Forgiveness is a pretty word, flung down into pews on Sunday mornings, but in the backs of small-town shops and in the parlors of neat white houses, it is not so freely tendered, and harder still to find when it is ourselves we must forgive. And yet that’s all that’s left to us, really, when our fires burn down and our embers are all out, to own the choices our hearts have made, and not pretend we could have done different.
We are each of us dealt our little measure of time, set down on a road, and made to find our way home. But every man’s road is different, every woman’s, too, and the right way comes clear only when we’re looking at it from over our shoulder, when for better or worse we have chosen at the forked places and must live with what we chose. I suspect, for those who never had to stand at such a fork, the way must seem very clear indeed.
It’s a mean thing for the heart, straddling the fence between the known and the new, walking between worlds and belonging to none. Sooner or later the heart must choose. Mine was no different. I know now that when I got on that bus all those years ago, I was really just making my way home, to Henry and this place he loved with his whole heart. Peak is where I belong, where, thanks to Henry, my blood will always flow in the veins of its women, and my bones will always lie in its soil.
You’ve heard my story now—my sin and all its wages. I am weary from the telling but sorry for none of it. I made my choices and I have answered for them. Do I have regrets? Once perhaps…but no more. The heart wants what it wants, you see, and eternity is much too long for regrets.
CONVERSATION GUIDE
THE
SECRETS
SHE
CARRIED
BARBARA DAVIS
This Conversation Guide is intended to enrich the
individual reading experience, as well as encourage us
to explore these topics together—because books,
and life, are meant for sharing.
CONVERSATION GUIDE
QUESTIONS
FOR DISCUSSION
1. Running away rather than confronting uncomfortable situations is one of the themes of the book. What situations, past or present, is Leslie fleeing? Are the potential consequences she fears emotional, physical, or both?
2. What other characters in the book are seeking to run away from something, and how does that avoidance express itself? What pitfalls do they encounter as a result?
3. In the early part of the book, the relationship between Leslie and Jay is tense and wary. What events eventually lead them to realize they may have misjudged each other?
4. How does Adele’s voice (first person, present tense) contribute to the overall flavor of the book? How did you feel about her story being told from beyond the grave?
5. Do you have a favorite passage or scene from the book, and if so, what about it speaks to you?
6. The book includes two women who evolve deeply as a result of story events. Discuss how Leslie and Adele change, learn, and grow over the course of the book. What specific events lead to this growth?
7. Discuss Henry’s strengths and weaknesses. Though Adele never stops loving him, how does her perception of him change as the book progresses? How did you feel about his decision to send Jemmy away?
8. How does Leslie’s sense of family evolve over the course of the novel, and what events or discoveries specifically influence that evolution?
9. Discuss the concepts of forgiveness and redemption and how they are addressed in the book. Which characters require redemption and why? Which characters bestow forgiveness, and how is it shown?
10. The heart wants what it wants is repeated several times throughout the book. Do you see Adele relinquishing Maggie to Susanne as an act of strength or weakness? Does love justify any action?
11. At the end of the book, we discover that Adele is part African American and has been passing as white. How do you think southern society in the 1930s would have responded to someone like Adele, especially in light of her relationship with Henry?
12. The book closes with Adele speaking of the choices she has made over her life, as well as the wages of her sins. How does her assertion that we can only choose in the moment and then live with what we have chosen stand up to your own beliefs about life choices and regret?
About the Author
After spending more than a decade in the jewelry business, Barbara Davis decided to leave the corporate world to pursue her lifelong passion for writing. The Secrets She Carried is her first novel. She currently lives near Raleigh, North Carolina, with the love of her life, Tom Kelley, and their beloved ginger cat, Simon.
The Secrets She Carried Page 35