The Summer Girls (45 page)
8. Blake has to explain to Carson why befriending wild dolphins is dangerous not only to the dolphins themselves, but also to humans. Do you agree that Blake’s anger with Carson over Delphine’s life-threatening injuries is justified? Who do you think is most to blame?
9. Forgiveness is a major theme in this novel. Consider Carson’s history with her father and her mother and all the years of secrets, silence, and enabling. Carson has confrontations with Blake (over Delphine), Brian (over her theft), and Dora (over what Dora reveals about her mother’s death). How do all of these scenes lead to her growth as a character?
10. Carson and her grandmother are the two characters who were closest to Parker. How did Parker’s actions impact Mamaw and Carson’s relationship with each other, even after his death?
11. Throughout the novel, Carson is fearful of attachments—to a place, to a job, and especially to a man. Why do you think she suffers from an inability to commit? What role does Delphine play in helping her to connect again with her sisters? To Blake? To herself? What is Carson’s challenge at the end of the book?
12.
The Summer Girls
is the first book in Mary Alice Monroe’s trilogy about Sullivan’s Island. Predict what the next two books will have in store for Dora and Harper, Carson, Blake, and Delphine?
1. In
The Summer Girls
, Carson befriends Blake, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, which has ocean, weather, and fishery branches in every state. Research the NOAA, and explore their Volunteer website,
http://www.volunteer.noaa.gov/
, and also see Mary Alice Monroe’s Conservation page,
http://www.maryalicemonroe.com/site/epage/116387_67.htm
. With your book club, plan a group outing or fund-raiser to support the NOAA or another local wildlife preservation organization.
2.
“I would like each of you to list the item that you most want to have. The one item you are desperate for, more than any of the others. I want to be sure you each take something from the house that you love”.
Mamaw lures her girls to stay for the summer with keepsakes from her home. Monroe reveals through flashbacks why Carson selected her treasure—the portrait—and how monetary value played no part in her decision. Every family has their unique “treasures.” Discuss with your book club the family heirloom that means the most to you. Suggest that each member bring in a picture of her “treasure” to share and tell why that item has value. What would you like to leave to future generations, and what treasured mementos are most precious to you?
3. Evoke the book’s setting by channeling Lucille’s home-style Southern cooking. Plan to host your book club as a potluck, with each member cooking one of Lucille’s signature dishes, like mashed potatoes, lemon bars, hush puppies, gumbo, and sweet tea. Make copies of each recipe for all of your book club members to take home. You could even bind them together to create your own
The Summer Girls
cookbook!
PHOTOGRAPH BY BARBARA J. BERGWERF
MARY ALICE MONROE
is the
New York Times
bestselling and award-winning author of many highly acclaimed novels. She is an active conservationist living in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Visit her at
www.maryalicemonroe.com
.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
ALSO BY MARY ALICE MONROE
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Gallery Books
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Mary Alice Monroe, Ltd.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Gallery Books trade paperback edition June 2013
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Designed by Jaime Putorti
Cover design by Susan Zucker
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Monroe, Mary Alice.
The summer girls / by Mary Alice Monroe — First Gallery Books trade paperback edition.
pages cm
1. Women—South Carolina—Fiction. 2. Sullivan’s Island (S.C.). 3. Domestic fiction. I. Title.
PS3563.O529S86 2013
813'.54—dc23
2013005657
ISBN 978-1-4767-0900-0
ISBN 978-1-4767-0903-1 (ebook)