1. Paul and Vern are migrant workers during the Depression and do what it takes to survive. Can you relate to their struggle? What words would you use to describe these two men and their enduring friendship?
2. How would you describe Marigold’s gifts, and what was the source of her power? How would you react if you met someone like her?
3. Why is E. P. such a successful conman? What is he selling that people are buying? What are the people in his crowds desperate to hear?
4. This novel is full of kind and generous moments. Did any particular scene touch you more than others? Did you see yourself or someone you know in any of the characters?
5. What are the lessons that the adults teach the young in this novel? What sort of wisdom do the elders impart? And what, if anything, do the young teach the old?
6. E. P. Willard is driven by greed as well as jealousy. How else would you describe this man, and what is the irony of his rivalry with J. Wilbur Chaplain?
7. Discuss how this novel explores what it means to choose a family. Must people be related by blood to feel responsible for one another? How do people rise up amid hard circumstances to take care of their loved ones?
8. Why do you think Marigold finds a home at Cowikee’s? How does Coot wind up in Alabama?
9. For much of the novel, people proclaim that either “revival is coming” or “the end is near.” Do you think these sentiments were specific to the time and place, or have people always believed the world to be on the brink of destruction? Why or why not?
10. What is the significance of this novel’s title—Stars of Alabama? Did you notice any references to the title while reading?

Acknowledgments

This book never could have happened without my wife, Jamie, and my editor. Thank you.

About the Author

Photo by Sean Murphy

Sean Dietrich is a columnist, podcaster, speaker, and novelist, known for his commentary on life in the American South. His work has appeared in Southern Living, the Tallahassee Democrat, Good Grit, South Magazine, Yellowhammer News, the Bitter Southerner, Thom Magazine, and the Mobile Press-Register, and he has authored ten books.

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Visit Sean online at seandietrich.com

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