Lotería
Page 18
The entire marketing team, including Janine Perez, Caite Arocho, Laura Hernandez, Kristin Schulz, Emily DuVal, and Natalie Capogrossi, who took this book when it was just a seed and built a brilliant campaign for it that reaches for the sky. You are the tree.
Josh Redlich, whose role as publicist for this novel is not unlike that of a musician, making sure everyone hears the song of Lotería.
The entire sales team, with a shout-out to Brenda Conway, Dandy Conway, Stephanie Davey, Nic DuFort, Lauren Mackey, Deanna Meyerhoff, Carol Monteiro, Tim Mooney, Stacey Pyle, Amy Rockwell, Michele Sadler, and Kate Sullivan. I am profoundly moved to know that you have loved reading this story as much as I’ve loved writing it. I am so grateful that it is you who will be taking Lotería out into the world.
You, the reader, who has picked up this book and journeyed within it. I hope this story has inspired you or, at the very least, given you something to think about. I invite you to be like a flowerpot, nurturing your own ideas about these themes, pruning them, tending to them, and helping them grow into life adventures.
And finally, Death, for she is always last. To her I make a small plea on behalf of the many loved ones in her care: por favor cuídalos.
READERS’ GUIDE
1. Every choice Clara makes has a consequence, starting with her choice to open her window. Can you identify how her choices lead to the various events unfolding in her life? What do you think would have happened had she made different choices along the way?
2. How do you think Clara’s story was influenced by the fact that the bird carried off the top card in the deck unseen? What role did Clara play in that event? How did her choice lead to a change in her destiny? How did it affect Life and Death’s destiny? Was it a lucky choice after all?
3. How have your choices led to certain events? How do you think your choices have affected other people?
4. There are three key moments where Clara’s fear or insecurity has big consequences for her: first, at the entrance to La Gruta de Oro; second, when the bird requests a drawing and she refuses; third, when she enters the tunnel under the wall of vines. How did each of these events change her story?
5. There is a moment when Clara thinks she’s been betrayed: the scene with the rose. Was this actually a betrayal or a misunderstanding? How did this event help Clara? Can you think of a time in your life when you felt betrayed but everything turned out okay in the end? How might a misunderstanding lead us to make the wrong decision?
6. The scene with the spider is a turning point for Clara. She feels that she has hit her lowest moment and that all hope is lost. What keeps her going?
7. This is a story about free will, and throughout the book there are symbolic references to freedom. For instance, windows being opened, birds flying, oranges rolling away, words being trapped. Can you identify other ways in which freedom is represented? How are language and the choice of words being used to evoke feelings of freedom?
8. The lack of freedom is also explored throughout the story. Can you identify different ways that the characters are trapped? For instance, how do Clara’s insecurities restrict her freedom? What role does grief play in trapping Esteban? How does our own view of the world restrict us and limit our choices? How do the characters in the story free themselves from their various traps? What role do knowledge, courage, and hope play in their freedom?
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