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;X-APPLE-RADIUS=10;X-TITLE=South Branch:geo:42.5595112, -82.8979581 GEO:42.5595112;-82.8979581 DESCRIPTION:Join us virtually via Zoom to discuss The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels. Please include your email address when registering so that w e can email you the Zoom link prior to the book discussion..\nhttps://cmpl .libnet.info/event/3926839 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:&ldquo\;The Words Between Us is a story to
savor and share: a lyrical novel about the pow-er of language and the sea
rch for salvation. I loved every sentence\, every word&rdquo\; - Barbara C
laypole White\, bestselling author of The Perfect Son and The Promise Betw
een Us
&ldquo\;Erin Bartels has created a story that feels more like
a memory\, something I lived\, than a piece of fiction. If you are the kin
d of person who finds meaning and life in the written word\, then you'll f
ind yourself hidden among these pages.&rdquo\; - Shawn Smucker\, author of
Light from Distant Stars
&ldquo\;Vividly drawn and told in
expertly woven dual timelines. Erin Bartels's characters are a treat: comp
lex\, dynamic\, and so lifelike I half expected them to climb straight out
of the pages.&rdquo\; - Kathleen Barber\, author of Are You Sleeping
About This Book
Robin Windsor has spent most of her life un
der an assumed name\, running from her family's ignominious past. She thou
ght she'd finally found sanctuary in her rather unremarkable used bookstor
e just up the street from the marina in River City\, Michigan. But the sto
re is struggling and the past is hot on her heels. When she receives an ee
rily familiar book in the mail on the morning of her father's scheduled ex
ecution\, Robin is thrown back to the long-lost summer she met Peter Flynt
\, the perfect boy who ruined everything. That book--a first edition Catch
er in the Rye--is soon followed by the other books she shared with Peter n
early twenty years ago\, with one arriving in the mail each day. But why w
ould Peter be making contact after all these years? And why does she have
a sinking feeling that she's about to be exposed all over again? With evoc
ative prose that recalls the classic novels we love\, Erin Bartels pens a
story that shows that words--the ones we say\, the ones we read\, and the
ones we write--have more power than we imagine.
Discussion
Questions
(Spoiler alert&mdash\;these questions assume
you&rsquo\;ve already read the book)
1. Robin spends mu
ch of her life running away from any association with her parents be-cause
of their crimes\, making up a new name\, a new history\, a new identity.
But she doesn&rsquo\;t always (if ever?) truly control that identity. She
can&rsquo\;t control what others say or think about her. When have you fel
t out of control of your own narrative? What did you do to try to write yo
ur own story? How have you failed or succeeded?
2. How would
you characterize Robin? Brave? Impetuous? Naive? Strong? Does your impres
sion of her character change as she ages? How do you see her growing throu
gh her trials?
3. Robin&rsquo\;s friend Sarah clearly has a
drinking problem\, and rumors abound about her cavalier relationships with
men. Have you ever had a self-destructive friend? What did you do to help
\, or what do you wish you&rsquo\;d done? Or perhaps you have been that se
lf-destructive friend. If so\, how did your friends and family help you\,
or how did they hurt you despite their good intentions?
4. A
s Robin and Peter share books\, they grow closer to one another. What have
you shared with a friend that brought meaning to your relationship? Movie
s? Music? Secrets?
5. How did you feel when Robin left Peter
and Sussex behind? Do you think she was over-reacting? What would you hav
e done in her situation?
6. Robin spends a lot of time and e
nergy trying to avoid her problems. How do you think her life may have bee
n different if she had just faced them head-on?
7. Robin&rsq
uo\;s friend and employee Dawt Pi has a strong faith that helps her throug
h the difficulties of being away from her family in a strange new country.
How does faith play a part in your life and struggles? Is it a source of
comfort? Do you have a friend like Dawt Pi whose faith you lean on when yo
urs falters?
8. A lot of Robin&rsquo\;s problems can be trac
ed to misinterpreted words\, whether they were things she&rsquo\;d heard o
r things she&rsquo\;d read (or read into\, in the case of Mrs. Flynt&rsquo
\;s notes in the books). Have you ever been misunderstood by a loved one o
r a dear friend? How did you make it right?
9. Books are cen
tral to The Words Between Us. What books do you think most shaped you as y
ou were growing up? What are some of your favorite books right now?