This Was Not the Plan
Cristina Alger, 2016
Touchstone
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781501103759
Summary
An incisive, hilarious, and tender exploration of fatherhood, love, and family life through the story of a widower who attempts to become the father he didn’t know he could be.
Charlie Goldwyn’s life hasn’t exactly gone according to plan. Widowerhood at thirty-three and twelve-hour workdays have left a gap in his relationship with his quirky five-year-old son, Caleb, whose obsession with natural disasters and penchant for girls’ clothing have made him something of a loner at his preschool.
The only thing Charlie has going for him is his job at a prestigious law firm, where he is finally close to becoming a partner.
But when a slight lapse in judgment at an office party leaves him humiliatingly unemployed, stuck at home with Caleb for the summer, and forced to face his own estranged father, Charlie starts to realize that there’s more to fatherhood than financially providing for his son, and more to being a son than overtaking his father’s successes.
At turns heartbreaking and hilarious, This Was Not the Plan is a story about loss and love, parenthood, and friendship, and what true work-life balance means. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1980
• Where—New York City, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Harvard University; J.S., New York University
• Currently—lives in New York City, New York
Cristina Alger witnessed the 2008 financial collapse up close and personal. Although she had left a job at Goldman Sachs to become a lawyer, she watched as many of her friends, still on Wall Street, lost their jobs.
There was a period of time right after Lehman Brothers collapsed. There was a string of bankruptcies and the market was crashing. New York City was changing very rapidly.... I remember thinking that someone should write about this in a fictional way and how it was affecting people in New York City.
That germ of an idea gave way to Alger's debut novel, The Darlings (2012), about a well-off New York family caught up in a financial scandal. The novel was set in a social milieu the author knows well.
Alger was born and raised in New York City, summering in the Hamptons and attending a private girl's school on Manhattan's posh Upper East Side. From there she went on to Harvard, landing a job after graduation as an investment analyst at Goldman Sachs. She spent two at Sachs before leaving for New York University to study law. Alger remained in New York after law school, working for a corporate law firm in mergers and acquisitions, a sought after area of law. But like many lawyers, after the crash she ended up in the then-hot legal field—bankruptcy.
It was while she worked as an attorney that Alger turned to writing fiction.
I started writing for fun in 2008. My work was really intense at that point so it was a fun side project. Now I write full time. There was a period where I was working and writing, which is very hard to do. My hat is off to those who can do both.
Like her first novel, her second, This Was Not the Plan, is also a setting familiar to Alger. The book follows the travails of an ambitious lawyer at a prestigious law firm who ends up unemployed and spending time with his young son for the first time. (Adapted from ibtimes.com.)
Book Reviews
[Alter's] novel of love, loss, and parenthood is readable and relatable. [Although] the story becomes overly sentimental...[its] sweetness isn’t always to its detriment...; Charlie’s growing relationship with Caleb is uplifting and memorable.
Publishers Weekly
[An] ensuing lapse in judgment leaves Charlie a full-time dad and unemployed attorney.... Alger's darkly comic novel offers an engaging take on single parenthood from a man's viewpoint. —Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH
Library Journal
A big, heartfelt book that reads like your favorite sitcom....Charlie’s evolution to a secure, confident, stay-at-home dad is wonderfully satisfying, and he is as relatable as Will Freeman in Nick Hornby’s About a Boy.
BookPage
Alger...makes Charlie fairly three dimensional.... To her credit, Alger...leaves some of the resolution up to the reader's imagination. But she doesn't really offer anything new. Working night and day isn't as fulfilling as being with family; readers may wonder why Charlie doesn't already know that.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Charlie has a prepared response to justify working for a prestigious law firm that represents clients he doesn’t respect, but he contradicts himself when he speaks candidly at an office party. Do you think Mira’s birthday, lack of sleep, and stress are mostly to blame for his behavior, or do you think the moral dilemma is the root cause of his outburst? Do you think it is sometimes important to compromise one’s principles for the sake of a job?
