Maine Reading Questions

Families are an odd thing.  They help us grow, they guide us, they are the keepers of our histories, and they are who we share our joys and sorrows with.  Maine is the kind of book that helps you look at four sides of what it can be like to be a member of a family.  I personally come from a family that in some ways reminds me a good bit of the Kelleher family.  We spend time together when we can and there is usually a great deal of food and laughter.  Some of that I think is a big part of the fact that we all originate from the South, and the other part is that I think that was something fostered in us by our elders.  Having said that, there is not nearly as much drama with my family like there is with the Kelleher's.  This book was the September reading for the student organization I sponsor.  It wasn't my favorite book, but I did keep reading it mainly because I wanted to know what was going to happen with each character.  Not the most satisfying finish, but it is one of those that kinda makes you fill the void with your own ideas. 

Magpie
 

If you had to choose one word to describe the overriding theme of Maine, what would it be?

Which of the women in the novel would you say is a good mother, and why? Who resents motherhood the most?

Discuss how each of the four main characters—Alice, Kathleen, Maggie, and Ann Marie—approaches religion. Who seems to have the most comfortable relationship with God?

What was Alice’s motivation for changing her will? Why did she wait so long to tell her family?

Speaking of secrets, many of the characters in the novel keep substantial secrets for one reason or another. Whose is the most damaging?

What role does alcohol—and alcoholism—play in the novel? How do the characters use alcohol (or abstain from it)?

What does Ann Marie’s obsession with dollhouses tell us about her character?

Why did Daniel’s death have such an impact on the family?

What did you think of the revelation about Mary’s death? Was Alice right to blame herself?

How did Ann Marie misread Steve so completely? And why does Kathleen’s witnessing the event change her attitude towards Ann Marie? Why do you think Kathleen reacted the way she did?

What kind of mother do you think Maggie will be? Who will she take after most: Alice, Kathleen, or Ann Marie?

Discuss the last lines of the book: “She prayed until she heard footsteps behind her, coming slowly down the aisle, a familiar voice softly calling out her name: ‘Alice? Alice. It’s time.’” Is this Father Donnelly, Daniel, or someone else?

Which of these women would you like to spend more time with? Are there any you’d never want to see again?

“Even after thirty-three years of marriage, Ann Marie sat at every family dinner and listened to them tell the same stories, over and over. She has never met a family so tied up in their own mythology.” (page 140) What is the mythology of the Kelleher family? Who is helped the most by it? And harmed the most?