The Magic of Ordinary Days (34 page)

As a child, when I first heard the story of Creation, I'd closed my eyes and pictured the earth as a ball rolling off the palm of God and into dark space, then drifting around until it found its home in sunny orbit. Never perfect, but ever spinning, and holding on to her course, despite it all.

History has a way of bringing the past to life, conjuring up people and places that have long since disappeared. Living in the past is also a way to flee the present, to experience and perhaps live in a world that is not complicated by emotion and regret. Livvy could never have imagined that her life would take a course that was so distant from the dream she had for herself—her hopes to become an archaeologist, to lead a cloistered yet fulfilling life. But she becomes pregnant and unexpectedly finds herself far from home and her family, married to a man she does not know, as the country is on the brink of war. As she explains it, “in one fleeting moment I stripped away the petals of my future, let them catch wind, and fly away.”

At first, Livvy feels almost as though she is in exile as she struggles to come to terms with her feelings of loneliness. “Ever since I had been quite young,” she admits, “I could resist those who went against me, had been able to deny their opinions.... My inner strength came from an ability to handle, then separate myself from adversity.” But the strength and intellect that allowed her to break through the barriers faced by most American women in the 1940s are frustrated by life on a prairie farm where there is no one to talk to, few books to read, and nowhere to go.

Slowly she takes to exploring her new environment and immersing herself in the history of the Plains. She begins a friendship with Rose and Lorelei, two Japanese American women confined at a nearby internment camp, and begins to find stimulation and comfort in the companionship.

Meanwhile, through radio and newspaper reports and her friendship with Rose and Lorelei, Livvy becomes aware of the history being made in her own lifetime. Stories of Nazi concentration camps, reports of enormous American losses in the Pacific, and the realities of Rose's and Lorelei's lives remind her daily that her own troubles seem small in comparison. But when Livvy plays an unwitting role in the escape of two German POWs, she finally realizes that she, too, has a role in the history being made around her.

A history buff, Livvy yearns to know more about the circumstances behind this mysterious event. Though she has forged a strong friendship, she suddenly realizes that she knows very little about Rose and Lorelei and their dangerous plot—a scandal to which she had suddenly become an accomplice. She observes, “Rose, Lorelei and I had started swimming together on the surface of the water. We had at times dipped below the surface as we went along. But we hadn't taken a deep dive, hadn't delved into those dark waters, the ones where we kept hidden the unseen frailties that lie in wait.”

Through her relationship with Rose and Lorelei, Livvy slowly begins to accept her present life, finding a new appreciation for the kind of freedom she had always taken for granted, and a growing love for her simple yet kind husband who is devoted to her happiness. She realizes that the most valuable lesson in life is how each person creates her own history day by day.

1.
Until this book you have been known as a writer of young-adult fiction. Is writing for an older audience different?

2.
What could a young reader learn from Livvy's story?

3.
Some readers might disagree with Livvy's decision to stay with Ray instead of returning to Denver. What would you say to them?

4.
You have said that the novel was inspired, in part, by an actual event that occurred in a Nazi POW camp. Can you tell us more about this incident, and why you found it so compelling? Is Livvy herself based on a real-life person?

5.
You have also said that you wanted to write a novel about an arranged marriage. Why?

6.
Although Livvy calls herself a practice rug, “she is determined to find her own way in the world and wants to put off marriage until after she has settled into a career. What kinds of role models were available to independent-minded women like Livvy?

7.
Can you recommend any other books for readers who are interested in learning more about rural Colorado and its history, or about American life during World War II?

8.
What are you working on now?

 

1. Was Livvy's father right to insist on her finding a husband before she gave birth? What other options were available to her? What would have been the repercussions of these options?

2. It takes Liwy a while to warm up to Ray, let alone love him. Do you think she was too hard on him? Were you surprised that she
could
come to love him at all?

3. What are some of the qualities that make Livvy and Ray such well-developed characters? How does Creel make them human? How does each surprise you?

4. Creel reveals the story behind Livvy's pregnancy gradually; we don't find out what really happened until more than halfway through the novel. How does knowing she is pregnant change the opinions you had begun to form about her?

5. Why is it so easy for Livvy to make friends with Rose and Lorelei? How are their situations similar?

6. How did you feel about Rose and Lorelei after they used Livvy to help the POWs escape? Did they betray Livvy's friendship? Did you, like Livvy, feel any sympathy toward them because of their feelings for these soldiers?

7. Do you think the girls befriended Liwy because they knew she could help them with their plan? Why or why not?

8. What is the significance of Rose and Lorelei's fascination with butterflies?

9. What did you learn from this book about World War II and its effects on the home front?

10. Did Liwy make the right choice in remaining with Ray? What was she giving up by not returning to Denver? What do you think you would have done in her situation?

11. Would you attribute her whirlwind romance and pregnancy to grief over her mother's death? Why would a sensible, self-assured, independent woman “strip away the petals of her future to let them catch wind, and fly away?” Why is this metaphor so suitable to the book?

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