Four Sisters, All Queens
Sherry Jones, 2012
Gallery Books
464 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781451633245
Summary
Rich in intrigue and scheming, love and lust, Sherry Jones’s vibrant historical novel follows four women destined to sway the fate of nations and the hearts of kings.
Amid the lush valleys and fragrant wildflowers of Provence, Marguerite, Eleonore, Sanchia, and Beatrice have learned to charm, hunt, dance, and debate under the careful tutelage of their ambitious mother—and to abide by the countess’s motto: “Family comes first.”
With Provence under constant attack, their legacy and safety depend upon powerful alliances. Marguerite’s illustrious match with the young King Louis IX makes her Queen of France. Soon Eleonore—independent and daring—is betrothed to Henry III of England. In turn, shy, devout Sanchia and tempestuous Beatrice wed noblemen who will also make them queens.
Yet a crown is no guarantee of protection. Enemies are everywhere, from Marguerite’s duplicitous mother-in-law to vengeful lovers and land-hungry barons. Then there are the dangers that come from within, as loyalty succumbs to bitter sibling rivalry, and sister is pitted against sister for the prize each believes is rightfully hers—Provence itself.
From the treacherous courts of France and England, to the bloody tumult of the Crusades, Sherry Jones traces the extraordinary true story of four fascinating sisters whose passions, conquests, and progeny shaped the course of history. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—September 9th
• Where—Texas, USA
• Education—B.A., University of Montana
• Currently—N/A
Sherry Jones is perhaps best known for her controversial novels, The Jewel of Medina and The Sword of Medina, international best sellers about the life of A’isha, who married the Muslim prophet Muhammad at age nine and went on to become the most famous and influential woman in Islam. Her new book, Four Sisters, All Queens, a tale of four sisters in 13th century Provence who became queens of France, England, Germany, and Italy, came out in May 2012 from Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books. She is also publishing a novella, White Heart, about the famous French “White Queen” Blanche de Castille, as an e-book in April, also from Simon & Schuster. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Jones’s excellent new historical (after the prequel, White Heart) reimagines the world of 13th-century Europe and the dramatic true story of four sisters who each became queens. Their influential mother, Beatrice of Savoy and countess of Provence, arranges even before the girls’ births to wed them to powerful men in an effort to ensure the safety of her beloved homeland, which has long been the object of desire of warring parties. Marguerite marries King Louis IX of France, Eleonore weds Henry III of England, Sanchia becomes Queen of the Romans, and Beatrice assumes the crown as Queen of Sicily. Though their mother is thrilled to see her plans come to fruition, the new queens soon become mired in turmoil. Marguerite suffers under her overbearing mother-in-law, the White Queen; Eleonore is roundly disliked by her countrymen; Sanchia is frequently misled by her naivete; and Beatrice grows into a power-hungry villain. As the young sisters desperately try to maintain ties to one another, the political agendas of their new homes threaten to undermine the bonds of family. Jones’s impeccable eye for detail and beautifully layered plot—each sister narrates her side of the story in alternating chapters—makes this not only a standout historical, but an impressive novel in its own right, regardless of genre.
Publishers Weekly
Entertaining... Fans of historical fiction about European royalty should enjoy this well-written novel set during fascinating times. The relationship among the sisters is believable and often heartbreaking.
Library Journal
Discussion Questions
1. Beatrice’s maxim, which she tries to pass on to her daughters, is “Family comes 3rst.” Do you agree with this motto? Which queen best upholds this mantra?
2. In the prologue, Beatrice states, “A woman achieves nothing in this man’s world without careful plotting.” (p. 1) How does this statement apply to the rest of the novel? As Eleonore wonders later, is it possible for women to decide their own fate in this novel?
3. Four Sisters, All Queens is told from the perspective of all four queens. Which sister did you identify with most? Who was your favorite? Who was your least favorite? Did any of the relationships in this novel remind you of any relationships in your own life? If so, why?
4. “[Marguerite] had thought that, as queen, she would have control over her own life as well as the lives of others. Now, she thinks the opposite may be true.” (p. 53) Does being in a position of leadership allow one to have more power over others? Or does it actually serve to limit control in one’s own life? Have you ever been in a leadership position? What did you struggle with? What did you enjoy about?
5. Beatrice of Savoy and Blanche, the White Queen, are both strong matriarchs with great influence over the other characters in the novel. Compare and contrast these two powerful women.
6. Discuss the different marriages and relationships throughout the book. What motivates these unions? Love, money, power, sex? In your opinion, which relationship functioned the best? Why?
