Season of Salt and Honey (33 page)

Friendships cannot be underrated in this odd, lonely, wonderful job. I want to acknowledge all those friends (including readers who have become friends) that answer my strange questions and buy, gift, celebrate, and promote my work. Special thanks to dear friends who served as first readers—Lucie Geappen and Elizabeth O'Brien.

To my family—my parents, Glen and Rob Tunnicliffe; my siblings, Kendall Stewart and Greg Tunnicliffe; all my in-laws, the wonderful Ballestys, Stewarts, and Wattses, who continue to raise and nurture both me and my work—I love and thank you very much. Thanks also to Moana Salmon (a part of our family too) who makes life both easier and more fun.

To my husband, Matthew Ballesty, and our girls, Wren and
Noa, you are simply the loveliest, most radiant trio of beings in the entire universe. It's impossible to explain, or express ample gratitude for, the love, kindness, encouragement, pride, and joy you give me.
Arohanui.

Finally, this book is dedicated to a precious and significant friend—Sian James. The experience of knowing you inspired and moved me and changed my life forever. Thank you.

   TOUCHSTONE READING GROUP GUIDE

Devastated when her fiancé, Alex Gardner, suddenly dies in a surfing accident, Francesca “Frankie” Caputo abandons her steady job, her comfortable Seattle apartment, and her huge Italian family to retreat to Alex's family's secluded cabin. Surrounded by the Cascade Mountains and a forest brimming with treasures waiting to be found, Frankie attempts to grieve and heal herself from the devastation of losing the love of her life—but it isn't long before the outside world comes to find her. Jack, the Gardner family caretaker, is sent to oust Frankie when the family claims she is trespassing on their land; Bella, Frankie's estranged sister, arrives seeking sanctuary and solace from her own problems; and Frankie's father, aunties, and cousins come bearing gifts, concerns, and baskets of delicious, soul-nurturing Italian food. As Frankie attempts to move forward with her life and form relationships with her new neighbors and friends, she learns secrets about both her family and her former fiancé that make her question everything she thinks she knows about love, loss, and forgiveness.

• • • •

1. When faced with difficult situations, both Frankie and Bella resort to running away from their problems. Why do the sisters rely on escape as a solution to their issues? In what ways does running away help Frankie and Bella, and in what ways does it hurt them? Have you ever found it beneficial to run from the things that are troubling you?

2. 
“Perhaps Italians know that hunger feels too much like sadness.”
Describe the role that food plays in Frankie's grieving and healing processes. How is hunger similar to sadness and grieving? Why is everyone in Frankie's life, from her aunties to Merriem, so intent on feeding her? What was your favorite passage about food in the novel, and how did the addition of recipes at the end of the chapters enhance your understanding of the role of food in Frankie's journey?

3. The forest is a mystical place in the novel, home to Merriem's lush vegetable gardens and hidden treasures that Huia finds on her foraging expeditions. Why is the forest the perfect setting for Frankie's escape? What does it offer her that the
city cannot? How does the forest change Frankie's identity over the course of the novel?

4. 
“The thought made me shiver a little: how limited the control we have over the things that matter is. My generation expects the world to yield to our command, to do as we bid it. How naive we are.”
Explain what Frankie means when she makes this statement. How does Alex's death impact her view of the world, and her role in it? What does Frankie's realization about her lack of control mean for her life going forward, and how does her awareness of this fact change her?

5. What does being Italian mean to Frankie and how does it define her identity? How does Alex's refusal to travel to Italy on their honeymoon impact her? How did the inclusion of Italian words and phrases affect your reading of the novel and your understanding of Frankie and her upbringing?

6. Compare and contrast the Gardner family and the Caputo family. How are Frankie and Alex able to make their relationship work despite the differences between their families? Do you think the Gardner family would have changed their opinions of Frankie when she was officially a member of their family?

7. Throughout the novel, Frankie recalls scenes from her relationship with Alex as if she were watching a romantic comedy where everyone ends up living happily ever
after. In grieving, however, she comes to realize a number of truths about their relationship that she was previously blind to. How did your feelings toward Alex shift throughout the novel? Do you think he loved Frankie, or was
in love
with her? How does their love change as they evolve from high school sweethearts to an engaged couple leading busy lives? Do you think it is inevitable for love to change over time?

8. Since they were little girls, Frankie and Bella have been categorized and put into boxes by their family members: the good girl versus the bad girl. How do the sisters each play into the expectations of their family? How does being cast into a certain role impact their decision-making and their relationships with each other? Would things have been different if Frankie had been deemed the bad girl by her family?

9. Both Frankie and Huia have grown up without a mother. Describe what we know about each of their mothers, and how each character remembers her mother. Who do Frankie and Huia each look to as mother figures, and why? How do Giuseppe and Jack both attempt to provide their daughters with mother figures?

10. Why are the Gardners so adamant that Frankie leave their cabin? Why don't they respect her grieving process or feel that she is close enough to family to allow her to stay? Did your feelings toward Mrs. Gardner change when you
learned about the secret of her marriage and the true reasons she has for disliking Frankie?

11. Do you think Frankie is right to hold a grudge against Bella for what she thinks she saw at a party? What prevents Frankie from confronting Bella, and how might their relationship have been different if she had confronted her sooner? How did you react when you discovered that Bella had been falsely accused?

