Things to Do When It's Raining

by Marissa Stapley

  “Time to go?” Gabe asks, and she tears her gaze away from the invisible past.

  “Thank you,” she says as he helps her back up the stairs. She doesn’t know what she’ll do without him if he dies first. She tries not to think about this. Everything ends, eventually. You can’t be afraid of that, because that’s just life, and you have to live it, find the beauty in it, stop worrying all the time about silly things like whether it might rain and focus on what’s important, like whether the people you love know how much you love them, whether you can still picture the people you’ve lost when you close your eyes at night, and whether you remembered to check on the river when you walked past it that day, to make sure it was still flowing in the right direction, carrying your past, present and future together in one miraculous moment that will go on, always, with you or without you.

  Acknowledgments

  I am grateful to the following people:

  My agent, Samantha Haywood, an excellent person, all around (I’d say I’m your biggest fan but I think my dad has dibs on that); Stephanie Sinclair, a generous, openhearted first reader; and the rest of the team at Transatlantic Agency, for taking care of details big and small. Plus Hannah Fosh, who lit up my life.

  At Simon & Schuster Canada, Nita Pronovost, who saw this book for what it could be and helped me find the right stepping-stones; Sarah St. Pierre, for many kindnesses; Siobhan Doody, for doing all that needed to be done to get this book to the finish line; Amy Prentice, a true professional (I miss you!); Rita Silva, who I’m so lucky to work with; Adria Iwasutiak, for encouragement and heart-to-hearts; Felicia Quon, for baskets of beaches and buckets of laughs; David Millar, for always making me feel welcome; Kevin Hanson, for steering the ship with a sure hand; Sherry Lee and Shara Alexa, for tirelessly ensuring my books end up on shelves; Elizabeth Whitehead, for the charming cover; and the rest of the S&S family: Jacquelynne Lennard, Loretta Eldridge, Andrea Seto, Alexandra Boelsterli, Brendan May.

  At Graydon House, Brittany Lavery, for giving me the benefit of your keen editorial eye—and for your constant willingness to discuss baseball and/or cats; Dianne Moggy and Susan Swinwood, for a warm welcome; Michelle Renaud and Amy Jones, for passion and unstinting vision; Kathleen Oudit, for the exquisite cover concept; and the artist Kazuko Nomoto, who painted what I had only before seen in my mind’s eye.

  At Rowohlt, I am grateful to Silke Jellinghaus and her enthusiastic colleagues Katharina Dornhoefer, Suenje Redies and Ulrike Beck, and to Katharina Naumann.

  My coven of lady writers, who are always in my corner (lucky me!) and I am deeply proud to call my friends: Karma Brown, Chantel Guertin, Kate Hilton, Jennifer Robson, Elizabeth Renzetti. Thank you also to my dear friend Sherri Vanderveen for hearing my voice in my writing and liking it; and to Leigh Andre, Amanda Watson, and Michelle Schlag.

  Early readers Danila Botha(), Sophie Chouinard, Alison Clarke, Moriah Cleveland, Amanpreet Dhami, Asha Frost (you’re magical), Ellen Nodwell and Nance Williams. Forgive me if I’ve forgotten anyone. This book has had some past lives.

  Booksellers everywhere, and especially Sarah Ramsey, Kathy Chant and Shelley Macbeth. Long may you run.

  My readers. You. Because without you there would be no this. Believe me when I say there is a moment in every day within which I pause and marvel over how fortunate I am to get to share my writing with an audience that doesn’t consist solely of my parents and my husband. So if you’re holding this book and you’re not my parents or my husband, thank you. I’m honored.

  My grandparents, in loving memory: Ray, for singing “That Sly Old Gentleman” and giving us a song to pass down generation by generation (to be used at the end of each day, when it counts the most); Maggie, because if a writing gene exists you passed yours to me (oh, how I wish you could read these books); Ron, for always watching out for me and for being so proud of us all; Jean, for the unconditional love and the stiff upper lip (I miss you every single day; the kids still remember the baths); and Lawrence: I wish I had met you. You are never forgotten. Now I’ve made sure.

  The Soper family—especially my uncles for starting that book club. I look forward to the next meeting. Extra thanks to Gary for the photos.

  The Stapley family, and especially my supportive tribe of aunts and uncles. Special thanks to Auntie Di, who hosted me in Gananoque as I researched the Saint Lawrence River and its islands and sought solitude to write. You understood what I needed and you gave it to me.

  Randy Greenman, for the photographs and clippings, and his assistance in keeping Lawrence’s legacy alive.

  My parents: Bruce Stapley, for endless support, for long talks, for the necklace and the silly song. My mom, Valerie Clubine, who first showed me what a mother’s love meant so I could write about it the way I have; James Clubine, my stepfather, for your reassurance and love. I’d be lost (literally, wandering around in the night; ask Mom) without all of you. And to my brothers, Shane, Drew and Griffin. I do sometimes wish you’d been sisters instead, but I love you an awful lot just the same.

