samantha hungers not for things, “but rather for beauty” (p. 165). Is Deborah correct in her assessment of Samantha? Why or why not? How does Samantha’s fight with Peter from the night before impact her behavior around Deborah?
15. Deborah believes that John’s three wives “added up to the perfect marriage, and he needed all of us in order to have a balanced life” (p. 169). Does she really mean this? Discuss whether or not Deborah is a reliable narrator.
16. Samantha learns that Dr. Taylor had planned to divorce his other three wives and marry Dr. Claire Fanning. Samantha admits that she can’t figure out Claire’s motivation in marrying a man nearly forty years her senior. “I find I’m disappointed by John’s choice. . . . I’ve built an impression of John Taylor, I realize, and it doesn’t have anything to do with marrying young china dolls less than half his age” (p. 208). Why is Samantha disappointed in this revelation? Consider how her “relationship” with Dr. Taylor has evolved since the case began. Has Dr. Taylor “seduced” Samantha?
17. Grady tells Samantha to “ignore the alibis” in trying to figure out Dr. Taylor’s murderer (p. 221). Do you think this is sound advice? Who appears to be the culprit at this point in the book?
18) Samantha confronts MJ with the news that MJ had a strong motive to murder Dr. Taylor, as she would have lost her house. “I see now,” Samantha says, “that any warmth I felt toward MJ was just stupid me wanting to be liked. We are opponents, have been from the start” (p. 229). Why does this news shock Samantha? Has Samantha’s need to be liked impacted her ability to do her job effectively?
19. Samantha feels that her relationship with Peter lacks passion. In their final argument, Peter tells Samantha, “What you don’t understand is that we’ve got what people hope to have after the passion and initial excitement have burned out. We’re best friends” (p. 241). Has Peter misjudged his relationship with Samantha? Do you think Samantha and Peter act like best friends? Consider whether or not passion and friendship are mutually exclusive in a relationship.
20. Samantha acknowledges that Peter is a “sweet man” but that he pales in comparison with John Taylor. She says that Peter “lacks the backbone to forge his way in this world and get what he wants” (p. 254). Discuss how Dr. Taylor represents passion to Samantha. Do you see evidence of Dr. Taylor’s passion toward any of his three wives? Does Samantha esteem the idea of passion to the point that she can excuse bigamy?
21. Deborah’s initial reaction to hearing about Helen’s pregnancy is violent. When she flies to Los Angeles to confront Helen about her unborn child, she learns Helen wants no claim to her estate. Deborah calms down, treating Helen in an almost maternal manner. Why the sudden change in her demeanor? Is it solely related to finances, or does Deborah feel a kinship with Helen that she doesn’t feel with MJ?
22. Helen offers Deborah a place to stay in her apartment, then opens up to Deborah about how she met Dr. Taylor. Are these gestures in line with Helen’s character, or do they reflect a genuine reevaluation of her personality in the wake of her pregnancy and Dr. Taylor’s death?
23. Why does Deborah indulge Samantha’s reenactment of Dr. Taylor’s final moments? Is she paying off a debt she feels she owes Samantha? What is Deborah’s quid pro quo in this scene?
24. Consider whether or not Samantha becomes part of Dr. Taylor’s circle of wives. Why or why not?
25. The “Rashomon effect” occurs when multiple speakers narrate a similar event in a contradictory way. How does the structure of A Circle of Wives affect our understanding of Dr. Taylor’s character? Knowing the outcome of the novel, discuss who was the most reliable and the least reliable narrator.
(Questions written by Brando Skyhorse and issued by the publisher.)
Tempting Fate
Jane Green, 2014
St. Martin's Press
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780312591847
Summary
An enthralling and emotional story about how much we really understand the temptations that can threaten even the most idyllic of relationships.
Gabby and Elliott have been happily married for eighteen years. They have two teenaged daughters. They have built a life together. Forty-three year old Gabby is the last person to have an affair. She can’t relate to the way her friends desperately try to cling to the beauty and allure of their younger years…And yet, she too knows her youth is quickly slipping away.
She could never imagine how good it would feel to have a handsome younger man show interest in her—until the night it happens. Matt makes Gabby feel sparkling, fascinating, alive—something she hasn't felt in years. What begins as a long-distance friendship soon develops into an emotional affair as Gabby discovers her limits and boundaries are not where she expects them to be.
