Two Rivers (32 page)

O
ranges, clementines, tangelos, tangerines. When I saw our future, it was like this: bright, sweet, whole.

We left Two Rivers in May. We loaded up the Bug with our few belongings and said our few farewells: to the bowling league ladies, to Mrs. Marigold, to Hanna and Paul. I said my own good-bye to the trees, to the train tracks, to the leftover snow. To the mud, to the rain, to the frost-edged grass on the side of the road. I said good-bye to Ray. To Rosemary. To Brooder. And as we drove away, I waved quietly. To Betsy. And to that night at the river.

Brenda’s brother sold me the plot of land for a song. It was a small, ten-acre orange grove just north of Tampa. It was already fully staffed, and there was a house on the property, with three bedrooms and a wraparound porch. When I pictured our new life, I saw myself sitting out on that porch with Shelly, surveying the blue sky. I pictured Wilder learning to walk among those trees. I thought about sunshine and the sweet, sweet taste of oranges.

The grove was just about a half hour drive from Weeki Wachee Springs, where Brenda had decided to return to her life as a mermaid. By then, I had started to fall in love with her, the way you fall into your own bed after a long trip. And, it seemed, she was falling in love with me too. Even though we were both still broken and scared, when I thought of
tomorrow,
I saw her there. Her rainbow tail, scales glistening. For the worst fisherman ever, I’d somehow managed to catch myself a real big one.

But most importantly, the grove was just a day’s drive from Maggie’s house in Tuscaloosa. She planned to spend her summers with us, until she graduated from high school and decided what she wanted to do with her life. She told me she thought she might like to be a teacher, and I told her I thought that was a good idea.

Shelly fell asleep in the seat next to me before we even got out of Vermont, but Wilder was wide awake in his car seat in the back. As I drove, I checked on him in the rearview mirror every few minutes. Most of the time, he was just watching the world pass by in the window as he sucked his thumb or toes. But sometimes, I’d catch his eyes, and he’d be looking right at me. Those still, blue river eyes intent. Waiting for whatever was coming next. Trusting me to get him there safe.

1. At the beginning of the novel, Harper suggests that twelve years after the incident at the river he wants only to find forgiveness, to make amends for his involvement in the crime. Do you think that by the end of the novel he has done so? Why or why not? Is he forgiven? If so, by whom? Do
   you,
   the reader, forgive him?
   
2. Discuss the role that race plays in this novel. Is the crime against the carny racially motivated? Does what happened to Harper’s mother factor into this decision? What are Brooder’s motives?
   
3. Why do you think Harper agrees to take Maggie in? Is it a selfless act or a selfish act? How did Shelly factor into his decision?
   
4. What role does religion play in this novel? Do you think that Harper believes in God? Of what significance is the scene at the makeshift chapel in Roxbury?
   
5. Two Rivers
   , at its core, is a love story. Discuss the relationship between Harper and Betsy (both as children and as young adults). Does the tragedy of losing Betsy justify Harper’s involvement in the scene at the river? Consider the blackberry imagery…both in the description of the carny’s skin color and the memory he has of Betsy plucking a blackberry in summertime.
   
6. Discuss the mothers in this novel: Mrs. Parker, Helen Wilder, Betsy. How do each of them reject/redefine/embrace motherhood? Are they victims of their times? Why or why not?
   
7. Discuss Betsy’s pregnancy. What sacrifices do you think she makes to keep Harper from going to Vietnam? Did she have a choice? She blamed her father’s stroke for trapping her in Two Rivers, so how do you think she feels after he died? Does she still feel trapped, now by her own pregnancy?
   
8. Is Harper a good father to Shelly? Will he be a good father to Wilder? Discuss his relationship with his own father.
   
9. In the end of the novel, Maggie suggests she might like to be a teacher when she grows up. What is it that she teaches Harper?
   
10. Why does Harper decide to leave Two Rivers? Could he and his new family have moved on without leaving? Where do you see his relationship with Brenda going, and do you think it could have gone there if they hadn’t left Two Rivers? What are some of the stronger images that stood out to you? How do they tie together Harper’s past and present?
    
11. Discuss the effectiveness of the time period as a backdrop for Harper’s story. How did the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War change his life and shape his views? Would you have made the same choices if you were in his situation at that time? Today?
    
12. All of the flashbacks to the fall of 1968 are in the third person point of view except for the last one, which is told through Harper’s first person account. What is the significance of this change?
    
13. Discuss the symbolism of the two rivers and their confluence.
    

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