7. Similarly, as Marguerite wonders, “What is the meaning of loyalty?” (p. 279) Is there any merit to remaining faithful in this novel? How do you define loyalty? Who is the most loyal person in your life?
8. Marguerite ponders the true meaning of happiness, and if it is to be found with a man or in spite of a man. (p. 280) Which do you believe? What would you choose?
9. Eleonore wonders, “[Who] cares which kingdom has more power, which kings and queens have more lands? We 3ght and scheme for our children’s sakes and then we die, and they may lose all that we built up for them. There is nothing we can give to anyone that lasts—except love.” (pp. 400–1) Which characters would agree with her sentiment? Do you agree?
10. What is the source of each character’s power? Where do they derive their confidence and authority? How is power for women different from men?
11. Four Sisters, All Queens takes place over a period of forty years. How does each sister evolve throughout the novel?
12. Why does Beatrice force her daughters into their marriages? Did she sacrifice her daughters for her own interests, as Marguerite believes? (p. 354) Or did she truly have their benefit in mind?
13. “In this struggle to navigate a world made by men, for men, are not all women sisters?” (p. 390) Do you agree with this statement? How does it apply to thirteenth century society in contrast to present day?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
The Baker's Daughter
Sarah McCoy, 2012
Crown Publishing
304 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780307460196
Summary
In 1945, Elsie Schmidt is a naive teenager, as eager for her first sip of champagne as she is for her first kiss. She and her family have been protected from the worst of the terror and desperation overtaking her country by a high-ranking Nazi who wishes to marry her. So when an escaped Jewish boy arrives on Elsie’s doorstep in the dead of night on Christmas Eve, Elsie understands that opening the door would put all she loves in danger.
Sixty years later, in El Paso, Texas, Reba Adams is trying to file a feel-good Christmas piece for the local magazine. Reba is perpetually on the run from memories of a turbulent childhood, but she’s been in El Paso long enough to get a full-time job and a fiance, Riki Chavez. Riki, an agent with the U.S. Border Patrol, finds comfort in strict rules and regulations, whereas Reba feels that lines are often blurred.
Reba’s latest assignment has brought her to the shop of an elderly baker across town. The interview should take a few hours at most, but the owner of Elsie’s German Bakery is no easy subject. Reba finds herself returning to the bakery again and again, anxious to find the heart of the story. For Elsie, Reba’s questions are a stinging reminder of darker times: her life in Germany during that last bleak year of WWII. And as Elsie, Reba, and Riki’s lives become more intertwined, all are forced to confront the uncomfortable truths of the past and seek out the courage to forgive. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—April 14, 1980
• Where—Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA
• Raised—Frankfurt, Germany; states of Maryland, Kansas, Virginia
• Education—B.A., Virginia Tech; M.F.A., Old Dominion University
• Currently—lives in El Paso, Texas
Sarah McCoy is an American author of bestselling novels in the U.S. and internationally.
The daughter of a career Army officer, McCoy was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky but grew up on or near military installations—in Frankfurt, Germany; Aberdeen, Maryland; Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and various cities in Virginia. She attended Virginia Tech where she received her BA in Journalism and Public Relations. She earned her MFA in English Creative Writing from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Writing
McCoy's master's degree thesis was her debut novel The Time It Snowed In Puerto Rico, published by Random House in 2009. Her second novel The Baker’s Daughter, published in 2012, became a New York Times and USA Today bestseller, as well as an international bestseller. Her novella The Branch of Hazel is included in the WWII anthology Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion, published in 2014. The Mapmaker's Children, her third novel, was released in 2015.
McCoy's writing has also appeared in Real Simple, The Millions, Your Health Monthly, and the Huffington Post. She has taught English writing at Old Dominion University and at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Personal
McCoy and her husband, an Army orthopedic surgeon, live in El Paso, Texas. (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 9/17/2015.)
Visit the author's website.
Book Reviews
The Baker’s Daughter is both intricate and delicious.
New York Daily News
The Baker’s Daughter reminds me of why I read fiction. Thinking about the ideas brought up in McCoy’s novel, I don’t get depressed. I feel rejuvenated, affirmed that caring is not wrong, that it matters to me to live by the tenets I hold dear and that what I do matters. Reading fiction isn’t hiding from the world. It’s gathering strength to carry on.
Daily Kos (online)
Replete with raw emotion and suspense, The Baker’s Daughter is a fascinating journey through a horrifying time in world history that will resonate long after you close the book.
