Silver Moon
Page 38
I took some fictional liberties with Luis’s role as a spy. Canada wasn’t involved with espionage during WWI. The Secret X Canadian training area existed but wasn’t operational until the second world war. Luis’s story evolved as I imagined how his spy network operated to the best of my knowledge.
For Oshki and Jimmy’s portions, I stayed as true as I could to descriptions of life in the trenches and battles Canada was a part of. If you find a flaw, please excuse my error. I don’t claim to be a historian, but I do relish learning about the past. To add some legitimate terminology to trench life, this site came in handy: www.m.warhistoryonline.com.
The explosion in Halifax is factual and can be read about in The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism by John U. Bacon. The words Michael reads out of the paper are the actual words printed in a real newspaper with the same name as in the story.
Victoria General was a real hospital in Halifax that dealt with wounded men coming from oversees and the wounded from the Halifax explosion. I patterned Rose and Mabel’s roles as closely as I could to the time period.
Painting a picture of life on the Canadian home front became an important part of Silver Moon as well. I dug for ways women at home could fight in their own way and assist in the cause their men were fighting for overseas. During wartime, history shows it became common for ladies to start clubs, pick up the holes in the work environment left by fighting men, and, in general, find ways in which their effort to conserve and lend a hand might be felt. Some of the ideas I highlight in the Webaashi Bay Women’s Club I imagined as ways the women might have done so.
The tales Oshki tells in his letters home to Mauve and Pearl are based on real tales and legends of the Ojibwe. I have retold them in my own words. Towards the end, Oshki recalls a tale Maang-ikwe told him as a child. The story is fiction and formed by me to help tie in the different color moons my book themes are based upon.
I crafted Silver Moon as a multi-layered tale filled with numerous characters whose stories begged to be told. The story challenged me as I researched, but the characters wrote themselves—their personalities, relationships, struggles, and resolve formed on the page. I became excited to see where the story led and how it would end. I don’t have it all figured out when writing. Rarely, in fact. I start with a traumatic event, factor in a rough outline of story, progress as I write, and have an end goal in mind. With Silver Moon, however, the ending surprised me, perhaps as much as it did you.
Discussion Questions
What surprised you the most in Silver Moon? Who is your favorite character? How do you identify with this character?
What do you think of Luis’s choices as a spy and as a believer of The Gospel? What are your personal beliefs when it comes to war and the mandate to kill?
How does Luis reconcile his choice in becoming a spy? How does he regret it?
If you were in Rose’s shoes in that time period with a beau away at war, would you be pinning white feathers on men’s coats to get them to sign up?
Is Luis too hard on Rose when he finds out she was the woman who handed him a white feather? How does Rose handle her guilt?
How does Rose grow as a person with her contact with Delano and Alma, Henry’s parents?
Describe Rose and Mabel’s relationship. Why do you think they fit together as friends?
Did the ending of Luis and Rose’s romance surprise you?
Lily and Jimmy exchange letters during the war. Do you think people really can fall in love by corresponding?
Did you think it realistic or too good to be true that Jimmy survived? What gave him hope?
Lily fights the war in her own way on the home front. How does she do this?
What fuels Jeremiah Taylor’s aggression towards Natalie Hermann? How do they overcome their differences?
How does Oshki deal with the separation from his family? How does he justify his job as a soldier? What element in his journal entries about trench life resonated with you the most?
What do Vanessa and Jenay hold to in hoping for their sons to return home to them? How do Jacque and Michael deal with their sons being soldiers?
Out of the three men, Luis, Jimmy, and Oshki, who deals with their war scars the best? Who has the most difficult time?
What part of life at home in Webaashi Bay during the war interested you the most? Do you think Lily’s organization of the women’s club was helpful?
If you could change one character’s actions or decisions, whom would it be?
Jenny lives in Wisconsin with her husband, Ken, and their pet Yorkie, Ruby. She is also a mom and loves being a grandma. She enjoys many creative pursuits but finds writing the most fulfilling.
Jenny’s education background stems from psychology, music, and cultural missions. She spent many years as a librarian in a local public library but recently switched to using her skills as a floral designer in a retail flower shop. She is now retired from work due to disability.
She is the author and performer of a self-published musical CD entitled Scrapbook of a Closet Poet.
She is a member of the: Midwest Independent Booksellers Association, Historic Novel Society, Christian Indie Publishing Association, Independent Book Publishers Association, and Wisconsin Writers Association. Libraries and retailers may find Jenny’s books on Ingram. Buy retail on Amazon or request at an independent bookstore near you. Jenny’s eBooks are available through a wide variety of retailers on Jenny’s landing page at: https://books2read.com/rubymoonjennyknipfer
Jenny’s favorite place to relax is by the western shore of Lake Superior, where her novel series, By The Light of the Moon, is set. Silver Moon is Jenny’s third book.
For more about Jenny, her books, speaking events, and to read her blog, visit http://jennyknipfer.com/
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JENNY BY THE SHORES OF LAKE SUPERIOR
COMING! FALL/WINTER 2020
Harvest Moon, fourth in the series
What kind of harvest will pain reap in Maang-ikwe’s life? Her story is birthed by hope but woven by circumstance. Will she let her experience carve deep wounds in her, or will she choose to walk a different path?