* * *
• • •
I’m looking forward to a change of scenery and I imagine I’ll be happier in California than I’ve been anywhere else. There is only one thing. Penelope. The images of her come and go as if I momentarily assume an alternate identity where I relive my memories of her. As they play out, there is always a sudden and unexpected fall from grace. The feeling reaches into my dreams, and my lungs fill with something crisp, cold, and sharp. Images are painted on my eyelids, images of falling, and a rush of fear shoots through my body, my lungs panic for air. My arms flail and desperately I’m reaching for something to hold on to, and then I feel Marleen touch my shoulder and I jerk awake.
I will forever remember Penelope with her hair blowing in the wind, a breeze catching her at a moment she wasn’t prepared for. I get lost in thoughts of her, though getting lost isn’t the right expression—it implies that one returns at some point to join the rest of the world—no, it’s more a state of being.
We called Penelope “Pea” when she was little. She was a darling child, independent and strong of will, though brooding at times. As she grew older she insisted we call her Penny, but I remember her most fondly as Pea. Sweet peas come in pink, yellow, red, purple, and white, and Pea came with just as many personalities.
“Has Penelope called?” I ask Marleen every morning.
“No, she has not,” Marleen says.
I worry about Penelope. She is grown, living her own life, but the mind is a fickle thing, there’s only so much I’m able to process at one time, only so much weight a structure can hold before it collapses. I hope she is well.
The mind must take what it’s given and make the best of it, never losing hope that more lies ahead.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. America is the proverbial land of opportunity, and Edward and Donna Pryor have achieved wealth and a high standing in their community. How do you think money played into the decisions they made on that fateful night? Do you see them making the same decision if they weren’t affluent?
2. Was money a hindrance or an accelerator in the Pryors’ downfall?
3. When you met Donna Pryor in the beginning of the story, did you feel empathy for her?
4. “If a child goes wrong, look at the family.” Does that ring true to you?
5. We have all said “I’d do anything for my child.” How would you have reacted coming upon the scene in the garage? Would you protect your child from legal consequences? How far would you go to stretch the truth? Where would you draw the line?
6. Had Donna and Edward called the police that night, how might things have played out differently for the Pryor family? Would Penelope have changed how she lived her life if she had been exonerated? Would Donna and Edward still be together?
7. Think back to the initial quote in the book by William Butler Yeats. “Why, what could she have done, being what she is?” In what ways does that quote apply to both Donna and Penelope?
8. In your opinion, who is mostly to blame for the downfall of the Pryor family? Who can you forgive most easily?
9. Did the Pryors get what they deserved? Examine the consequences for each one of them. Does the punishment match the gravity of the crime for Edward, Donna, and Penelope?
10. “Dante’s “The Divine Comedy” is a fourteenth-century poem telling of Dante’s journey through hell. What do you make of the parallels of the three parts (hell, purgatory, and heaven) of the novel?
11. Shadow Garden is a character onto itself. What made the setting unique or important to the story? Did you know that places like Shadow Garden existed in reality?
Photo by the Author
Alexandra Burt is a freelance translator and the international bestselling author of Remember Mia and The Good Daughter. Born in Europe, she moved to Texas more than twenty years ago. While pursuing literary translations, she decided to tell her own stories. After years of writing classes and gluttonous reading, her short fiction appeared in fiction journals and literary reviews. She lives in Texas with her husband.
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Shadow Garden Page 31