Historical Novel Society
Discussion Questions
1. The epigraph pairs two quotes; the first is from Mark Twain. The second is from Robert Frost’s poem “The Trial by Existence.” Why do you think McCoy put these quotes together? Which characters do you believe they reference?
2. The concept of baking, sharing and passing on recipes is woven throughout the book. What are a couple of your favorite family recipes? Have you shared those with your children and/or friends? How have recipes played a part in your own childhood and adult life?
3. Epistolary storytelling in the form of letter writing is a vital way the characters directly communicate with one another and express many of their innermost feelings. Do you have friends or family members with whom you frequently exchange letters, cards, or emails, though you rarely see them in person or talk on the phone? If so, do you find yourself being more or less open in those written communications?
4. Reba is continuously reinventing herself, trying on new personalities and fictitious lives. Why does she engage in this behavior? Why does she think running away from her family’s problems will help her achieve a new beginning? How do you believe discovering Elsie’s story changed Reba?
5. Considering Elsie’s true feelings for Josef, why does she take his gifts, accompany him to the ball, accept his proposal and wear his ring? Why does she pretend to be engaged to him? Do her circumstances make her betrayal right? If you were in her position, what would you have done?
6. When Reba finds her daddy’s therapy notes, she wishes she had never read them. She wants to remember him differently. She doesn’t want to believe that the facts are true. Have you ever felt this way about something? Looking back, do you feel remorse or gratitude for the decision you made regarding it?
7. Both Elsie and Reba are confronted with the issue of blind obedience. At what point must we question the governing regulations? At what point must we act on our own convictions? Is this a slippery slope?
8. Though generations apart, Elsie and Reba are both empowered women. How does this manifest in Elsie’s story? In Reba’s? How does McCoy depict gender roles? How do all the women characters claim or reclaim their power (Mutti, Hazel, Frau Rattelmuller, Jane, Deedee, Reba’s momma, Lillian, etc.)?
9. Does Josef’s personal suffering justify his public actions? Do you sympathize with Josef’s struggle between duty to country and his individual feelings? Why or why not? Similarly, how does Riki justify his daily work with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection? Have you ever participated in something you didn’t believe in?
10. Collective ownership is a central tenet of the Lebensborn Program. What might you see are positive attributes of communal living? What are the negative? Discuss the importance of personal identity and/or possession to Elsie and society as a whole.
11. Do you believe Mutti was right to keep Frau Rattelmüller’s letters from Elsie? Discuss her motivations and the possible outcomes if she hadn’t kept the secret.
12. In the Epilogue, Jane gives Reba a recipe cookbook in honor of her “setting a wedding date.” Do you think they followed through? Where do you think Riki and Reba are today?
Book Club Activities
• Ask each book club member to bring a family recipe for a book club recipe swap or a prepared dish for a potluck of family foods. Go around the group sharing the history of each dish/recipe.
• Pull out pretty stationery or a lovely card and write an old friend. Say anything that comes to mind as if he or she were sitting beside you and see what comes to the page. Mail it as a surprise to that individual.
• Elsie and Hazel watched Jean Harlow’s Libeled Lady (1936) as girls. Consider renting the film and hosting a movie night with your book club. How do you see the female starlets resonating in Elsie? How would you cast The Baker’s Daughter as a movie?
• Have a baking party using Elsie’s German recipes from the novel’s Epilogue. Pick one as the theme (say, a Lebkuchen Bake-off) or try them all.
(Questions and Activities from the author's website.)
Goldberg Variations
Susan Isaacs, 2012
Scribner
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781451605914
Summary
Imagine King Lear as a comedy...
Elegant, amusing, and profoundly nasty tycoon Gloria Garrison, nee Goldberg, has a kingdom to bequeath to one of the grandchildren she barely knows. They’re all twentysomethings who foolishly believe money isn’t everything. Just shy of eighty, Gloria doesn’t wish to watch the minutes tick by while the three dither over the issues of their generation—love, meaning, identity. She has summoned them all from New York for a weekend at her palatial home in Santa Fe. She has a single question to ask them: “Which one of you most deserves to inherit my business?” Gloria never anticipates the answer will be “not interested” times three. She created a brilliant, booming beauty business, Glory, Inc., that not only does well, but does good. And they say “no”? What’s so grand about their lives that they would reject such a kingdom?
Daisy Goldberg is not only mad for movies, she’s part of the film industry: East Coast story editor for one of the biggest studios. Her brother, Matt, the uber–sports buff, has a great job in public relations with Major League Baseball. And their cousin Raquel Goldberg, half-Latina, all Catholic, is a Legal Aid lawyer. They may like their work, but do they really like their lives? Would they be so foolish as to hold against their grandmother the pain she inflicted on every member of the family? As far as Gloria is concerned, this isn’t about tender feelings. It’s about millions of dollars; it’s about living a life the ninety-nine percent dream of and the one percent know.
