2. Each of the Haywoods’ happiness draws a different creature from Yarrow—Addison and the ladybugs, Irene and the butterflies, Quinn and the dragonflies, even Maura and the honeybees. When they’re angry, cicadas come calling. Similarly, the fireflies aren’t only drawn to the gloom, but to the garden. What do you think this says about the shadow garden and how it relates to the Haywoods?

3. As a parent of an adult child, Irene wants to protect Addison but also has to come to terms with the fact that she must let Addison make her own choices, all while falling in love herself. How does she balance Addison’s needs with her own?

4. When Addison goes in search of what she took from River, the shadow garden gives it up even though it is starving. How does this speak to the garden’s role as a character in the novel? What do you think this could be a metaphor for?

5. Quinn views her immunity as an absence of magic, something that sets her apart from the rest of the Haywoods, but in the end it is that immunity that allows her to find her family’s memories in the bourbon. What role do you think this plays in her own healing from the loss of her father?

6. Kaden leaves Yarrow to escape his family, and even when he returns, he finds his place among the Haywoods, not the Bonners. When do you think it is okay to break up with family?

7. The Haywoods and the Bonners each have their own legacy. Addison finds that her magic is both and neither, something all her own. How does this speak to finding ourselves both within and outside of our families of origin?

8. Because of their history with memory magic, the entire town chooses to accept that they gave up a summer of their own free will. How might this be a metaphor for trust and the cycle of abuse?

9. Sylvia is a victim of abuse herself, but in the end, she doesn’t break the cycle of abuse for her children. Could there have been redemption for her character after what she’d done in the summer of ’97 and then to Addison? If so, what might that have looked like?

10. Kaden used to think the memory harvest wasn’t all that different from the Haywoods’ healing magic. If you could give up any memory, what would it be? Do you think that would help you heal?

Glossary

Tea-Leaf Symbols

Anchor: Success in business or love

Apple tree: Change for the better

Balloon: An impending celebration or party

Bull: Slander by an enemy

Butterfly: Irene Haywood

Cat: Difficulties caused by treachery

Clouds: Serious trouble

Comet: Misfortune and trouble; treachery

Corn: Success and prosperity; at the bottom of the cup, new beginnings. Depending on the subject of the reading, it may also be tied to bourbon, more specifically the Bonner distillery.

Dragon: Great and sudden changes

Dragonfly: Quinn Haywood

Fern: Magic