Thursday, August 1, 2013

The Honeymoon's Over Book Club

After having read Zelda Lockhart's Fifth Born, I was eager to read more from Lockhart.  Seeing she contributed to a compilation of essays edited by Andrea Chapin and Sally Wofford-Girand, The Honeymoon's Over was next on my list.  The essays, written by a range of female authors, spans the emotional spectrum of dealing with the loss or rebirth of a marriage.  

Unabashedly honest, these writers as a whole allow you to experience their pain, discovery, ignorance, etc., firsthand.  

The hub always asks what I'm reading, but, in this case, I had to share portions of the read with him especially Terry McMillan's "100 Questions to Ask Him."  He, in turn, shared what he'd read with a friend of his at work, and the love of reading blossoms and pullulates.

Martha McPhee's "To Dream" eloquently characterizes the hopes of a child:

I longed throughout my childhood . . . for my parents to fall in love all over again as if somehow that would make me whole. . . . As a small girl, I became withdrawn.  I did not care about school.  I skipped it whenever I could and stayed with my mother.  When in school, I was distracted, worrying about the chaos at home.   (337)

A child of divorced parents, I could relate with every one of her words.

For the purposes of book club, assign an essay or two to each member of your club.  Have her choose a food item which represents the essay(s) in question.  For example, if assigned Lockhart's "Tracking Love," whole walnuts would be an ideal choice to represent this essay.  

Before the conclusion of book club, skim through the biographies of the contributors in the back of the book, and then choose next month's selection (and the months to follow) from there.

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