The weekend is full of surprises, not only for Daisy, Matt, and Raquel but also for Gloria. Memories have a way of intruding at the most inopportune times. And is Gloria’s tough hide as impenetrable as she has always believed? Susan Isaacs is at her formidable best in Goldberg Variations, a novel that is both wickedly witty and a deeply moving tale of family and reconciliation. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—December 7, 1943
• Where—Brooklyn, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Queens College
• Currently—lives on Long Island, New York
Susan Isaacs is an American novelist and screenwriter. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, educated at Queens College, and worked as a senior editor at Seventeen magazine. She married Elkan Abramowitz, a lawyer, in 1968 and in 1970 left work to stay at home with her newborn son, Andrew. Three years later, in 1973, she gave birth to her daughter Elizabeth. She freelanced during this time, writing political speeches and magazine articles. She now lives on Long Island with her husband.
Her first novel, Compromising Positions, was published in 1978. It was chosen as a main selection of the Book of the Month Club and was, like all of her subsequent novels, a New York Times bestseller. Her fiction has been translated into thirty different languages all over the world. In 1985, she adapted her own novel for the screenplay of the film Compromising Positions, which starred Susan Sarandon and Raul Julia. She wrote and co-produced Touchstone Pictures’ Hello Again, a 1987 comedy starring Shelley Long and Judith Ivey. In addition to writing books, essays, and screenplays, Isaacs has reviewed books for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and Newsday. Isaacs has also written about politics and First Amendment issues.
Isaacs serves as a chairman on the board of Poets & Writers and is a past president of the Mystery Writers of America. She is a member of The Creative Coalition, National Book Critics Circle, PEN, the International Association of Crime Writers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the Adams Round Table. She sits on the boards of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association, the Queens College Foundation, the North Shore Child and Family Guidance Association, and the Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence. (Adapted from Wikipedia.)
Book Reviews
Imperious Gloria Garrison, spurned by her best friend and heir to a multimillion-dollar beauty makeover business, summons the three grandchildren she barely knows to the Santa Fe, N.Mex., headquarters of Glory Inc. to pick her successor among them. But neither feisty Legal Aid lawyer Raquel—daughter of Gloria’s favorite son and his Puerto Rican social worker wife, nor Raquel’s cousins—irresistible PR man Matt and big sister Daisy, a Paramount Studios mogul—want anything to do with their mean grandma’s enterprise. The King Lear implications are not lost on the crusty 79-year-old CEO, who broods that Lear’s “two bad daughters, at least, want the kingdom,” calling her own unruly progeny “my thankless flesh and blood.” Prolific veteran Isaacs (Any Place I Hang My Hat) creates a deliciously wicked tale of family dysfunction—as interpreted in alternating chapters by the salty Gloria and her angry grandkids as they endure a long weekend of bitter recriminations that turns abruptly civil after a tour of Glory Inc. and a good makeover. Despite the sluggish pace and improbable reconciliation, time spent with this cheeky and unruly crew is anything but wasted.
Publishers Weekly
Gloria Garrison, 79, has a plan for the future of her booming Santa Fe-based beauty business, Glory, Inc. Having alienated her former partner and successor, she decides to invite her twentysomething grandchildren to tour the business and learn the ropes. Since Gloria wrote them all out of her will, Daisy, Matthew, and Raquel Goldberg are shocked when they realize the motives behind Gloria's invitation: one of them will inherit Glory, while the rest will receive nothing. What Gloria does not anticipate is a collective answer of "not interested." Verdict: Told from the varying viewpoints of every member of the family, Isaacs's latest is full of sharp observations on its relationships. Fans of her previous novels (e.g., Close Relations; As Husbands Go) and of comparable authors such as Nancy Thayer will enjoy the comic wit of Isaacs's latest.—Mara Dabrishus, Ursuline Coll., Pepper Pike, OH
Library Journal
An aging entrepreneur invites her three grandchildren, whom she barely knows, for a weekend visit so she can choose which one will take over her company.... Gloria is not only unlikable, but unbearably boring. Her endless conversation is pretentious without one twinkle of wit. The grandkids are more likable, but equally dull. Few readers will follow them to the contrived, anticlimactic resolution. A painfully long yawn.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Gloria says that her tragic flaw is “losing control and saying what I truly think.” Talk about tragic flaws—Gloria’s, your own, other novels whose plots are driven by such character flaws.
