Seashell Season
Page 37
Q. In Seashell Season you deal for the first time with a truly criminal character. What was it like creating Alan Burns, aka Jim Armstrong?
A. In spite of the fact that Alan’s criminal behavior kick-starts the story, I don’t see him as much a hardened criminal as I do a deeply weak and troubled man. Of course, what he did to Verity and to his mother amounts to a sort of psychological torture, and what he did to Gemma—stealing her from her mother and creating an utterly false identity for her—is also terribly cruel. We never really know what prompted Alan to abduct his daughter in the first place—revenge against Verity for leaving him, a genuine though delusional belief that she was going to hurt the baby, or a combination of both—and that’s because in my conception of him, Alan doesn’t really understand his own motives.
Q. What’s next for Holly?
A. Another novel! This one is set at Christmas and is called The Season of Us. I’m really excited to revisit the characters I introduced in The Summer of Us many years ago. So many readers have asked for a sequel to that book and now they’ll have one! It will be available in November 2016.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
SEASHELL SEASON
Holly Chamberlin
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The suggested questions are included to enhance
your group’s reading of Holly Chamberlin’s
Seashell Season!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. When her father is arrested and his crimes uncovered, Gemma is thrust into the middle of a full-blown identity crisis. When she explores the website her mother created in the interest of discovering her whereabouts, Gemma feels deeply disturbed by the imagined portraits of her through the years. Talk about how much of our identity is given to us—by family, culture, neighbors, and friends—and how much is left for us to invent or discover. What part does a name—given or chosen—play in creating our identity? What is the true relation between Marni Armstrong and Gemma Peterson-Burns?
2. Verity tells Gemma that the community of Yorktide has been invested in the story of her abduction since the start, and that it feels the need to celebrate her return. Talk about how communities react to local tragedies and triumphs, how a community feels ownership of its members for better or worse. When does genuine interest and concern on the part of one’s neighbors become voyeurism and mere nosiness?
3. Verity describes Marion as an enabler, someone mired in the need to protect and keep secret the weaknesses of those they love. Talk about how Marion’s behavior and choices regarding her husband might have negatively affected her son. If she had been honest with Alan about his father’s history of mental breakdowns, might Alan have had a happier and more productive life? Do you believe that Marion had a duty to warn Verity about her son’s problems when the two first started to date? When does a mother’s loyalty to her child become a liability and a danger to others? Do you understand Marion’s desire to have a relationship with her son, now in jail, even after the pain he caused her by his actions, including, in effect, his abandoning of her?
4. In relation to the question above, do you think that Marion’s revealing to Gemma her husband’s mental fragility and her son’s angry past regarding women was the right thing to do? Was it the right thing at the wrong time? Earlier Verity wonders if Gemma ever need know the extent of the Burns family’s damage. How does Gemma’s knowing the full story of Albert’s and Alan’s troubles affect her subsequent decisions, both good and bad?
5. Verity often contemplates the question of nature versus nurture, one of life’s greatest puzzles. Gemma wonders how much of a person’s life is determined before birth—that is to say, how influential a person’s family history really is. Talk about how Verity and Gemma have been influenced by their parents’ behaviors and about how they have tried, succeeded, and perhaps at times failed to overcome a negative legacy—or to have embraced a positive one.
6. Do you think Gemma makes a wise decision when she decides to continue contact with her father, or do you think it would have been smarter for her to cut him off and move on? Talk about Verity’s decision to largely ignore her father since shortly after the abduction. Do you think she was at all justified? Consider Verity’s decision to forgive Marion for her deceptions and to welcome her back into her life. How can one possibly know when the healthiest thing to do is to walk away from a familial relationship?
7. In relation to the question above: Is love still possible when like has turned to dislike? Gemma is no longer under any illusions about the extent of her father’s oddity and she knows that he is not a man to be trusted or relied upon. Still, she has some fond memories of their years together, and she acknowledges his generally decent care of her. Are good memories perhaps enough to allow for a relationship to progress into the future?
8. Cathy and her friends seem like foreign creatures to Gemma, and she wonders where they derived their self-confidence, interests, and ambitions. She wonders if their energy and optimism are results of having grown up in a stable home where a child knows she can trust a parent completely. Talk about the notion of stability in the home ensuring—or not ensuring—a successful life. Consider that although Alan was not the most reassuringly stable parent, Gemma, long aware of this, is in many ways a strong and balanced young woman. Nature? An instinct for survival? Or was Alan’s love for his daughter—as warped as it might have been—enough to give Gemma the seed for a good and productive life?
9. Talk about the possible motives behind Ellen Burns-Cassidy’s desire to take on the education—and the upbringing—of her cousin’s daughter. When Gemma asks Ellen why she is being so generous, Ellen says that Gemma deserves this opportunity—not really an answer as to why Ellen feels she’s the one who needs to provide it. Then, after Gemma declines the offer of a full ride at Greyson Academy, she asks again what prompted Ellen to pursue so close a relationship with her, a stranger. Ellen can’t or won’t answer. Do you think Ellen fully understands her own motives in inserting herself into Gemma’s life? Verity and Gemma wonder what part Richard played in his wife’s “scheme,” as David calls it. What do you think?
10. Money is an important theme in the book—how too much can corrupt and too little can damage; the suspicion of its power and the desire for the relief and pleasures it can bring. Inherently, money is meaningless, its value determined only by what it can or cannot perform in the practical world. Talk about the role money plays in the lives of the main characters.
To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
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New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2016 by Elise Smith
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
eISBN-13: 978-1-4967-0153-4
eISBN-10: 1-4967-0153-4
First Kensington Electronic Edition: July 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4967-0152-7
ISBN-10: 1-4967-0152-6
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