2. Charlie’s drunken comments at the office party and a viral video of the speech cause him to lose his job. Do you think the consequences would have been less severe if the incident had not been leaked to YouTube? Do you think the firm was justified in letting him go? How has the Internet changed the workplace and the ways in which we interact professionally?
3. Charlie and Zadie’s father says he had wanted to be in their lives from the very beginning. Zadie is fairly quick to accept this story; Charlie struggles, but ultimately concedes his father must be sincere. Do you believe their father was completely honest with himself regarding the situation and his intentions toward their mother?
4. According to Charlie’s father, their mother refused his money because she didn’t want her children to be spoiled, saying that the money would “screw [them] up.” Was she justified in her refusal to be helped? In your opinion, would wealth inevitably have spoiled Charlie and Zadie? How much of character development in childhood do you believe is influenced by socioeconomic status? By parenting?
5. Do you think Charlie and Zadie could ever have a full, healthy relationship with their father after so many years of distance? Can people fully heal and truly come together after such a long estrangement?
6. Charlie refuses Fred’s offer to join his new legal firm. Is he motivated more by hurt or more by the desire to leave behind the grueling lifestyle he’d been leading? How do you define work-life balance? Is it possible to achieve that balance at a job like Charlie’s?
7. According to Zadie, Charlie’s dismissal from Hardwick, Mays & Kellerman is a healthy dose of failure. Do you think that being fired was truly what Charlie needed at this point in his life, or do you think he would inevitably have left of his own accord? Do you think failure always offers a positive learning experience? Consider a time when you failed. How did it affect you?
8. Charlie spends time with his son and works out his complicated feelings for his father as they all spend time together in the Hamptons. What are the lessons Charlie learns from his son? From his father? How does he come to understand fatherhood through his experiences with both of them?
9. Do you think Elise and Charlie made the right decision when they decided not to enter into a relationship right away? Is it likely they will ultimately be together?
10. When Charlie arrives in the Hamptons, he finds his sister, her fiancé, his estranged father, a woman with whom he once had a fling, and his soon-to-be-stepmother. He is initially outraged and uncomfortable with the situation, but with time (and Zadie’s encouragement) he accepts the unconventional arrangement. What do you think are the binding moments for this unusual family? Are blood ties the strongest of all? How do you define family?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
The Things We Keep
Sally Hepworth, 2016, year
St. Martin's Press
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250051905
Summary
Anna Forster is only thirty-eight years old, but her mind is slowly slipping away from her. Armed only with her keen wit and sharp-eyed determination, she knows that her family is doing what they believe to be best when they take her to Rosalind House, an assisted living facility.
But Anna has a secret: she does not plan on staying. She also knows there's just one another resident who is her age, Luke. What she does not expect is the love that blossoms between her and Luke even as she resists her new life.
As her disease steals more and more of her memory, Anna fights to hold on to what she knows, including her relationship with Luke.
Eve Bennett, suddenly thrust into the role of single mother to her bright and vivacious seven-year-old daugher, finds herself putting her culinary training to use at Rosalind house. When she meets Anna and Luke, she is moved by the bond the pair has forged.
But when a tragic incident leads Anna's and Luke's families to separate them, Eve finds herself questioning what she is willing to risk to help them. Eve has her own secrets, and her own desperate circumstances that raise the stakes even higher.
With huge heart, humor, and a compassionate understanding of human nature, Sally Hepworth delivers a page-turning novel about the power of love to grow and endure even when faced with the most devastating of obstacles. You won’t forget this book. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—June 10, 1980
• Where—Australia
• Education—Monash University
• Currently—lives in Melbourne, Australia
Sally Hepworth is a former Event Planner and HR professional. A graduate of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, she started writing novels after the birth of her first child.
She is the author of Love Like The French (2014, published in Germany). The Secret of Midwives (2015), The Things We Keep (2016), and The Family Next Door (2018).