  My Ponikowski parents: Joyce and Joe Sr., for being as proud of me as you would be of your own daughter; and to the rest of the Ponikowski and Webb families.

  Oscar, for the good luck and the healing snuggles.

  Joseph and Maia. If you ever read this book and you get to the parts about how much Virginia loved Mae and how much Lilly loved Virginia, then you might be at the very beginning of understanding how much I love the two of you. You always make me feel I’m doing something right because, truly, you are the most wonderful people. I promise to always have candy at my book launches. I promise never to stop sneaking into your rooms to watch you sleep. I promise to tell you stories about yourselves until I can’t remember them anymore. I promise to love you exactly as you are and for exactly who you are, always.

  And, Joe. Love is a choice. We’ve learned that, haven’t we? And I choose you, I always have. Thank you for choosing me back and for everything else. Yet again, this could not have been completed without you. Nor could the laundry. I’m grateful for that, too.

  Simon & Schuster Canada

  Reading Group Guide

  * * *

  THINGS TO DO WHEN IT’S RAINING

  Marissa Stapley

  Questions for Book Clubs

  1. What does “family” mean to you? Is family something you’re born into or something you can create?

  2. Describe the relationship Mae and her fiancé, Peter, had. Do you believe he ever loved her? What does Mae learn from their interactions?

  3. The Saint Lawrence River is a character in and of itself in this novel. How would you describe its role in the story and its effect on the various characters?

  4. Do you think it’s possible for teenage sweethearts to pick up where they left off? How do time and maturity change our outlook on life and our relationships with others?

  5. What roles do love and jealousy play in the novel?

  6. Gabe comes from a family that has a legacy of alcoholism and abuse. How does he view himself in light of that? Do you think that makes him a different person than he might otherwise have been? How does his past affect the decisions he makes?

  7. Lilly hurt George by accidentally revealing the truth about Virginia’s paternity. What would you have done in George’s situation? Was Lilly right to have hidden the truth from him all these years?

  8. Lilly’s actions have an enormous effect on her granddaughter’s life. In your opinion, were those actions justified? Why do you think she tells Mae “Gabe is not for you”? How much regret do you believe she feels and in what ways does that regret change her?

  9. Why does George befriend Jonah so late in both their lives? Do they have anything in common besides their shared family history? What influence, if any, do they have on each other?

  10. Does Mae’s character change as the story progresses? If so, how?

  11. Do you agree with Gabe’s decision not to tell George about Lilly’s lie? Why or why not? What would you have
done in the same situation?

  12. In your opinion, why does Gabe hold himself responsible for the deaths of Mae’s parents?

  A Conversation with Marissa Stapley

  Things to Do When It’s Raining is such a heartfelt portrayal of love in all its forms. What was your inspiration for writing this novel?

  I was very close to my grandparents growing up, but my grandfather and I were not biologically related. My grandmother’s first husband, Lawrence, died tragically when my mother was two, and it remains a painful topic for both families. As such, I knew that Lawrence had existed and had seen movie-star-handsome pictures of him with my grandmother Jean—they looked so in love! The photos inspired many stories, but I had few concrete details about Lawrence.

  My beloved grandmother Jean McIntyre standing on the steps of a hospital in Collingwood, Ontario, where she was training to be a nurse. This was around the time she met Lawrence, at a New Year’s Eve dance.

  My biological grandfather Lawrence Greenman in 1944. He was movie-star handsome but also, according to everyone who knew him, a kind and genuine person who broke many hearts when he died tragically at twenty-eight years old.

  After my grandmother passed away in 2013, a few things happened to get me thinking about writing this story. Lawrence’s brother attended Jean’s funeral, and I introduced him to one of my younger cousins as my great-uncle. She later told me she was shocked. She hadn’t known about Lawrence. He had become a secret because his death was too painful to discuss. Better to bury it, we had all decided—without saying a word.

  I also saw how lost and alone my grandfather was without Jean. Perhaps they hadn’t had a Hollywood-worthy love story, but he was a childhood friend before they married, so their story had its own sweetness. He married Jean, a widow with a young child, and in doing so he had saved her, and she saved him, too. I had always imagined the love story as being between my grandmother and poor, lost Lawrence. But Jean’s death made me realize that, despite the devastating loss of her first husband, she had carried on. Ultimately, she had developed a very deep bond with the man with whom she would spend the rest of her life. When she died, she was calling for him.

  My grandpa Ron in 1947. He and my grandmother grew up in Dundalk, Ontario, together and were childhood friends before they married in 1954.