12. Forgiveness is a major theme of the novel. How and why does Frankie come to forgive Bella, Summer, and even Alex? Do you think she is right to forgive each of them? Share stories with your book club about circumstances when you have forgiven someone.

13. On grieving his wife, Giuseppe tells Frankie,
“Life becomes better. Things become better. But it remains. It always remains. I never had this closure.”
By the end of the novel, do you think Frankie has attained any degree of closure about Alex's death? Do you think that it is necessary to find a sense of closure after a loss, or do you agree with Giuseppe that it is not possible?

14. How did you feel about where Frankie ends up at the end of the novel, both physically and emotionally? Were you surprised by her decision? Where do you imagine she will be in five years?

• • • •

Your previous novel,
The Color of Tea
, was set in Macau. What made you decide to move across the ocean to set
Season of Salt and Honey
in the Pacific Northwest? Were you surprised by any similarities you found in writing about these two locations?

To put it simply—
I
moved across the ocean! I lived in Macau for three years, where I wrote
The Color of Tea
, and then relocated to the Pacific Northwest and was immediately awed by the marked contrasts between the two environments. The beauty and impact of the ocean, the majestic ancient forests, the ever-present tones of green and gray and blue. The two settings of my novels—Macau and Washington State—are very different, but what struck me as I wrote this story was how similar people are, no matter where they are. Love and family are the most meaningful elements of our lives; food is used to soothe and celebrate, and grief sears, no matter where we go to escape it.

Did any person or situation provide inspiration for Frankie's story?

I was very curious about the account of Julia Butterfly Hill, an activist who lived in a California Redwood tree for 738 days in
order to save it from felling. Butterfly Hill's documentation of sacrificing years of her youth to live in a tree led me to explore the idea of a similarly young woman escaping to the forest for protection, privacy, purpose, and comfort. Various Pacific Northwest writers and poets such as artist Emily Carr, who describes the forests in this region so poignantly, and the environmental activists who diligently strive to preserve them also provided rich inspiration for the writing that became
Season of Salt and Honey
.

Frankie and Alex's love story is obviously the focus of the novel, but I loved Frankie and Bella's sister story. Did you always envision the sister story as being so central to the narrative, or did that emerge through the writing process?

I always envisioned a central sister story for Frankie, but the dynamics of the relationship and its significance evolved over the course of the writing. I really enjoy writing about female relationships, and sisters are no exception. Sister relationships can be so complicated and yet, at the core, so simple. It seems to me that a sister relationship is not the same as a friendship, differs from a parental relationship, and is dissimilar from a competitor or foe; yet it contains the elements of all of those kinds of relationships in varying and unequal measures. This makes sister relationships very satisfying to write about.

Which character in the story do you empathize with the most? Which would you most like to have a cup of tea with? Merriem in particular was such a vibrant character—she really came to life on the pages!

That's a great question—can I have a tea party with all of them, plus a steaming hot loaf of Merriem's dandelion bread? I probably empathize most with Frankie, whom I got to know best, but sympathize with both Bella and Summer, adore Papa, Merriem, and Huia, am charmed by the aunties, and have a crush on Jack. I would love the opportunity to return to Washington State and Edison in particular, to explore the region and its food, including the small bakery that inspired the one in the book named Breadfarm. I'd constantly be on the lookout for the characters from the story and wishing for that tea and bread with butter and honeycomb.

It would be great to have Sunday dinner with the Caputo family! What are gatherings with your family like? Are there special foods you always have on the table when you're together?

My family gatherings were all-or-nothing affairs—simply meat and three vegetables or soup or huge feasts with friends, family, flowers, and themed table settings. My mother steers away from repetition, so every big gathering, even Christmas lunch, is different. I am from New Zealand, where Christmas is in our summer, which makes some of the more wintry traditions a bit misplaced. One year for Christmas lunch we hung pink and yellow streamers and paper lanterns and ate at a long table outside, finishing the meal with the pièce de résistance: a beautiful spherical mascarpone and berry frozen dessert my mother had spent a long time making. Unfortunately, it was so frozen solid we couldn't slice it no matter the various ways we tried! So we left a huge knife
in it, laughed till we cried, and waited until it melted a couple of hours later. I admire my mother's enthusiasm for gatherings, bravery in trying new recipes, and good humor when they don't go according to plan. No party with my family is ever the same, but the compulsory elements are: teasing each other, pretty paper napkins (a weird family obsession), everyone helping, laughter, and wine.

Your descriptions of food are positively mouthwatering. What research did you do to learn about Italian food and cooking? Did you have help developing the recipes, or did you come up with them on your own?

As soon as I decided on Frankie's ethnicity, I began my research into southern Italian food and cooking. For me, food is a crucial aspect in understanding a culture; it can explain so much about geography, influences, wealth, values, and relationships. Personally cooking, testing, and adapting the recipes taught me a lot about Sicilian culture that I would not have appreciated otherwise. The recipes in the book are a mixture of those I created from scratch and traditional recipes I minimally adapted. The traditional recipes (e.g.
nzuddi
, mother in law's Tongues, Pasta alla Norma) are as close to the original, uncomplicated versions as possible, because I hope readers will discover more about Sicilian culture through making them, just as I did. Other recipes (e.g. banana bread, spring risotto) I invented or took more liberties with to adapt to my personal taste. I also consulted Sicilian-Australian chef Alfie Spina regarding the recipes I had chosen, and he gave me hints and
tips, some of which have been passed down from generation to generation within his family.