Sally has lived around the world, spending extended periods in Singapore, the U.K., and Canada, and she now writes full-time from her home in Melbourne, Australia, where she lives with her husband and two children. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
[A]n unconventional tearjerker of a love story.... The story’s nonlinear structure, designed to mimic Anna’s disorientation, cleverly obscures a few reveals that color the reader’s perception.... A supporting cast of quirky old folks and Eve’s precocious daughter add levity to a poignant and nuanced story.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) While on the surface a sad, realistic portrayal of a heartbreaking disease, [The Things We Keep] latest is much more...a poignant testament to the immeasurable and restorative power of love. Sure to appeal to fans of Jojo Moyes, Jodi Picoult, and Lisa Genova; book clubs will be lining up. —Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY
Library Journal
[R]omance in an assisted living facility.... Perhaps Hepworth...feared this book would be too grim with Anna as the main focus. A lot happens here—too much really...but it's a definite page-turner. It's also uneven, with genuinely poignant moments brushing up against cheesy ones.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The Things We Keep is told from the points of view of Eve, Anna, and Clem. How does this structure enhance your experience as a reader? How would this novel have been different had certain sections been omitted or told from a different point of view?
2. Did you learn anything you didn’t previously know about dementia while reading this novel?
3.When Eve suggests to Angus that Anna and Luke are in love he says, "But even if they loved each other once, they can’t really love each other now, can they? How can you love someone you don’t remember?" Eric makes a similar argument, saying that people with dementia are incapable of falling in love. But Rosie says "Dementia steals things—memories, speech, other abilities. But I don’t think it changes who you are or who you love." What did you think about love and dementia as you were reading? Did you agree more with Angus and Eric or with Rosie? Did your ideas change as you read? Why or why not?
4. The Things We Keep explores both what it’s like to live with Alzheimer’s disease and what it’s like to live and love someone who has it. How did you react to the decisions Jack made and the way he and his wife treated Anna? Did you agree or disagree with them? What did you think of the way he and Luke’s sister reacted to the relationship between Anna and Luke? How would you have reacted if you were in their positions?
5. What lessons does Eve learn from Anna that make her think differently about events and people in her own life?
6.Anna and Eve are at the center of this story, but The Things We Keep is full of colorful secondary characters. Who were your favorites?
7. Eve is initially unsettled when Rosie lies to Anna and tells her that she will take her home the next day to see her mother (who is no longer alive) and her brother. Rosie tells Eve, "We can make each moment frightening for her with the truth. Or we can lie to her and make each moment happy and joyous." How did you respond to this scene? What would you do if you were in Rosie’s position? What do you think you would want someone to do if you were in Anna’s position?
8. Eve risks her job at a time when she desperately needs it to help Anna and Luke despite being told that to do so is wrong and harmful. Why? What about the events in her own life make her feel so strongly about helping Anna?
9. Were you surprised by the truth about Anna’s fall? Did you have any guesses about what happened as you were reading? Did they change as the novel progressed?
10. Sally Hepworth does a skillful job of creating characters who are well-rounded and complex and not defined by one characteristic or one action. Where do we see examples of this throughout the story?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Little Mercies
Heather Gudenkauf, 2014
Harlequin
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780778316336
Summary
In her latest ripped-from-the-headlines tour de force, New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf shows how one small mistake can have life-altering consequences…
Veteran social worker Ellen Moore has seen the worst side of humanity—the vilest acts one person can commit against another. She is a fiercely dedicated children's advocate and a devoted mother and wife.
But one blistering summer day, a simple moment of distraction will have repercussions that Ellen could never have imagined, threatening to shatter everything she holds dear, and trapping her between the gears of the system she works for.
Meanwhile, ten-year-old Jenny Briard has been living with her well-meaning but irresponsible father since her mother left them, sleeping on friends' couches and moving in and out of cheap motels. When Jenny suddenly finds herself on her own, she is forced to survive with nothing but a few dollars and her street smarts.
The last thing she wants is a social worker, but when Ellen's and Jenny's lives collide, little do they know just how much they can help one another.