2. What do you think of Glory, Inc. offering makeovers in the back of eighteen-wheelers? Is it a good idea for a business? Could it work in real life?
3. Do you see yourself in Matt, Daisy, or Raquel? In Gloria? Does Matt, Daisy, Raquel, or Gloria remind you of anyone in your own family?
4. Do any of the grandchildren’s jobs appeal to you: PR for a professional sports team; legal aide; book scout for Paramount Pictures?
5. Why is Gloria the way she is? What do you think are the major forces or events that have shaped her personality? Can you admire her or sympathize with her?
6. What do you think of Gloria’s relationship with her ex-husband, Joe? Do you understand or sympathize with her for leaving him?
7. Gloria is critical and judgmental of her family, but she can be relaxed and generous with her employees like Emily Anderson and Lizzy. Why do you think this is?
8. Have you ever had a makeover? How did it go? Is there anyone you know who you’d love to see have a makeover?
9. What did you think of the way the story was told from different points of view, alternating between chapters? Was this an effective way to tell this story?
10. Imagine yourself in Daisy, Raquel, or Matt’s position when they got the offer from Gloria. What would you have done? Do you think they made the right choices ultimately?
11. Have you ever fantasized about opening your own business? What kind would it be?
12. Gloria seems utterly heartless and manipulative at the opening of the novel. Yet, by the end, she’s gained wisdom and even earned everyone’s forgiveness. Talk about the idea that it’s never too late—even at eighty—to change.
13. Do you know anyone who has had a realization and reconciliation in the way Gloria does at the end of the novel?
14. What did you think of the ending? Did you foresee this resolution or was it surprising?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
Enchantments
Kathryn Harrison, 2012
Random House
334 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781400063475
Summary
From Kathryn Harrison, one of America’s most admired literary voices, comes a gorgeously written, enthralling novel set in the final days of Russia’s Romanov Empire.
St. Petersburg, 1917. After Rasputin’s body is pulled from the icy waters of the Neva River, his eighteen-year-old daughter, Masha, is sent to live at the imperial palace with Tsar Nikolay and his family—including the headstrong Prince Alyosha. Desperately hoping that Masha has inherited Rasputin’s miraculous healing powers, Tsarina Alexandra asks her to tend to Aloysha, who suffers from hemophilia, a blood disease that keeps the boy confined to his sickbed, lest a simple scrape or bump prove fatal.
Two months after Masha arrives at the palace, the tsar is forced to abdicate, and Bolsheviks place the royal family under house arrest. As Russia descends into civil war, Masha and Alyosha grieve the loss of their former lives, finding solace in each other’s company. To escape the confinement of the palace, they tell stories—some embellished and some entirely imagined—about Nikolay and Alexandra’s courtship, Rasputin’s many exploits, and the wild and wonderful country on the brink of an irrevocable transformation. In the worlds of their imagination, the weak become strong, legend becomes fact, and a future that will never come to pass feels close at hand.
Mesmerizing, haunting, and told in Kathryn Harrison’s signature crystalline prose, Enchantments is a love story about two people who come together as everything around them is falling apart. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1961
• Where—Los Angeles, California, USA
• Education—B.A., Stanford Unveristy, Iowa
Writers' Workshop
• Currently—lives in New York City, New York
Kathryn Harrison was raised in Los Angeles by her maternal grandparents. She graduated from Stanford University in 1982 with a B.A. in English and Art History and received an MFA from the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop in 1987. She lives in New York with her husband, the novelist and book editor Collin Harrison, whom she met in 1985, when the two of them were enrolled in the Writers' Workshop. They have three children, born in 1990, 1992 and 2000. The bestselling author famously documented a disturbing triangulation that developed involving her young mother, her father and herself in the memoir The Kiss, which described her father's seduction of the author when she was twenty and their incestuous involvement, which persisted for four years and is reflected in the plots and themes of her first three novels, published before The Kiss.
While much of her body of work documents her tortured relationship with her mother, who died in 1985—the essays collected in Seeking Rapture: Scenes From a Life, a second memoir, The Mother Knot, as well as The Kiss—she has also written extensively of her maternal grandparents, both in her personal essays and, in fictionalized form, in her novels. Her grandmother, a Sassoon, was raised in Shanghai, where she lived until 1920, her experiences there inspiring Harrison's historical novel, The Binding Chair. The Seal Wife, set in Alaska during the First World War, draws on the early life of her British grandfather, who spent his youth trapping fur in the Northwest Territories and laying track into Anchorage for the Alaska Railroad.
