8. Debbie is remarkably honest about her rocky romantic past and failed marriages, including her risky union with Sam. What realizations does she come to about her relationships with men and her reasons for marrying? What new perspectives does she bring to her relationship with Denis?
9. Owning a home has always been important to Debbie, who acquired her first house when she was twenty-one. Why is home ownership such a crucial factor in her life? What meaning does living on Carnaval Street have for her?
10. Do you agree with the “tough love” stance Debbie takes with Noah? Why does she change her mind and allow her son to come live with her in Mazatlán? How does the news that she’s going to be a grandmother affect Debbie and her views about moving to Mexico?
11. Discuss Debbie’s conflicted feelings about being a hairdresser. In her view, firefighters, police officers, and military service personnel are the kinds of people who help others through their vocations. But in what ways has she changed lives using her profession?
12. Debbie tells Sergio that she has “absolutely no interest in opening a salon here in Mázatlan.” Why then does she change her mind and do just that? What does she enjoy about working in a salon?
13. Debbie makes a list of what the “new her” would look like if she were given a clean slate in Mexico. How many of these aspirations does she achieve? Did she make the right decision by relocating to Mexico? Ultimately, does she find what she was seeking?
14. What universal lessons and insights are there in Margarita Wednesdays that could benefit all women? Which aspects of Debbie’s story particularly resonated with you?
15. What factors do you think contributed to Debbie’s complicated relationship with her father, and how does her experience during the Day of the Dead help her come to terms with that relationship?
16. How does the Day of the Dead help others who have suffered loss?
17. What other religious and cultural traditions do people turn to in order to deal with a loved one’s death? Do you think these help, and if so, how?
Enhance Your Book Club
Take a virtual visit to Mazatlán, Mexico, Debbie’s adopted hometown, at gomazatlan.com and allaboutmazatlan.com.
Visit www.mazatlanmycity.com.
Prepare a Mexican-inspired feast using recipes found at epicurious.com/recipesmenus/global/mexican/recipes and foodnetwork.com/topics/mexican/index.html, including ones for guacamole and margaritas. Craving coconut shrimp like Debbie enjoys in the book? There are variations on that dish, too.
Enjoy a visit to a salon or spa for your discussion of Margarita Wednesdays, or have members bring supplies and host a “do it yourself” manicure and pedicure party before or after you talk about the book.
Along with Margarita Wednesdays, read Kabul Beauty School, Deborah Rodriguez’s first memoir.
Visit debbierodriguez.com to learn more about the author and her books.
Visit oasisrescue.com to see more about Project Mariposa.
Visit https://www.facebook.com/DeborahRodriguezAuthor.
Visit the Tippy Toes website: www.tippytoesmaz.com.
Check out Deborah’s Twitter account: @debb_rod
DEBORAH RODRIGUEZ is the author of the nonfiction New York Times bestseller Kabul Beauty School and the internationally bestselling novel The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul. The hairdresser and motivational speaker was the founder and director of the first modern beauty academy in Afghanistan, and also founded the nonprofit Oasis Rescue. She lives in Mazatlán, Mexico, where she owns Tippy Toes salon and spa.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: authors.simonandschuster.com/Deborah-Rodriguez
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ALSO BY DEBORAH RODRIGUEZ
Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul: A Novel
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Gallery Books
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Copyright © 2014 by Deborah Rodriguez
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
Certain character and place names and identifying characteristics have been changed and some characters are amalgams. Some events have been reordered, combined, and/or compressed.
First Gallery Books hardcover edition June 2014
GALLERY BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Interior design by Akasha Archer
Jacket design by Anna Dorfman
Jacket photographs © Lee Frost/Rober Harding World Imagery/Getty Images (building/car); Madrugada Verde/Shutterstock (lantern); Fuyu Lio/Shutterstock (scarf); Blinka/Shutterstock (hat)
Author photograph by Susan Bonk
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rodriguez, Deborah.
Margarita Wednesdays : making a new life by the Mexican sea / by Deborah Rodriguez.
pages cm
1. Rodriguez, Deborah. 2. Americans—Mexico—Biography. 3. Women—Mexico—Social life and customs—21st century. 4. Beauty operators—United States—Biography. 5. Beauty shops—Social aspects—Mexico. 6. Americans—Afghanistan—Biography. 7. Divorced women—United States—Biography. 8. Middle-aged women—United States—Biography. 9. Authors, American—21st century—Biography. 10. Mental healing I. Title
F1210.R5849 2014
305.40972—dc23
2013046836
ISBN 978-1-4767-1066-2
ISBN 978-1-4767-1069-3 (ebook)
Margarita Wednesdays Page 29