Deborah Raney
July 24, 2018
Book Club Discussion Guide
SPOILER ALERT: These discussion questions contain spoilers that may give away elements of the plot.
In Reason to Breathe, the Chander sisters have become even closer to one another because of the recent death of their mother from cancer. Why do you think adversity often brings siblings—and perhaps especially sisters—closer together? Does it always work that way? If adversity brings division, what might be the reason? What has your personal experience been?
The three Chandler sisters choose to buy property together with their shared inheritance from their mother. In essence, because of the Airbnb possibility, they choose to go into business together. Do you believe this was a good idea? Why or why not? What pitfalls might they face, especially as the years go by?
The sisters are stunned to learn that their father, Turner Chandler, plans to remarry only two months after their mother’s death. How much input do you think adult children should have in such a decision for widowed parents? Were the sisters justified in their concerns over their father having a new relationship so quickly?
Some might say that Turner Chandler did most of his grieving during the three years that his wife was dying from cancer. Do you think that’s a valid conclusion? Is it possible to grieve someone before they actually pass away? What is a reasonable time frame for a person to “move on” to a new chapter of life after the death of a spouse?
Phylicia, the oldest sister, has been attracted to her father’s colleague as a young woman, but now that he seems interested in her, she is shunning his attention, and worried about their twelve-year age gap. What do you think about age gaps larger than ten years between couples? Does is make a difference when both parties are older?
Given their ages (Phylicia 29 and Quinn 42), what are some of the age-related issues they might face when their friendship turns romantic? How might their age difference affect their relationship when they are older, say 49 and 62? Or 59 and 72?
To their shock, the three sisters learn that their mother had been married (and divorced) before she married their father. They feel betrayed to learn this news after their mother’s death. But Quinn asks Phylicia, “Do you really think parents owe their children all the details of their lives before said children were even born?” What do you think? Why or why not?
Phylicia also discovers evidence that Turner Chandler may not actually be her biological father, even though he has assumed the role of father to her even before her birth. Do you think her response to this news is justified? How would you respond to such news? Would it change the way you viewed the man who’d raised you as his own?
Phylicia’s mother, Myra, either wasn’t sure about who had fathered Phylicia, or she chose not to reveal the truth, even to her husband. But Turner suspected the truth and never confronted his wife or discussed it with Phylicia. Why might each of them have made the choices they did about telling the truth? Is refraining from revealing a truth as serious as out-and-out lying about something?
For a time, Phylicia feels that her whole life has been a lie. How can she forgive her mother for keeping this secret when Myra is no longer there to discuss it with her? If the secret is true, does it change the happy childhood Phylicia thought she had? Does it negate the happy marriage Turner and Myra shared?
The secret of Phylicia’s paternity isn’t the only secret in the novel. Quinn is holding a secret about his relationship with Heather. How do you decide how soon to reveal secrets with the person you’re falling in love with? Is there a danger in revealing a secret too soon? Is there a danger of waiting too long? Is it possible to have a solid relationship with someone when there is a significant, profound secret that one person is keeping from the other?
By the end of the novel, Phylicia has decided not to pursue testing to find out for sure which man is her father. Given her circumstances and reasons, do you think you would make the same choice in her shoes? Or would you feel compelled to find out the truth? If so, why? And how would knowing the truth change your attitude or your circumstances? How might knowing the truth change Phylicia’s relationship with the man she has always called “Dad”?
Do you have a sister or sisters? If so, what is your relationship with each other? If you have more than one sister, are you closer to one than the others? What factors do you think affect that dynamic? How has your relationship to your sisters (or siblings) changed from when you were children? Do you expect the relationship you now have as adults to change again as the years go by? How might it change? What might cause those changes?
CHASING DREAMS
A Chandler Sisters Novel
Book Two
Deborah Raney
Chapter 1
Monday, May 1
Oh, brother …” Joanna Chandler rolled her eyes and unlooped the May basket from the front door of the cottage. No doubt Quinn Mitchell’s doing. The man had it bad for her sister. And if not for the fact that Phylicia was so deliriously happy these days, the two lovebirds would be getting on Jo’s last nerve. This romance had been in high gear for a week now, ever since the night Phee and Quinn had stayed up till the wee hours “defining the relationship.” Though Phee denied it, Quinn claimed she’d proposed to him that night.
Jo unlocked the door, propped the May basket on the mantel where her sister would see it, and deposited a bag of groceries on the kitchen counter. “Britt? You home?” Her younger sister’s car was parked on the lane out front, but there was no sign of life inside.