Intoxicated, Gabby has no choice but to step ever deeper into the allure of attraction and attention, never foreseeing the life-changing consequences that lie ahead. If she makes one wrong move she could lose everything—and find out what really matters most.
A heartfelt and complex story, Tempting Fate will have readers gripped until they reach the very last page, and thinking about the characters long after they put the book down. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—May 31, 1968
• Where—London, England, UK
• Education—University of Wales
• Currently—lives in Westport, Connecticut, USA
Jane Green is the pen name of Jane Green Warburg, an English author of women's novels. Together with Helen Fielding she is considered a founder of the genre known as chick lit.
Green was born in London, England. She attended the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and worked as a journalist throughout her twenties, writing women's features for the Daily Express, Daily Mail, Cosmopolitan and others. At 27 she published her first book, Straight Talking, which went straight on to the Bestseller lists, and launched her career as "the queen of chick lit".
Frequent themes in her most recent books, include cooking, class wars, children, infidelity, and female friendships. She says she does not write about her life, but is inspired by the themes of her life.
She is the author of more than 15 novels, several (The Beach House, Second Chance, and Dune Road) having been listed on the New York Times bestseller list. Her other novels Another Piece of My Heart (2012), Family Pictures (2013), and Tempting Fate (2014) received wide acclaim.
In addition to novels, she has taught at writers conferences, and writes for various publications including the Sunday Times, Parade magazine, Wowowow.com, and Huffington Post.
Green now lives in Connecticut with her second husband, Ian Warburg, six children, two dogs and three cats. Actively philanthropic, her foremost charities are The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp (Paul Newman's camp for children with life-threatening illnesses), Bethel Recovery Center, and various breast cancer charities. She is also a supporter of the Westport Public Library, and the Westport Country Playhouse. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 4/20/2014.)
Book Reviews
The author, one of the first ladies of chick lit, once again exemplifies the best qualities of the genre...her compelling tale reflects an understanding of contemporary women that's acute and compassionate, served up with style.
People
Complex and funny family drama
US Weekly
You'll have trouble putting it down.
Detroit Free Press
Green is one of the great entertainers in popular fiction, with 14 previous novels that large numbers of readers have taken to heart. Her work is what might be described as smart escapism, stories that deal with issues we all can relate to, but that serve up ideas in the context of wonderful stories that keep us turning pages. More often than not we see the world through the eyes of a charming, striving woman.
Connecticut Post
Gabby has prided herself on being surrounded with tranquility, one of the defining characteristics of her happy and long-standing marriage...[until] she encounters an intriguing younger man.... Green skillfully depicts a woman trapped between contentment and temptation, crafting an insightful look into married life and middle age.
Publishers Weekly
The course of [qa couple's] lives changes in one night when...meets Matt, who is much younger than she and very handsome. The two hit it off.... Green once more proves her skill at exploring the complexities of the human heart.... [W]ell-written women's fiction. —Kristen Stewart, Pearland Lib., Brazoria Cty. Lib. Syst., TX
Library Journal
An affair threatens a woman's marriage, yet it also forges unexpected bonds that transcend the narrow definition of family.... Gabby's transgression may detonate a bomb in her personal life, yet out of the wreckage emerges a love more flexible, more tolerant and more inclusive. A Scarlet Letter for the 21st century
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Let’s start with the title of this novel. What does it mean to, quote, tempt fate? What did fate have in store for Gabby? Do you "believe" in fate? You may choose to define the term as a group, both within and beyond the world of the novel.
2. When we first meet Gabby she is feeling self-conscious about going out with the "girls." She feels old, unattractive, irrelevant. Do you feel her "condition" is a cliché of middle age, or does her dissatisfaction go deeper? Do you like Gabby once you better understood her needs, her history, her struggles? Or are you judgmental?
3. And then there’s Matt. Were you surprised by his actions and, ultimately, the affair? Take a moment to discuss his attraction to Gabby. What was he looking for, really? How was he tempting fate by falling in love with an older, married woman?|
4. Take a moment to talk about love and romance in Tempting Fate. Do Gabby and Elliott have "true" love? What is true love, both in your personal opinion and/or experience and for each of the main characters in the novel? Do Claire and her husband have it? What about Trish and Elliott?