Harrison has published six novels, three memoirs, a travelogue, a biography, and a book of true crime. She frequently publishes reviews in The New York Times Book Review. Her personal essays have been included in many anthologies and have appeared in Bookforum, Harper's Magazine, More Magazine, The New Yorker, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Vogue, and at Salon.com, Nerve.Com and elsewhere. (From Wikipedia.)
Book Reviews
This splendid and surprising book circles through time and around stories both real and imagined, lending a tender perspective to familiar historical events as experienced by two central characters—Rasputin's daughter Maria, known as Masha, and Alyosha, the hemophiliac Romanov heir—whose physical and emotional suffering acutely remind us of the human lives behind the legends.
Susann Cokal - New York Times Book Review
A mesmerizing novel.
O, The Oprah Magazine
A surreal tale fueled by a legendarily randy real-life healer and his lion-taming daughter.... A scrupulously researched retelling of the fiery end of Russia.... Most of all, Enchantments is about the irreducible mysteries of human motivation.
Elle
Part love story, part history, this novel is a tour de force.... Told in language that soars and sears.
More
Kathryn Harrison triumphantly returns to her historical fiction roots with Enchantments, the sweeping (and wholly imagined) story of love between two unlikely allies.... Harrison takes a particular moment in time and brings it to stunning life.... Re-imagining history—and a love story—in a completely new way.
Bookpage
Harrison's novels always chart heated, dangerously emotional territory, and this one sounds no different—with the added benefit of being set during the Russian Revolution, as riveting a time as one can imagine. After Rasputin is killed, the Romanovs take responsibility for his daughters—and ask 18-year-old Masha to assume her father's job of tending to ailing tsarevitch Alyosha. The two become close, and their very different perspectives give historic scope to a country in turmoil. This should appeal to a wide range of readers—there's history and passion, told in a literary voice. Book club gold.
Library Journal
(Starred review) After the body of the revered and loathed mystic Rasputin is pulled from the ice-covered Neva River in Saint Petersburg, on New Year’s Day, 1917, his two daughters are taken in by the Romanovs. The czarina is hoping that Masha will be able to ease the suffering of their hemophiliac son, Alyosha, as her father did.... Harrison sets historic facts like jewels in this intricately fashioned work of exalted empathy and imagination, a literary Faberge egg. A best-selling author of great literary finesse, Harrison will attract fans and new readers while on a national tour with this bewitching historical novel about the infamous demise of a legendary dynasty
Booklist
Discussion Questions
1. Enchantments opens in 1917 St. Petersburg, with the body of “Mad Monk” Grigory Rasputin being pulled from the Neva River—a factually accurate event. But Harrison writes from the perspective of Rasputin’s daughter, Masha, weaving fact and fiction together throughout the novel. Discuss the ways in which Harrison plays with fact and fiction in Enchantments, and to what effect.
2. During one of their first meetings, Masha and Alyosha talk about how his mother worries endlessly about his health. Alyosha tells Masha that Tsarina Alexandra believes in “the grace of God” while he believes in history. (page 24) How does the tsarina’s faith in God influence her? How does Alyosha’s faith in history influence him?
3. Masha and Alyosha create a fantasy world while under house arrest at Tsarskoe Selo. Of all the stories they tell each other and the histories they share, what passages stand out to you? Why?
4. Masha and Varya have a complicated relationship in Enchantments. Varya tells little white lies to protect herself, while Masha believes in the power of truth. Masha tells Varya, “There are ways other than lying to protect oneself,” and Varya says, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. And neither do you.” (page 34) Discuss how truth and lies play into the novel. Does Masha have a point? Does Varya?
5. Harrison’s novel emphasizes the power of storytelling—through Rasputin and Masha’s relationship before his death, Masha and Alyosha’s interactions, and Alyosha’s later relations with Katya. Why do you think sharing stories—both real and imagined—hold so much power?
6. Masha struggles with Alyosha’s accident throughout the novel, wondering if he meant to hurt himself to distract his parents—and others at Tsarskoe Selo—from their plight. Alyosha tells Masha he didn’t mean to hurt himself, but she has trouble believing him. What do you think really happened?
7. As Masha and Alyosha tell their own versions of their family histories, they imagine how things might have turned out differently had their ancestors made different choices—if they had married other people, or made alternate political decisions, etc. How does the concept of fate unfold in the novel? What about the power of choice?
8. The devil and his entourage of demons, the Virgin, the Holy Spirit, a host of saints, and 630 Jesuses all appear in Enchantments. Discuss these religious apparitions and what they mean to and for the characters.
