[NFBV-Potomac-Announce] June Book Club

John Halverson jwh100 at outlook.com
Fri May 15 15:33:48 UTC 2020


Hello Friends and Colleagues,

Our June book is  Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain.

Please find attached and below questions for discussion and Carl's vocabulary.  Thank you Carl.

Our meeting takes place at 7:00 pm Wednesday June 3, 2020.

Zoom information will follow closer to the date of the meeting.

John

Discussion Questions for Big Lies  in a Small  Town  LitLovers Copyright 2020

1. How does the prologue introduce us to the novel? What does it leave you wondering about? Did it succeed in making you want to read further?

2. The novel alternates between two time frames and voices-did you feel drawn to the past or present narrative and characters more?

3. Both women suffered terrible and unfair hardship in their lives, can you relate to how they react to it and the choices they make?

4. In the present-day narrative, everyone speculates that Anna lost her mind, and that's why the mural was finished the way it was. Before what happened to her was revealed, what did you suspect? Were you surprised by what did happen?

5. The novel tackles a lot of tough subject matter within the alternating story-lines. Was there one plot point that resonated with you more than the others?

6. For both of these characters, the mural and art become part of a healing process. For Anna, it is the death of her mother while, for Morgan, it is the accident and time in prison. Is there something similar in your life that has helped you heal from trauma and hardship?

7. As you were reading, did you expect Oliver and Morgan to fall in love? Why or why not? Do you think Oliver is good for Morgan, and vice versa?

8. How did you react to Jesse helping Anna to cover up the murder and in doing so abandoning his life? Do you agree with Anna's decision to allow him to do so?

9. In chapter 67, Anna and Morgan's connection is revealed, as is Jesse's reasoning for requesting that Morgan restore the mural. Did you anticipate this connection?

10. The revelation about Judith Shipley's true identity is a huge twist at the end of the novel. Did you suspect anything about this? Do you agree with her decision to change her identity completely and start a new life? Would you have come back all those years later?

11. Morgan spends a lot of time thinking about Emily Maxwell and how her actions impacted her life. What do you think about her decision to visit her in the end? Would you have done the same? How do you imagine that visit went?

12. What do you think the future has in store for Morgan?


Vocabulary

Chapter 5
P 39 plait - braid of material
Wore dreadlocks pulled together into a long plait
Chapter 7
P 50 abrade - to rub or wear away especially by friction
abraded paint
p 51 vignette - picture
in the fifth and final vignette
Chapter 8
P 57 sachet - bag
pink sachets
Chapter 11
P 80 chambray - a lightweight clothing fabric with colored warp
blue chambray shirt
Chapter 13
P 86 frisson - a brief moment of emotional excitement
a frisson of anxiety in my chest
p 92 inpainting - a conservation process where damaged, deteriorating, or missing parts of an artwork are filled in to present a complete image
not using oil paint for inpainting
Chapter 16
P 103 winsome - generally pleasing and engaging
Silver-laced hair that kept falling across his forehead in a way that Anna found winsome
Chapter 17
P 108 dowel - a piece of wood driven into a wall so that other pieces can be nailed to it
cotton-wrapped dowel
p 110 rad - an excellent thing
Damn, girl, that's rad
Chapter 23
P 148 dodgy - not sound, good, or reliable
studying the crude images with the dodgy machine
P 149 towheaded - having tousled hair
towheaded boy
p 152 smock - a light loose garment worn especially for protection of clothing while working
Her heavy sweater beneath her smock was plenty warm enough
Chapter 26
P 165 example of prejudice
"I'm not leaving you alone with him"
P 168 miter - fit together
"I know how to miter them corners right"
P 168 bevel - slanted
I made frames to stretch them over, even with bevel edges
P 169 prissy - overly prim and precise
Despite Theresa's prissy attitude
Chapter 29
P 186 pointillist strokes - the theory or practice in art of applying small strokes or dots of color to a surface so that from a distance they blend together
I watched Oliver use short pointillist strokes with a tiny brush
Chapter 42
P 252 niggling - bothersome or persistent especially in a petty or tiresome way
Anna felt that niggling bit of envy again
Chapter 48
P 276 catatonia - characterized by a marked lack of movement
She gave in to the catatonia that had taken hold of her
Chapter 56
P 304 tremulous - characterized by nervousness
Anna opened the door and drew in a tremulous breath
P 304 blackjack - hand weapon
had one of those blackjacks attached to his belt
Chapter 63
P 355 atelier - an artist's studio or workroom
where she and her granddaughter maintain an atelier, training new artists.


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