5. Is there such a thing as right or wrong with matters of the heart?
6. Gabby realizes the mistake she’s made once she assesses the damage she’s done to her family. Do you sympathize with her? How did you react to Elliott’s reaction, and her daughters’? Did you find Jane Green’s portrayal of this family realistic? Which episodes (or even words) were most meaningful, or recognizable, to you?
7. Tempting Fate employs a unique narrative in which Matt’s character comes to life in a series of texts or emails. Did you feel, in the end, that you knew him? Liked him? Does it matter, either way? Moreover, how do you envision his role in his son’s life? And—just for fun!—do you think that will he and Monroe will stand the test of time?
8. How we talk about books—in or outside of book clubs—is almost as engaging as reading the books themselves. What would you say about Tempting Fate to someone who has not yet read it? Is it a love story? A family drama? A cautionary tale? All or none of the above? Would you recommend it to a friend, fellow parent, or loved one? Why or why not?
9. Why do we feel the need to share our feelings about books with other readers? Also, who in the group recommended you read Tempting Fate in the first place? Take a moment to discuss what your expectations were in choosing this novel. Have you read Jane Green’s other novels? You may choose to talk about the themes that run through her work at this time as well.
10. Did you have a sixth sense about how Tempting Fate would end? Were you gratified or disappointed by how things turned out? Do you "believe" in happy endings, generally speaking? Feel free to suggest alternate endings, if you wish.
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
The Wives of Los Alamos: A Novel
TaraShea Nesbit, 2014
Bloomsbury USA
240 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781620405031
Summary
Their average age was twenty-five. They came from Berkeley, Cambridge, Paris, London, Chicago—and arrived in New Mexico ready for adventure, or at least resigned to it. But hope quickly turned to hardship as they were forced to adapt to a rugged military town where everything was a secret, including what their husbands were doing at the lab.
They lived in barely finished houses with P.O. box addresses in a town wreathed with barbed wire, all for the benefit of a project that didn’t exist as far as the public knew. Though they were strangers, they joined together—adapting to a landscape as fierce as it was absorbing, full of the banalities of everyday life and the drama of scientific discovery.
And while the bomb was being invented, babies were born, friendships were forged, children grew up, and Los Alamos gradually transformed from an abandoned school on a hill into a real community: one that was strained by the words they couldn’t say out loud, the letters they couldn’t send home, the freedom they didn’t have. But the end of the war would bring even bigger challenges to the people of Los Alamos, as the scientists and their families struggled with the burden of their contribution to the most destructive force in the history of mankind.
The Wives of Los Alamos is a novel that sheds light onto one of the strangest and most monumental research projects in modern history. It's a testament to a remarkable group of women who carved out a life for themselves, in spite of the chaos of the war and the shroud of intense secrecy. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1981
• Born—Dayton, Ohio, USA
• Education—M.F.A., Washington University in St. Louis; Ph.D.,
University of Colorado (in progress)
• Currently—lives in Boulder, Colorado
TaraShea Nesbit’s writing has been featured in the Iowa Review, Quarterly West, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and other literary journals. She teaches creative writing and literature courses at the University of Denver and the University of Washington in Tacoma and is the nonfiction editor of Better: Culture & Lit.
A graduate of the M.F.A. program at Washington University in St. Louis, TaraShea is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in creative writing at the University of Denver. She lives in Boulder, Colorado, and is married to a scientist. (From the publisher and USA Today.)
Book Reviews
TaraShea Nesbit’s debut novel breathes life into the domestic side of this story.... Quietly revealing, The Wives of Los Alamos offers an unusual glimpse into a singular community where war, science, and home life collided.
Boston Globe
It becomes easy to slip into the rhythms of Nesbit's prose and imagine the dusty, sunbaked mesas of Los Alamos, where the wives—uprooted from their families, their mail censored, not really sure what their husbands were doing—managed to create a vibrant community of their own.
Entertainment Weekly
A great story.... [Nesbit] evokes the women’s days in lyrical, hypnotic detail: the mountains’ stark beauty, the sand penetrating every corner of the jerry-built houses, the infectious pettiness of people stuck together in close quarters, the sudden bursts of patriotism.