She went down the short hallway and peeked into Britt’s room. Melvin, the spoiled tuxedo cat they’d inherited from their mom, looked up from his spot on the bed and yawned. But all was quiet in the house. Did she dare to hope Britt was at a job interview?
Jo went back to her car and carried in two more loads of groceries from the trunk. With any luck, one of her sisters would be home in time to help put groceries away. Graduation at the local university was less than two weeks away, and not only was the cottage booked for a four-day weekend, but they’d promised breakfast for eight all four days.
This would be their first official Airbnb rental, and it would take all three of them working overtime to get the place ready for guests. At least they could stay in one of the cabins across the lane this time instead of camping out in the woods like they’d done after a semi-disastrous accidental booking that had led to Phylicia’s unofficial engagement.
Jo was begrudgingly grateful that Britt hadn’t yet found a job. The bulk of the hostess duties would fall to the youngest Chandler sister, since Phee would be working overtime at the flower shop, thanks to the perfect storm that May Day, Mother’s Day, and graduations created for the floral industry. Jo herself would be lucky to get the weekend off since her boss and his wife had just returned from a ten-day whirlwind tour of Europe, and now the law office was scrambling to get caught up.
Jo glanced at Quinn’s primitive bouquet on the mantel and smiled. It looked like something a kindergartner had fashioned. He’d fastened picture wire to a tin can with a pretty label and filled it with wildflowers. Jo recognized tickseed, purple prairie clover, and what looked like chicory—all flowers that grew wild along Poplar Brook Road.
The back door slammed and Britt blew in, singing something from Beauty and the Beast at the top of her lungs.
“Where have you been?” Joanna went through the dining area to the small kitchen.
The singing stopped abruptly. “I didn’t know you were home.” Britt stood at the sink scrubbing her hands, her cheeks rosy, honey-brown hair plastered to her forehead with sweat.
“Where did you think all these groceries came from?” Jo pointed to the grocery bags stacked on the table.
Her sister shrugged. “I didn’t notice them. I was working in the garden.”
“Um … We have a garden?”
Britt shot her a smug grin. “We do now. The start of one at least.”
“What did you plant?”
“Flowers. The flat sales were on in Cape, so I figured I’d take advantage. Petunias and coleus and begonias. Oh, and a couple of tomato plants. But mostly begonias. It’s too shady back there for anything else.” Drying her hands, she tossed her head toward the wooded back yard.
“Good for you.” Jo bit her tongue, wondering how much that trip to the nursery had set them back. She and her sisters had bought the property with its three cottages free and clear, thanks to the inheritance their mother had left them. But the fund they’d each contributed to for renovating the other two cabins was dwindling at an alarming rate.
And Britt still hadn’t found a job. Not that she’d looked that hard.
“There’s another load of groceries to carry in.”
“I’ll get them.” Britt started through the living room then stopped at the fireplace. “A May basket? Where did that come from?”
“Unless you have a boyfriend I don’t know about, I’m guessing they’re from Quinn.”
“Aww. How adorable.”
“Yeah, well, I have a sneaking suspicion that bouquet came straight off our property.”
“Oh, so what. I think it’s sweet.” Britt touched a hand to her cheek.
“Phee will think so.” Jo rolled her eyes, but she laughed. She couldn’t wait to give her future brother-in-law a hard time about gathering his bouquet from the Chandler Sisters property. Still, she had to give the man credit: he knew exactly how to steal her flower-loving sister’s heart.
Jo’s smile faded as a twinge of jealousy pricked. She was truly happy for Phylicia. Her older sister would turn thirty in a few weeks, and Jo was glad Phee had found love before that ominous over-thirty stigma descended on her. But now all eyes would be on Joanna, waiting to see if the second Chandler sister would find her man before she was over the hill. Stupid small-town gossip.
About the Author
DEBORAH RANEY dreamed of writing a book since the summer she read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books and discovered that a Kansas farm girl could, indeed, grow up to be a writer. Her more than 35 books have garnered multiple industry awards including the RITA Award, HOLT Medallion, National Readers’ Choice Award, Carol Award, Silver Angel from Excellence in Media, and have three times been Christy Award finalists.
Her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, shed light on the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease. The novel inspired the highly acclaimed World Wide Pictures film of the same title and continues to be a tool for Alzheimer’s families and caregivers. Deborah is on faculty for several national writers’ conferences and serves on the advisory board of the 2700-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization.
She and her husband, Ken Raney, traded small-town life in Kansas ––the setting of many of Deb’s novels––for life in the city of Wichita. They have four children and a growing brood of precious grandchildren who all live much too far away.
Website: deborahraney.com
Facebook Group: Deborah Raney Readers Page
Instagram: @deborahraney
Twitter: @AuthorDebRaney
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