  And so I started writing. It helped to write a character like Lilly because I felt my grandmother was with me as I wrote. My grandfather died shortly after her, and this book has really turned into my way of saying good-bye to all of them and ensuring they live on in some way.

  2. Why did you choose the Summers’ Inn as the setting for the novel?

  I always seem to go to water when I’m looking for inspiration. As I began the challenging task of starting a second novel, I spent some time in Gananoque, Ontario, visiting an aunt who lives near the river. I needed a setting that was a character in itself, a setting that would tie the characters together—characters painfully close to my heart because they were inspired by real people I had loved.

  The inn took shape alongside the Summers family. I realized they needed a naturally hospitable home, open to someone like Gabe, especially. It made sense that he would live there, that Mae would gravitate there, and that Lilly and George would be so tied to it. I had even envisioned drawing some of the guests into the story, but once I got to know George, Lilly, Gabe, and Mae, I realized I was going to have my hands full—these were complicated people.

  3. Do you like the rain? What is your favorite thing to do when it’s raining?

  My mother always said that we couldn’t let bad weather ruin our day. So although I wouldn’t say I love the rain, I welcome it. There’s something more satisfying about accomplishing things on a rainy day than on a regular day. Sunshine is easy; rain is a challenge.

  I’m also the kind of person who forgets to pack an umbrella, so I’m always walking through rain with my face upturned, with that Roger Miller quote running through my head: Some people feel the rain; others just get wet. I think Virginia’s character was born on a rainy walk home from school, as I laughed my way through a rainstorm alongside my young daughter. Virginia so badly wanted her child to be resilient, to weather life’s rainstorms, and to simply turn her face toward the raindrops and laugh at them.

  My favorite thing to do when it’s raining is to cuddle up with a book, preferably with my kids and kitten nearby, also reading—well, not the kitten, he doesn’t know how to read yet.

  4. In the book you write, “Choosing love is sometimes better than giving it out of obligation.” Is this something you’ve learned from your own experience?

  I think everyone learns that—with families, marriages, long friendships, and with their children. New love and new relationships, those are easy! It’s when you really get to know someone, and when they hurt you a few times—because that’s what people do by virtue of who we are—that you either decide to work on it or you quit it altogether. But choosing to love, even when it’s difficult, is often the most rewarding choice. I think we really see that in this novel because everyone has to choose to love one another. There are points where walking away was probably the easier option, but that makes the ultimate decision to choose love a brave one.

  5. The Saint Lawrence River plays such a big part in Mae and Gabe’s life. Did you grow up around water? Have you ever been afraid of water?

  I didn’t grow up around water, but we spent a lot of time around water on family vacations. I think I’ve always associated being around water with being truly relaxed and at peace.

  Yes, I’m actually very nervous, not of water itself, but of what might be in the water. I’m terrified of muskie, and when I was a kid my older brother loved to torture me with his knowledge of this fear. I’m terrified of seaweed, too. It’s an incredibly irrational fear! Yet I persist; I will swim anywhere. As I get older, I spend more time just plunging in. My fears don’t exactly go away, but they matter less.

  6. Mae has such a close relationship with her grandparents Lilly and George. Were you close with your grandparents growing up?

  Very! I was especially close with my mother’s parents, but I did have a special connection to my father’s mom, Grannie Maggie, who was a prolific Canadian magazine writer and would have been so thrilled to see my books published.

  My maternal grandparents were like a second set of parents, just as Lilly and George are to Mae. I lived with them during university, and would forgo meeting my friends at the pub after class so I could rush home in time for our daily routine of watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! together while eating dinner on our laps. They were the kind of people you would describe as “salt of the earth.” Not a day goes by that I don’t wish they were still here.

  7. Now that you’ve finished writing the book, is there a character you wish you could revisit, or is there a character with whom you most identify?

  I miss them all: Lilly because she reminds me of my grandmother, George because he reminds me of my grandfather and Mae because I definitely identify with her as a person. Then there’s Gabe—I think about him all the time. It’s probably time to admit I have a crush on someone who doesn’t exist.

  If I had to choose one character from the book to revisit, it would be Everett. Just as my biological grandfather is essentially unknowable to me and my mother, Everett was always outside my grasp as a character, too. He didn’t live long enough for anyone to know him beyond the rather careless days of his youth. And yet he touched the lives of each character in some way. I know I can never revisit him because there will never be any more to know about him than what is already on paper—but that doesn’t stop me from wishing it could be different.

  About the Author

  © Eugene Choi

  Marissa Stapley, bestselling author of Mating for Life, is a journalist and a National Magazine Award–nominated writer. She writes a commercial fiction review column, Shelf Love, for The Globe and Mail. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.


  www.marissastapley.com

  @marissastapley

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.ca/Marissa-Stapley

  Simon & Schuster Canada

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 by Marissa Stapley

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