A powerful and emotionally charged tale about motherhood and justice, Little Mercies is a searing portrait of the tenuous grasp we have on the things we love the most, and of the ties that unexpectedly bring us together. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—Birth—N/A
• Where—Wagner, South Dakota, USA
• Education—B.A., University of Iowa
• Awards—Edgar Award Finalist
• Currently—lives in Dubuque, Iowa
Heather Gudenkauf is the author of several novels. She was born in Wagner, South Dakota, the youngest of six children. At one month of age, her family returned to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota where her father was employed as a guidance counselor and her mother as a school nurse. At the age of three, her family moved to Iowa, where she grew up.
Having been born with a profound unilateral hearing impairment (there were many evenings when Heather and her father made a trip to the bus barn to look around the school bus for her hearing aids that she often conveniently would forget on the seat beside her), Heather tended to use books as a retreat, would climb into the toy box that her father's students from Rosebud made for the family with a pillow, blanket, and flashlight, close the lid, and escape the world around her. Heather became a voracious reader and the seed of becoming a writer was planted.
Gudenkauf graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in elementary education, has spent the last sixteen years working with students of all ages and is currently an Instructional Coach, an educator who provides curricular and professional development support to teachers.
Heather lives in Dubuque, Iowa with her husband, three children, and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Maxine. In her free time Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking, and running.
Novels
2009 - The Weight of Silence
2011 - These Things Hidden
2012 - One Breath Away
2014 - Little Mercies
2016 - Missing Pieces
(Adapted from the author's website.)
Book Reviews
[T]wo linked stories narrated in alternating chapters.... With its compelling premise, Ellen’s story is more gripping than Jenny’s. But its hurried denouement feels false and sentimental, denying the more nuanced resolution her complex situation deserves.
Publishers Weekly
[R]iveting, fast-paced.... [Little Mercies] combines page-turning intensity with deep questions about priorities and the sacrifices women make in their lives.... [F]ull of hope, despite a sometimes harrowing focus on abused children. —Jan Marry, Williamsburg Regional Lib., VA
Library Journal
Gudenkauf's prose is searingly raw....Thrilling and emotionally tender, this novel, with its driving pace, will appeal to fans of Lisa Scottoline and Jodi Picoult.
Booklist
Discussion Questions
1. Like many parents, Ellen struggles to balance her personal and professional lives. Discuss how you face maintaining that precarious balance between home and work.
2. Ellen’s former client Jade stepped in to save Avery’s life and Ellen found herself being seen as an unfit mother. Talk about this reversal of roles. How do you think this changed Ellen’s view of the parents she works with, how they think of Ellen? Does this change your opinion of parents who might have experience in the child welfare system?
3. Discuss the ways parenthood and adult-child relationships are portrayed in the novel. Think about Jenny’s relationships with her father, mother, Maudene, her father’s friend-girls and Ellen’s relationship with her own children and the children she works with as a social worker.
4. Ellen’s distractions had catastrophic effects on her daughter’s health, her family, and her professional life as a social worker. Talk about a time when you may have had a close call in your life. How did you feel? How did the experience change you?
5. Ellen was charged with a felony and potentially faced a prison sentence. Do you think she should have had to serve time behind bars? Why or why not?
6. What scenes or developments in the novel affected you most?
7. Adam quickly forgives Ellen for leaving Avery in the hot car. How would you react in a similar situation? Does Ellen deserve forgiveness? Do you think she will be able to forgive herself?
8. Maudene places herself in a precarious situation by taking a wayward Jenny into her home. Discuss the possible implications of this decision. What would you have done if faced with a similar situation?
9. How do Ellen and Jenny change over the course of the novel? Which character changes the most, which the least?
10. How did your opinion of Jenny’s mother change over the course of the novel? Why or why not?
11. In Jenny’s young life she has already faced so many obstacles: poverty, abuse, struggles with school, a runaway mother and an unpredictable father. What do you think will become of Jenny?
12. What does the title "Little Mercies" mean to you?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Missing Pieces
Heather Gudenkauf, 2016
Harlequin
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780778318651
Summary
A woman uncovers earth-shattering secrets about her husband's family in this chilling page-turner from New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf.
Sarah Quinlan's husband, Jack, has been haunted for decades by the untimely death of his mother when he was just a teenager, her body found in the cellar of their family farm, the circumstances a mystery.