9. Alyosha and Masha are drawn to each other despite Alyosha’s condition, their age difference, and their unique predicament. Yet when they first kiss, Masha is so worried about hurting Alyosha that she can’t allow herself to enter the moment. Alyosha says, “It’s the only thing that does matter, whether or not you liked it.” Masha says, “There are other things to think about.” (page 155) What does Masha mean? How does her perspective affect their relationship?
10. According to the novel (and some historical reports), Rasputin’s death was widely predicted. Of her father and his unfortunate death, Masha reflects: “Once he’d met a man, he couldn’t imagine that man as a murderer, much less his murderer.” (page 201) Discuss this quote—in the context of both Rasputin’s death and more generally in the novel.
11. Masha and Alyosha’s relationship is cut short when she and her sister are abruptly set free from Tsarskoe Selo. Masha’s life takes many interesting turns after she leaves Alyosha: she gets married and is then widowed, moves from Paris to Vienna to America, joins the circus and is herself gravely injured. Discuss Masha’s life after the Romanovs. What did you find most surprising? Engaging?
12. Masha is afraid her father’s legacy will prevent her from getting her working papers in Paris, but in fact the Rasputin name helps her. She reflects: “The sole thing of value I possessed was my father’s history [and] his name.” (page 272) Is this true? If so, in what ways?
13. At the end of the novel, Masha dreams she is with the Romanov girls again. They are grown women, very much alive, and they want to show her a Faberge egg she has seen before. “But I know what’s inside,” Masha says. “I don’t need to see it again.” The girls all laugh and Tatiana says, “Of course you don’t know what’s inside! You can’t know. No one can. It’s never the same twice.” (pages 309–10) Discuss the meaning of this conversation in the context of the novel.
(Questions issued by publisher.)
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle
Monique Roffey, 2012
Penguin Group USA
448 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780143119517
Summary
A beautifully written, unforgettable novel of a troubled marriage, set against the lush landscape and political turmoil of Trinidad
Monique Roffey's Orange Prize-shortlisted novel is a gripping portrait of postcolonialism that stands among great works by Caribbean writers like Jamaica Kincaid and Andrea Levy.
When George and Sabine Harwood arrive in Trinidad from England, George is immediately seduced by the beguiling island, while Sabine feels isolated, heat-fatigued, and ill-at-ease. As they adapt to new circumstances, their marriage endures for better or worse, despite growing political unrest and racial tensions that affect their daily lives. But when George finds a cache of letters that Sabine has hidden from him, the discovery sets off a devastating series of consequences as other secrets begin to emerge. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1965
• Where—Porf of Spain, Trinidad
• Education—B.A., Univeristy of East Anglia; M.A., Ph.D,
Lancaster University
• Currently—divides her time between London and Port of
Spain
Monique Roffey is a Trinidadian-born British writer and memoirist.
Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1965 to a British father and mother of mixed Mediterranean origins, Roffey was educated at St Andrew’s School in Maraval, Trinidad, and then in the UK at St Maur’s Convent, and St George's College, Weybridge. She studied English and Film Studies at the University of East Anglia and later completed an MA and PhD in Creative Writing at Lancaster University. Between 2002-2006 she was a Centre Director for the Arvon Foundation and later held three posts for the Royal Literary Fund (2006–12). Roffey has taught creative writing for English PEN, the Arvon Foundation, the Writers’ Lab, Skyros and on the MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London.
She is a member of the action group CALAG (Caribbean Literature Action Group), launched in April 2012, a twenty-strong group of writers, publishers and literary activists committed to mentoring new talent and stimulating a literary publishing industry in the Caribbean region.
She has dual nationality and divides her time between London and Port of Spain.
Works
Roffey’s early body of work comprises three novels and a memoir. Sun Dog, set in west London, is a magical realist tale of psychological estrangement, identity loss and subsequent individuation. The White Woman on the Green Bicycle (short-listed for the Orange Prize 2010 and the Encore Award 2011), is the story of European ex-colonials living in Trinidad during the island’s early Independence years and their subsequent process of creolisation. It was hailed by Commonwealth Prize-winner Olive Senior, who said: "...It breaks entirely new ground. It is a major contribution to the New Wave of Caribbean writing: energetic, uncompromising, bold in the choice of narrative devices and a great read.” It has been published to critical acclaim in the UK, USA and Europe.
Roffey's 2011 memoir, With the Kisses of His Mouth, is a personal account of a mid-life quest for sexual liberation and self-identification other than the aspirant hetero-normative model.
