by Hite, Ann
Book Club Discussion Questions
1. The Storycatcher is told by multiple narrators and out of chronological order. How does this affect your understanding of the events that take place in the novel and your opinions of the main characters? How do you think the story would be different if it were told from just one perspective? If you had to pick just one narrator to share her story, whom would you choose?
2. Which character do you sympathize with or connect to the most? Why? Which character are you personally the most similar to?
3. The spirits of Black Mountain and the Ridge in Darien, Georgia, interact with several of the living characters and influence the events that unfold. Compare the way each living character responds to the ghosts. Consider how the ghosts directly affect each character’s actions.
4. Of all the supernatural gifts of the characters, which would you most like to have? Why?
5. Discuss how each of the characters in The Storycatcher approaches the ideas of justice and revenge. Which characters represent a traditional justice system? Which characters represent vigilantism?
6. In the aftermath of Arleen Brown’s death, Shelly Parker observes of Pastor Dobbins: “In that music was the man a woman would want to marry, the softness, the person who could mourn a young dead girl. Everyone had a decent side”. Is Shelly right about Pastor Dobbins? Does everyone have a decent side? How does this manifest in the other characters?
7. The various relationships between women—whether between mother and daughter, white and colored, or employer and employee—are central to The Storycatcher. Discuss how these women make up the backbone of the Black Mountain community. Why is it important for these women to act as confidantes for one another?
8. Discuss the significance of the names in The Storycatcher: Black Mountain, Faith, Will, Nada, Miss Tuggle. Why do you think the author chose each of these names?
9. Consider the alliances on the mountain. Who is loyal to whom? How do these loyalties change throughout the novel?
10. According to the spirit Emmaline, everyone has his or her own story to tell. What do you make of the ending to Armetta’s story? Was Arleen’s story truly finished? Mary Beth Clark’s?
11. How does Will’s character act as a bridge, a connection, between the women in the novel? Compare and contrast his relationships with Faith, Shelly, Ada, and Nada.
12. Shelly’s exposure to the poetry of Langston Hughes opened up a new world for her and contributes to her evolution throughout the novel. Which novel, short story, or poem has most significantly influenced your own life? How?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Have you ever had a paranormal encounter? Share your own personal ghost stories with your fellow book club members.
2. Ann Hite’s first novel, Ghost on Black Mountain, introduces readers to the inhabitants of Black Mountain, focusing on the relationship between Nellie and Hobbs Pritchard. Read Ghost on Black Mountain for a future book club meeting; discuss the similarities and differences between the two novels set on Black Mountain.
3. Visit www.realhaunts.com to find a local haunted house in your hometown. Plan a visit with your book club for your next meeting and come up with your own ghost story.
AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH BY JERRY HITE
ANN HITE’s debut novel, Ghost on Black Mountain, was a finalist for Georgia’s prestigious Townsend Prize and won Best First Novel at the Georgia Author of the Year Awards. Her short stories, personal essays, and book reviews have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies. She lives near Atlanta.
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Gallery Books
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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 © 2013 by Ann Hite
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.
First Gallery Books trade paperback edition September 2013
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Designed by Davina Mock-Maniscalco
Map by Jerry Clifford Hite
Cover design by Laywan Kwan
Background photograph by Adam Jones/Getty Images
Photograph of girl © Galit Seligmann/Alamy
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hite, Ann.
The storycatcher / Ann Hite.—First Gallery Books trade paperback edition.
pages cm
1. Young women—Georgia—Fiction. 2. Family secrets—Fiction. 3. Ghost stories. 4. Mystery fiction. I. Title.
PS3608.I845S76 2013
813’.6—dc23
2012050508
ISBN 978-1-4516-9227-3
ISBN 978-1-4516-9231-0 (ebook)
Contents
Prologue: Dayclean
Ada Lee Tine
Part One: Hailstorm
Chapter 1: Shelly Parker
Chapter 2: Maude Tuggle
Chapter 3: Armetta Lolly
Chapter 4: Faith Dobbins
Chapter 5: Ada Lee Tine
Part Two: The Bottle Tree
Chapter 6: Shelly Parker
Chapter 7: Faith Dobbins
Part Three: Tangled Truths
Chapter 8: Faith Dobbins
Chapter 9: Arleen Brown
Chapter 10: Shelly Parker
Chapter 11: Maude Tuggle
Chapter 12: Arleen Brown
Chapter 13: Armetta Lolly
Part Four: Heat Lightning
Chapter 14: Maude Tuggle
Chapter 15: Arleen Brown
Chapter 16: Shelly Parker
Part Five: Fiery Sign
Chapter 17: Faith Dobbins
Part Six: Finders Keepers
Chapter 18: Ada Lee Tine
Chapter 19: Shelly Parker
Chapter 20: Armetta
Chapter 21: Maude Tuggle
Chapter 22: Ada Lee Tine
Chapter 23: Arleen Brown
Part Seven: Death Quilt
Chapter 24: Shelly Parker
Chapter 25: Arleen Brown
Chapter 26: Armetta Lolly
Chapter 27: Maude Tuggle
Chapter 28: Ada Lee Tine
Part Eight: Memory Box
Chapter 29: Shelly Parker
Part Nine: The Grim Reaper
Chapter 30: Shelly Parker
Chapter 31: Maude Tuggle
Chapter 32: Arleen Brown
Chapter 33: Ada Lee Tine
Chapter 34: Shelly Parker
Chapter 35: Armetta Lolly
Part Ten: Ebb Tide
Chapter 36: Shelly Parker
&
nbsp; Chapter 37: Maude Tuggle
Chapter 38: Arleen Brown
Chapter 39: Armetta Lolly
Chapter 40: Ada Lee Tine
Chapter 41: Shelly Parker
Epilogue: Sap Moon
Shelly Parker
Acknowledgments
Readers Group Guide
Introduction
Book Club Discussion Questions
Enhance Your Book Club
About Ann Hite