People
(Starred review.) The author’s writing—by turns touching, confiding, and matter-of-fact—perfectly captures the commonalities of the hive mind while also emphasizing the little things that make each wife dissimilar from the pack. This effect intensifies once the nature of the Los Alamos project is revealed and the men and their families grapple with the burden of their new creation. Engrossing, dense, and believable.
Publishers Weekly
Nesbit uses a collective "we" to narrate her story, allowing her to explore contradictory points of view among the women. Novelist Julie Otsuka used this literary device with dramatic effect in The Buddha in the Attic, and readers may find echoes of her distinctive style here.... [W]ell-researched and fast-paced novel...important subject matter and...vivid storytelling. —Leslie Patterson, Rehoboth, MA
Library Journal
(Starred review.) [T]his novel...achieves with no real plot and no real main character [yet] is astounding.... We meet the key figures of Los Alamos but from the perspective of women on the outside of their historic work on the Gadget.... Nesbit brings alive questions of war and power that dog us to this day. —Lynn Weber
Booklist
(Starred review.) The scientists' wives tell the story of daily life in Los Alamos during the creation of the atomic bomb, in Nesbit's lyrical, captivating historical debut.... While the husbands and a few women scientists spend the bulk of their time in the "Tech Area," the wives, many highly educated with abandoned careers, cope with their new domestic realities... There are rumors of musical beds....as time passes in this insular world. Nesbit artfully...creat[es] an emotional tapestry of time and place.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The Wives of Los Alamos is narrated in first person plural. While individual women are mentioned, the wives speak as a group. How does this affect your understanding of them and their story? Do you come to know any of them as individuals? What was your emotional response to this stylistic choice?
2. From the very beginning, the town of Los Alamos is one defined by secrets. Who is keeping information secret from whom? What type of information does each group within the community have access to and how does that information give them power?
3. Where do you see issues of race and class come up in the novel? Do race and class differences manifest themselves differently in this small, isolated community than they do in the world at large?
4. The wives of Los Alamos are often pregnant, their families steadily growing. What does it mean to be a mother in this community? What do you think it would be like to grow up in that environment, only to move back into the world after the bombs had been dropped?
5. In the days approaching the test of the atomic bomb, the husbands become increasingly distant. The wives are quick to wonder if the men have taken a lover, or if perhaps, in their isolation, they’ve let themselves go too much. How does this reflect back on the wives’ roles in Los Alamos? And in their marriages?
6. At times the wives seem to use their sexuality as a means of gathering information or making a social statement. Where do you see that come up in the book? In these instances, are they acting individually or as a group?
7. When the wives watch the test bomb explode, they think, "Our town had made something as strong and bright as the sun." Has this been a communal creation? If it has been, what does it suggest about the accountability of all of the residents of the town going forward?
8. Regarding the creation of the bomb, the wives note, "On this place formed millions of years ago by a huge eruption, our husbands had just made their own." What is suggested in that comparison about the forces of creation and destruction? Was the bomb part of an on-going cycle, or was it a disruption of one?
9. The wives have very different responses to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What are those responses? Are you able to relate to all of them, or are there some you have trouble understanding?
10. Nesbit often mixes mundane details of everyday life with the monumental events discussed in the novel. For example, after the bombs are dropped in Japan, the wives exclaim, "You can build a bomb but you cannot fix a leaky faucet!" How does this mixture of the quotidian with the tremendous change your understanding of these people and events?
11. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the community in Los Alamos becomes the focus of national media. How do the wives respond to this attention?
12. In the final days of the project, the Director, J. Robert Oppenheimer, says to the community, "If you are a scientist you believe that it is good to find out how the world works; that it is good to find out what the realities are; that it is good to turn over to mankind at large the greatest possible power to control the world and to deal with it according to its lights and values." Do you agree with that statement? What do you think the responsibility of a scientist is to society at large? Who should act as custodian to "the greatest possible power to control the world"?
13. Oppenheimer ends his speech to the scientists and wives by saying, "A day may come when men and women will curse the name Los Alamos." Do you curse the name? Why or why not?
14. The scientists tell their wives shortly after Oppenheimer’s speech, "The world knowing the bomb exists is the best hope for peace." What do they mean by that? Do you agree?
15. As the community of Los Alamos disperses, the wives observe: "Saying good-bye to our friends was not just saying good-by to them, we were saying good-bye to part of ourselves." What are they leaving behind as they leave Los Alamos? How has this experience changed them?
