Blue Sky Hill [01] A Month of Summer

by Lisa Wingate

  Q. Your story depicts a complicated family situation that is tragic but also realistic, particularly in today’s world of fractured family ties. Are any parts of the story based on real life?

  A. In every story there are some bits of real life, some nibblets of sheer invention, and a sprinkle of serendipity. Writers are always the people slyly turning an ear to the tiny human dramas in restaurants, department store checkout lines, cell phone conversations in the next bathroom stall. The past trauma in Edward and Hanna Beth’s family is largely a combination of eavesdropping and fiction, but I do feel that the story could apply to any family, particularly in a world where so many families are separated by distance and various types of emotional and physical estrangement.

  The issue of Alzheimer’s care is one to which I was able to contribute personally. Having experienced the ravages of this disease within my own family, I understand the difficulty of caring for a loved one who is physically able but facing slow mental decline. While these changes are very individual, the continuum of emotions and the challenges of caretaking are, in some ways, constant. Caretaking is very often a lonely occupation. Even friends and family members who would like to help frequently don’t know how to contribute. My hope is that Rebecca and Hanna Beth’s story will help to build bridges and create dialogue between primary caretakers and surrounding friends and family members. Sometimes just a few hours out of the house, while a friend or family member takes over the duties, can be an incredible gift.

  Q. Through extraordinary circumstances, Rebecca is compelled to behave in a heroic manner, even though she often struggles with her own resentments. Do you think all of us have the capacity for such self-sacrifice?

  A. I believe that within each of us there is the potential to transcend ordinary fears and inhibitions. Many of us may never encounter the situation that would require a heroic act. We go through life watching the heroic acts of others and wondering if, faced with the same set of circumstances, we would be compelled to take action, to do the right thing.

  True heroism doesn’t manifest itself only in those who run into burning buildings or cross battlefields to save the wounded. Heroism exists in those who spend weekends building Habitat homes, who care for children in need of parents or mentors, who provide for parents who have become dependent themselves. To my mind, each character in the novel is heroic in some way, whether that heroism manifests itself in something as complex as traveling across the country to see to an estranged relative, or as simple as stretching upward from a wheelchair to raise a window blind and let in the sunlight. By each doing what is possible, we should be ultimately achieve the impossible.

  Q. Like so many contemporary women, Rebecca packs long days with seemingly endless responsibilities, and her daughter’s after-school hours are tightly scheduled as well. You yourself are married, raising two boys on a horse ranch, writing two novels a year, and speaking to groups on a continuing basis. Is Rebecca’s situation inspired in any way by your own? Do you have any advice for readers about how to maintain a sense of balance while keeping up with their busy lives?

  A. Certainly as a mom, writer, daughter, and member of a busy community of friends and readers, I can relate to the push and pull of Rebecca’s situation. Our days are often filled with activities and the family calendar sometimes looks like the Scrabble board after a long game—everything intertwined and not a space empty. Fortunately, I am not the type who needs a quiet space to work. I can write anywhere, anytime, and no matter what’s going on. Over the years, I’ve packed my laptop along and sat typing on the sidelines of soccer practices, between baseball games, in the car on family trips, in the living room while the guys are hollering at football games on TV.

  In terms of maintaining a sense of peace and connection at home, I still believe in the family dinner. Sometimes, it’s so tempting to serve off the counter and let everyone wander back to various TVs or whatever. In defiance of the whines and the “But, Mom, the game’s on!” I just insist. We sit, we say grace, we eat together. We talk.

  Q. You speak to booksellers and readers at events all year. What do people say about your books? Are there any surprising or gratifying responses you’d like to share?

  A. I love spending time with readers and booksellers. The most, most, most wonderful part of writing a story is knowing that someone else enjoyed reading it, and found it a source of entertainment, courage for change, a greater appreciation of life, or just a few hours of peace. Over the years, I’ve treasured letters from readers who were encouraged in difficult times, inspired to make life changes, to reunite with family members, to finally document the stories of older family members, to look at life with new eyes, to appreciate the gifts of the moment. I’m amazed and humbled that a story can be a catalyst for action, but at the same time, I recall the stories that have moved me over the years. Once, a reader who’d finished my novel Texas Cooking and had been inspired to relocate back to the hometown she’d always missed, ended an e-mail to me by writing, “Did you ever imagine that your humorous book about Texas would affect someone this way?”

  What a wonderful and complicated question! I always hope the books will produce good fruit, but I never know what it will be, or where it will land, or what will grow from the seeds within. So much of that remains in God’s hands, which is as it should be.

  Q. What’s next?

  A. In addition to the continuation of the small-town Texas series that began with Talk of the Town, published by Bethany House, I plan to continue stories of life in the houses on Blue Sky Hill, published by New American Library. As with the books in the Tending Roses series, the ending of each character’s story often marks the beginning of another journey. Because I never know where a story might lead, or how it will end, or what may happen to the characters after the final page, the only way to find the next image in the canvas is to get out the loom and let the threads start moving again. Eventually, it’ll all start to make sense, and after it does, there will be another thread that seems to continue beyond the picture, raising the question, What happens now?

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  1. Today, Alzheimer’s disease remains one of the most prevalent, difficult, and costly diseases of aging. Has your family been affected by Alzheimer’s disease? In what ways? How have your experiences been like or unlike those in the book?

  2. After seeing her husband with Susan at the café, Rebecca is quick to assume infidelity. Do you think she is justified in her lack of trust? How do our past experiences affect our present relationships?

  3. As Hanna Beth watches Teddy and Rebecca interact, she begins to wonder if, in her efforts to protect Teddy and keep him safe, she might have also thwarted his ability to become more independent. Do you think this is true? Why or why not? Do you think Hanna Beth would have imagined that Teddy could navigate several miles through the neighborhood streets to find food and keep the household afloat?

  4. Claude Fisher takes an active interest in Hanna Beth, even when she is not able to physically respond to his companionship. Why do you think he does so?

  5. When Rebecca finds Edward’s letter, she feels cheated and betrayed by Marilyn’s refusal to tell her the truth about her father, the past, and Teddy. What motivated Marilyn to take the truth to her deathbed? Was it a decision of misguided love or a final act of retaliation against Edward and Hanna Beth?

  6. Rebecca’s growing affection for Teddy is often hampered by a lingering resentment of the fact that Edward chose to actively nurture Teddy while allowing Rebecca to be permanently taken away by her mother. Have you seen or experienced situations in which adult sibling relationships are hampered by feelings that one sibling was favored over another in childhood? Are these feelings normal? How do we overcome this as adults?

  7. The author describes this as a story of an ordinary person compelled by extraordinary circumstances. How do you think you would react if your humanity compelled you to actively sacrifice for someone you feel injured you in the past?

>   8. How do you think the future will be different for Teddy, Rebecca, and Hanna Beth? For Mary and Ifeoma? For Ouita Mae and Claude?

  9. Some of the most heroic characters in the novel are also the most helpless. How do Teddy, Claude, and Mary manage to contribute to the people around them despite a lack of personal resources?

  10. Late in the story, Hanna Beth realizes that the combined tragedy of her stroke and Edward’s illness has been the driving force in reuniting the family. Have you experienced times when a tragic event caused distanced family or friends to come together?