The lyrical prose, deep emotion, and excellent craftsmanship of novels by Anne Rivers Siddons and Pat Conroy amaze me. These writers somehow know how to take the deeper places of hurt and transform them into poetry. I don’t believe there is anything they’ve published that I haven’t read. That Deborah Smith has compared my work to theirs leaves me speechless.

Beyond that, I’m now deep into writing my second novel and am saving for another time lots of wonderful work by writers I greatly admire.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Seeing Nick again produces a strong reaction in Amy—a heightened awareness of her physical surroundings, a rush of memories, conflicting feelings of attraction and wariness. Why do you think her response is so immediate and intense? Have you ever encountered someone from your past and responded similarly?

2. Meeting each other again reminds both Amy and Nick of the young people of passion and promise that they were long ago, and makes them aware of the compromises and accommodations they’ve made in their marriages and in their lives. Discuss how each character is different now from what s/he was in college, and list some of the dreams they’ve given up or modified. Is “giving up” a natural and inevitable part of life? What dreams have you abandoned? What accommodations have you made?

3. What role do you think desire plays in bringing Nick and Amy together again? Both of them feel abandoned—how much does that unresolved abandonment play into the desire they now feel for each other? Have you ever been abandoned, rejected, or betrayed by someone, and yet continue to feel strongly drawn to him or her?

4. The rebirth of desire comes to Amy as her children are growing up and beginning to leave home. Does that have any influence on her new relationship with Nick? Is Amy more vulnerable at this time of life, or could their affair have happened at any time?

5. As the novel progresses, Amy comes to believe that the universe is bringing her and Nick together—through their children, their mutual interest in Oystertip Island, and all the circumstances of their lives. Is this just a way for Amy to excuse her behavior with Nick? Or do you agree that some larger force is at work to unite them, and if so, why?

6. What does it mean when Amy says she has “lost the moon,” and how does she find it again?

7. Discuss the roles of Eliza and Phil in the novel. Do you like them and sympathize with them? Do you feel you know them by the end? How do they change during the novel and what new understanding do they gain?

8. Do you like the way the book ends? Did Amy make the right choice? How do you see Amy’s and Nick’s futures unfolding?