(Questions from author's website.)
Hyde
Daniel Levine, 2014
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
416 pp. *
ISBN-13: 9780544191181
Summary
What happens when a villain becomes a hero?
Mr. Hyde is trapped, locked in Dr. Jekyll’s surgical cabinet, counting the hours until his inevitable capture. As four days pass, he has the chance, finally, to tell his story—the story of his brief, marvelous life.
Summoned to life by strange potions, Hyde knows not when or how long he will have control of "the body." When dormant, he watches Dr. Jekyll from a remove, conscious of this other, high-class life but without influence.
As the experiment continues, their mutual existence is threatened, not only by the uncertainties of untested science, but also by a mysterious stalker. Hyde is being taunted—possibly framed. Girls have gone missing; someone has been killed. Who stands, watching, from the shadows? In the blur of this shared consciousness, can Hyde ever be confident these crimes were not committed by his hand? (From the publisher.)
* Includes Robert Louis Stevenson's original 84-page novella, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, at the end.
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1979-80
• Raised—Livingston, New Jersey, USA
• Education—B.A., Brown University; M.F.A., University of Florida
• Currently—lives in Boulder, Colorado
Book Reviews
The novel is a pleasure nonetheless, a worthy companion to its predecessor. It’s rich in gloomy, moody atmosphere (Levine’s London has a brutal steampunk quality), and its narrator’s plight is genuinely poignant. The best parts are those in which Hyde peers out at Jekyll as though he were a stranger, straining to understand him, to know his thoughts. Hyde yearns, above all, for intimacy with his host, for relief from his own isolation, but it eludes him. He’s the unconscious mind personified, submerged, ignored and desperate to be heard.
Walter Kirn - New York Times Book Review
Riveting Hyde renders evil in shades of gray…in his spellbinding first novel [Levine] offers many surprises and rich, often intoxicating prose. It’s a fascinating read.
Washington Post
Levine's account is a masterpiece of hallucination; his narrator is feverish, righteous, intense. The author knows what to invent and what to leave to the master. And about that confession: Hyde doesn't open it, and neither does Levine. He leaves it to Stevenson, to whom he is faithful with his prose. The shockers may be born of this century, but this chilling new version is a remarkably good fit with the original horror classic.
Miami Herald
Daniel Levine’s intelligent and brutal first novel, Hyde, puts a fresh spin on the well-worn material…It goes beyond a companion piece to an independent novel worth reading in its own right.
Columbus Dispatch
(Starred review.) [T]his ambitious first novel provides an alternate perspective on Jekyll’s chemical experiments on the split personality.... Levine’s...skill at grounding his narrative in arresting descriptive images is masterful.... If this exceptional variation on a classic has any drawback, it’s that it particularizes to a single character a malaise that Stevenson originally presented belonging universally to the human condition.
Publishers Weekly
Levine's debut novel is deviously plotted but relies a great deal on readers having a close familiarity with the parent text, while the anachronistically graphic descriptions of sex and violence may be off-putting for some. On the other hand, readers who enjoy the grittier crime fiction of Dennis Lehane, James Ellroy, and John Connolly might give it a try. —Liv Hanson, Chicago
Library Journal
Daniel Levine’s ambitious and imaginative literary debut...Taking the parameters of Stevenson’s story, but deepening and extending the details, Levine allows us to view Hyde not merely as the venal incarnation of Jekyll’s soul, but as a fully fledged character in his own right...Levine answers many questions that Stevenson left unexplored....a visually dark and viscerally brooding tale that avails itself of a cinematic style of storytelling that, of course, Stevenson could never have imagined....an entertaining and intriguing work, as much a meditation on and extrapolation of Stevenson’s original intentions as a freestanding work of popular fiction. With compelling intensity, Levine makes a noteworthy literary debut.
BookPage
Levine debuts with a dark literary-fiction re-imagining of the macabre tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde. Dr. Jekyll's an "alienist," precursor of the psychiatrist, but it's Hyde who seizes control and rips the narrative open.... Cleverly imagined and sophisticated in execution, this book may appeal to those who like magical realism and vampire stories, but the latter should know that the book is more intellectual than thriller.
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)
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher.)