Book Clubs

I am available for visits with book clubs, whether in person (dependent on distance and weather) or by Zoom or some other video platform. Here are a few questions that have come up in conversations about my three novels that might provide initial guides for discussion. 

Riddle of Spirit and Bone (Regal House 2025)

1. The historical period of this dual timeline novel takes place at a time when spiritualism became popular. How much do you trust the testimony of others regarding communication with spirits?

2. Does the solace provided by spiritualism justify the fact that sometimes it is fraudulent?

3. Why do you think that Lydia is so much more trusting of Mr. Davis than Jane is?

4.  The investigators who discover the identity of the skeleton develop a sense of responsibility to her, even so many years after her death. What do you think grounds this feeling?

5. Two of the characters, Jane and Jed, are artists. Do you think that observation and drawing play an important role in this narrative? 

6. Spiritualism and the nineteenth century women's rights movement were interestingly connected. What do you think accounts for this?


Little Follies: A Mystery at the Millennium (BlackRoseWriting, 2023)

1. This story involves the commitment of several crimes, misdemeanors, or violations of protocol. Are any of them justified? Even if not, are they understandable?

2. Do you remember the worries that surrounded the turn of the millennium, especially the problem of Y2K? How does that moment of time figure in this story?

3. Joan and Adam travel together in hopes that their new romance will bloom in Krakow. How well-matched do they seem?

4. The story is set in Krakow, Poland. Have you been there? How do you think the description of the city figures in the narrative?


Charlotte's Story (TouchPoint Press, 2021; reissued independently in 2024)

1. This story imagines the live of Charlotte Lucas from Pride and Prejudice after she marries the Rev. William Collins. Do you find her personality in this first-person narrative consistent with her character in Austen's novel?

2. Several other characters from Pride and Prejudice appear in Charlotte's Story. What do you think of the story lines that I have given them? (This has been a point of some controversy among readers, and I am very interested to hear critical views.)

3. Charlotte faces several problems in her marriage, one of which threatens her well-being. What do you think of the ruse she devises to achieve happiness--not only for herself, but for her friends and family as well?

4. The marriage relationship in his novel is an old one, as it takes place in the early nineteenth century. How familiar today are the problems that Charlotte and William face?