Archipelago, published in July 2012, written in the aftermath of a flood, examines climate change from the perspective of a man from the southern Caribbean. Andrew Miller, Costa Award Winner, 2012, said of it: "Archipelago is beautifully done. There's a warmth to it, an exuberance and a wisdom, that makes the experience of reading it feel not just pleasurable but somehow instructive. It's funny, sometimes bitingly poignant. And how well Roffey writes a male central character. A brilliant piece of storytelling.”
A writer of dual nationality and perspective, she writes about outsiders, be they the terminally awkward (August Chalmin), the left-behind Europeans in Trinidad (George and Sabine Harwood), or indeed herself. Stylistically, her work can be linked in terms of post-modern narrative choices, in that they often weave together magical realism, real-life historical characters and events, biography and autobiography to tackle themes of alienation and otherness. (Adapted from Wikipedia.)
Book Reviews
Roffey's evocation of Trinidad is extraordinarily vivid, the central relationship beautifully observed.... Deservedly short-listed for the Orange Prize.
Kate Saunders - Times (London)
Equal love and attention go into the marriage and the country at the heart of this Orange Prize short-listed novel.... It's a book packed with meaty themes, from racism to corruption to passion and loyalty."
Sunday Telegraph
A searing account of the bitter disappointment suffered by Trinidadians on securing their independence from British colonial rule and of the mixed feelings felt by a white couple who decide to stay on. An earthy, full-blooded piece of writing, steaming with West Indian heat.
London Evening Standard
[Roffey's] plot engages the reader through a gradual revelation of the past—slowly forming a melancholy whole."
Financial Times
Engaging.... A firebomb of a book, revealing a slowly disintegrating marriage, a country betrayed and a searing racism that erupts in terrible violence.... This is a stunning book, and its depiction of an aspect of Caribbean life is well worth contemplating.
Cleveland Plain Dealer
A rich and highly engaging novel.
Guardian
Roffey's Orange Prize nominated book is a brilliant, brutal study of a marriage overcast by too much mutual compromise.
Independent
Heart-rending and thought-provoking, you will never again see the Caribbean as just another holiday destination.
Elle Magazine
Roffey's explorations of longtime marriages, race, and the lingering effects of colonialism are insightful and often painful to read.... The true main character in this novel is Trinidad itself: its people, its customs, and its contradictions.
Nancy Pearl - National Public Radio
Few novels capture the postcolonial culture with such searing honesty as this Caribbean story told through the alternating viewpoints of a white British couple over the last 50 years.... The pitch-perfect voices capture the colonials' racism and sense of entitlement.
Booklist
Discussion Questions
1. Have you been to Trinidad? If so, how well do you think Monique Roffey captures the country, its politics, and its internal race relations? If you've never visited the region, how has reading this book changed or confirmed your conceptions of Trinidad?
2. Is it wise for Talbot to accept George's help? Does he have a choice?
3. In one of her many letters to Eric Williams, Sabine writes, "George has gone mad. He sleeps with other women, flaunts his charms. All this has gone to his head.... Too much rum. Too many beautiful women on this goddamn island" (p. 48). Do you—like Sabine—believe that George would have been more faithful to her if they'd remained in England?
4. Can you empathize with Sabine's fascination with Eric Williams? Have you ever felt a similar connection to a public figure?
5. If at all, how does Sabine's own mixed heritage affect her feelings toward the Trinidadian people?
6. Pascale's "children's dark skin had been a surprise to them all. They'd come out much darker than their father, who wouldn't admit he had any African in him at all" (p. 70). The novel hints that Pascale might have been fathered by a black man, yet Sabine never recollects having sexual relations with Williams. How reliable are Sabine's memories? Is she capable of "forgetting" such an affair?
7. George likes the fact that "this island was uncompromising and hard for tourists to negotiate.... Trinidad was oil-rich, didn't need tourism" (p. 78). Is his prejudice against tourists hypocritical?
8. When George interviews Eric Manning, the current prime minister harshly dismisses him, saying, "You are the past and you can stick your critique of my government, elected by the people, for the people, up your pathetic old white ass" (p. 166). Do you agree or disagree with Manning's assessment?
9. How do you think Bobby Comacho's murder will affect the novel's survivors?
10. What—if anything—do you believe the colonizers owe to their former colonies?
11. After the earthquake, George and Sabine "remained clutching each other" (p. 173) while they declare their abiding love for each other. Is fifty shared years and two children enough to mitigate the pain they've inflicted on each other? Would you call what they still feel love?
(Questions issued by publisher.)