Violet has spent two years in prison and yet she retains a sense of innocence: “I move along with the other people . . . memorizing my route so I can get back, what if I can’t find my way
back?” Why is she not more street-hardened by her experience?
Early on, Harriet observes: “Once Sophie left for good, this—this dusty quiet— would once again become the sound of evening.” Does this imminent “quiet” affect Harriet’s desire to help
Violet? Might she have acted differently had Sophie decided to stay?
Of his current job, Frank observes: “His demotion to handyman felt like cool air whooshing through his body.” After a career as a professional machinist, why is this minor bookstore job such
a joy?
The novel features many instances of generational miscommunication, as when Baker warns Frank off ordering flowers, or when Sophie unapologetically googles Harriet’s students. Sometimes the
generation gap is comical, sometimes poignant, sometimes all too recognizable. In what ways did the multigenerational cast of characters affect you as a reader?
Did you notice all the parent/child relationships in this novel? Violet and her mother; Harriet and her daughters; Frank and his daughter; the incarcerated women and their children. How do
these relationships help us understand the characters? Do they have anything in common as parents?
Thinking of Misha, Violet observes: “My theory is that all humans secretly long for the mother they always wanted. This longing turns half of us into resentful babies who didn’t get properly
mothered, and the second half into surrogate mothers for the first half.” Is Violet projecting here, or is this a truth you recognized as true as soon as you read it? Were there other
observations that struck you in that same way?
Seeing Violet for the first time, Frank “plummeted into the ditch of memory.” How did this happen so fast? What does this incident in the bookstore show us about how memories work, especially
those we try to suppress?