The case rocked the small farm town of Penny Gate, Iowa, where Jack was raised, and for years Jack avoided returning home. But when his beloved aunt Julia is in an accident, hospitalized in a coma, Jack and Sarah are forced to confront the past that they have long evaded.
Upon arriving in Penny Gate, Sarah and Jack are welcomed by the family Jack left behind all those years ago—barely a trace of the wounds that had once devastated them all. But as facts about Julia's accident begin to surface, Sarah realizes that nothing about the Quinlans is what it seems.
Caught in a flurry of unanswered questions, Sarah dives deep into the puzzling rabbit hole of Jack's past. But the farther in she climbs, the harder it is for her to get out. And soon she is faced with a deadly truth she may not be prepared for. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—Birth—N/A
• Where—Wagner, South Dakota, USA
• Education—B.A., University of Iowa
• Awards—Edgar Award Finalist
• Currently—lives in Dubuque, Iowa
Heather Gudenkauf is the author of several novels. She was born in Wagner, South Dakota, the youngest of six children. At one month of age, her family returned to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota where her father was employed as a guidance counselor and her mother as a school nurse. At the age of three, her family moved to Iowa, where she grew up.
Having been born with a profound unilateral hearing impairment (there were many evenings when Heather and her father made a trip to the bus barn to look around the school bus for her hearing aids that she often conveniently would forget on the seat beside her), Heather tended to use books as a retreat, would climb into the toy box that her father's students from Rosebud made for the family with a pillow, blanket, and flashlight, close the lid, and escape the world around her. Heather became a voracious reader and the seed of becoming a writer was planted.
Gudenkauf graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in elementary education, has spent the last sixteen years working with students of all ages and is currently an Instructional Coach, an educator who provides curricular and professional development support to teachers.
Heather lives in Dubuque, Iowa with her husband, three children, and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Maxine. In her free time Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking, and running.
Novels
2009 - The Weight of Silence
2011 - These Things Hidden
2012 - One Breath Away
2014 - Little Mercies
2016 - Missing Pieces
(Adapted from the author's website.)
Book Reviews
[A]n old-fashioned melodrama.... Readers should be prepared for implausible plotting, an unsympathetic protagonist, and a cliched denouement. Hopefully, Gudenkauf will return to form next time.
Publishers Weekly
This fast-paced read will appeal to fans of psychological suspense like that by Joy Fielding.
Booklist
Atmospheric... Gudenkauf expertly develops the story from Sarah's perspective, so readers ask questions, doubt answers, and seek the truth right along with her.... [M]ysterious moments... sustain...suspicion until the final pages.
Bookpage
[A] neatly sewn-up plot. Light on surprises and character development, this tepid thriller will have most astute readers correctly guessing the ending halfway through.
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.)
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The Heirs
Susan Rieger, 2017
Crown/Archetype
272 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781101904718
Summary
Brilliantly wrought, incisive, and stirring, The Heirs tells the story of an upper-crust Manhattan family coming undone after the death of their patriarch.
Six months after Rupert Falkes dies, leaving a grieving widow and five adult sons, an unknown woman sues his estate, claiming she had two sons by him.
The Falkes brothers are pitched into turmoil, at once missing their father and feeling betrayed by him. In disconcerting contrast, their mother, Eleanor, is cool and calm, showing preternatural composure.
Eleanor and Rupert had made an admirable life together — Eleanor with her sly wit and generosity, Rupert with his ambition and English charm — and they were proud of their handsome, talented sons: Harry, a brash law professor; Will, a savvy Hollywood agent; Sam, an astute doctor and scientific researcher; Jack, a jazz trumpet prodigy; Tom, a public-spirited federal prosecutor.
The brothers see their identity and success as inextricably tied to family loyalty — a loyalty they always believed their father shared. Struggling to reclaim their identity, the brothers find Eleanor’s sympathy toward the woman and her sons confounding. Widowhood has let her cast off the rigid propriety of her stifling upbringing, and the brothers begin to question whether they knew either of their parents at all.
