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Mindy's Interviews with Writers
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Reading Guide for THE GARDEN ANGEL selected for two newspapers' book clubs: The Journal-Standard 's Book Club in Freeport, Illinois and The State's Readers' Circle, in Columbia, South Carolina. Contact Mindy to talk to your book group live or by phone. 1. In the course of the novel, Cutter and Elizabeth form a strong friendship. What is it that draws them together? In what ways does their friendship change each of their lives? In desperate circumstances, have you ever relied on friends instead of family? 2. Cutter’s home has a strong presence in the novel, as if it were a character. What is the significance of setting in the novel -- Cutter’s ancestral home and neighborhood, the city-swallowed town of Sans Souci, Elizabeth’s suburban ranch? Identify how the theme of “home” as both a sanctuary and a trap weaves through the novel. 3. How would you characterize Elizabeth and Daniel’s marriage? What kind of husband is Daniel? Did you ever sympathize with him? Did you agree with Elizabeth’s decision regarding her marriage at the end of the novel? 4. How do you feel the author portrayed the issue of agoraphobia? Were Elizabeth’s near-debilitating panic attacks believable? Have you, or someone you love, ever suffered from panic attacks? 5. Discuss the betrayals that occur between Daniel and Elizabeth, Cutter and Ginnie, and Elizabeth and Cutter. Were any of the disloyalties -- between husband and wife, siblings, and friends -- more justified than others? By the end of the novel, which of the rifts between the characters have healed? 6. Do you recognize and relate to the family squabble over inheritance that occurs between siblings? Do you think Ginnie and Barry’s insistence that the house be sold a sign of their greediness or practicality? How does the figure of Gran, the family’s dead grandmother, affect Barry, Ginny and Cutter in different ways? 7. Do you agree that Emily Dickinson’s poetry helped to characterize Elizabeth’s plight? How did the selected stanzas, especially in chapters two, twelve and fourteen express Elizabeth’s emotional state? Why do you think the author chose Dickinson’s line, “A Prison gets to be a Friend,” for the epigram? 8. From the first time she appears in chapter two, Elizabeth begins to push herself to take risks and change her life. What is the biggest moment of risk for Elizabeth in the novel? For Cutter? 9. How did Cutter’s jobs help define her as a character? What factors helped her succeed at “the dead beat?” How did Cutter’s working at the Pancake Palace provide readers with insight into the town and its characters? 10. What is the significance of the title, THE GARDEN ANGEL? How did the theme of tending the family cemetery parallel Cutter’s nostalgic view of her family and town? Why do you think Ginnie hated the family cemetery, while Elizabeth loved it? 11. How did minor characters such as Father Bob, Alfred, Jolene and Priscilla Worthington provide comic touches throughout the novel? Were there other minor characters you found eccentric? Memorable? Why? 12. Was Cutter naïve about her relationship with Curt Sams? How did their nostalgic views of the town bring Cutter and Curt together? Should Cutter forgive him? 13. Where could you imagine Elizabeth and Cutter’s lives heading after the novel closes? What about Ginnie? Daniel? How might a sequel to the novel unfold?
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The St. Martin's Press Reading Guide for THE GARDEN ANGEL in PDF format is online here.
THE GARDEN ANGEL
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