A riveting portrait of a family, told with compassion, insight, and wit, The Heirs wrestles with the tangled nature of inheritance and legacy for one unforgettable, patrician New York family. Moving seamlessly through a constellation of rich, arresting voices, The Heirs is a tale out Edith Wharton for the 21st century. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1946-47
• Where—N/A
• Education—B.A., Mount Holyoke College; J.D., Columbia University
• Currently—lives in New York City, New York
Susan Rieger is a graduate of Columbia Law School. She has worked as a residential college dean at Yale and an associate provost at Columbia. She has taught law to undergraduates at both schools and written frequently about the law for newspapers and magazines. She lives in New York City with her husband. The Heirs (2017) is her second novel; The Divorce Papers (2014) is her first. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Elegant literary prose and supremely likeable characters make this a must-read.
People
Fans of Salinger's stories about Manhattan's elite will enjoy this novel about privileged siblings who grapple with the state of their inheritance and long-held secrets that emerge in the wake of their father's death.
InStyle
Love and sex and money and betrayal make for excellent storytelling. And The Heirs has all of that.… As an exploration of the hidden lives of Rupert and Eleanor Falkes, it is a posh soap opera written by Fitzgerald and the Brontes. As a window on a family shaken by death, it is The Royal Tenenbaums, polished up and moved across town. But its beauty, economy and expensive wit is all its own.
NPR.org
(Starred Reivew.) [Incisive].… Rieger wrestles perceptively with difficult questions and…[shines] light on the Falkes’ extended web of familial and emotional ties, sucking the reader into the tangle of emotions and conflicting interests. Rieger’s book is a tense, introspective account of looking for truth, and instead finding peace. (May)
Publishers Weekly
(Starred Reivew.) Brilliantly constructed and flawlessly written, Rieger's novel brings all these moving parts together. The result is an emotional and satisfying story of how a complicated family and their outliers handle life's most pivotal moments. —Beth Gibbs, Davidson, NC
Library Journal
[A] timeless…family drama.… It is a charming, slightly haunting look at a family dealing with the inheritance of legacy rather than money and wondering if what happens after a relationship matters as much as how it was experienced at the time. —Diana Platt
Booklist
(Starred Reivew.) Despite an omniscient narrator who lays out information as quickly and smoothly as a Vegas blackjack dealer, the argument of this book seems to be that we simply can't know absolutely everything and it's better that way.… [T]his elegant novel wears its intelligence lightly.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for The Heirs :
1. Talk about the family scion, Rupert Falkes as we first learn of him. What were your initial thoughts of him, and how do they change throughout the novel? How is he shaped by his past?
2. The question that Susan Rieger explores in her novel is one of identity. If someone close to you presents him/herself with certain personal traits and beliefs but, upon death, is found to have another life…can you claim to know that individual? How do we know anyone: through our own experiences …or in combination with other peoples' experiences?
3. The portrait of the Falkes family that Rieger offers us is a fairly detailed slice of the urban elite. Did you feel a touch of voyeuristic pleasure peering into such elevated society — the richly appointed apartments, dinners out with Veuve Clicquot? Or did you find it cloying? Do you think the author may be poking fun at her characters life-styles and all that they take for granted? Or does the writing not come across as satirical?
4. How would you describe each of the characters? Start with Eleanor and then proceed through the five sons/brothers. Are there any Falkes you prefer over any others?
5. How does the appearance of Vera Wolinski shake Eleanor's and each of the five sons' lives? How differently do they react? Trace the trajectory of their individual paths as they come to grips with the death of their father and all that ensues.
6. Everyone engages in highly questionable behavior: infidelity, lying, neglectful parenting, stalking children, and even a rape. Can anyone in this book lay claim to possessing a moral compass?
7. Are you satisfied with the way the novel ended? What understanding of Rupert does Eleanor come to that her sons do not, or cannot?
8. Discuss the structure of the novel with its separate but intersecting chapters from the viewpoints of the various characters. How does the structure contribute to what we learn about each of the family members? What about Vera's story? How does it affect your experience of reading The Heirs.
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)