Book Club Night Kit
A Pair of Aces
Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Cozy night
From the bestselling duo behind The Personal Librarian and The First Ladies comes another dual-voiced story of women whose friendship and ambition push against the limits set for them. It is the kind of book that makes you want to call your oldest friend the minute you finish it.
Two Voices, One Warm Kitchen
Come eat cornbread and cobbler with us and talk about A Pair of Aces, the new one from Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. Soft pants encouraged, unfinished books forgiven.
Reading level: Easy
Best for: A club that loves historical fiction about real women and would rather share stories than dissect symbolism
Discussion
Warm-up
- 1.Where did you do most of your reading of this one, and did you have a go-to blanket, chair, or mug while you read?
- 2.Benedict and Murray trade off voices chapter by chapter. Which narrator's chapters did you settle into most easily, like slipping into a familiar room?
Digging in
- 1.This is a book about two women who become a pair. Who is your pair, the person you would want narrating the other half of your life story?
- 2.The women here are told, in a hundred small ways, how much space they are allowed to take up. Was there a moment of quiet defiance that made you want to cheer out loud?
- 3.Benedict and Murray write across their own difference as co-authors, Black and white, two voices at one table. What did it feel like to read a story built that way, and did you notice places where the two voices were listening to each other?
- 4.Which scene felt most like being let into someone's kitchen or dressing room, the private, unguarded moments rather than the public triumphs?
Going deep
- 1.Friendship in this book costs something: honesty, pride, sometimes safety. Thinking back over the whole story, what did these women give each other that nobody else could, and have you ever been given that?
- 2.Without giving anything away, how did you feel in the last few pages, settled, aching, grateful, restless? Sit with that feeling for a second and tell us where in your own life it comes from.
On the table & to sip
To eat
Skillet cornbread with honey butter
Warm from the pan, cut in wedges, a homey anchor for a story rooted in American history and shared tables.
Creamy chicken and rice casserole
One dish, one spoon, no plating required. The kind of nurturing food you bring to someone you love.
Peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream
A classic comfort dessert that suits a book about women making something sweet out of hard circumstances. Store-bought crust is completely allowed.
To sip
Spiced hot cider with cinnamon sticks (no alcohol)
Keep it in a slow cooker so people can refill themselves all night. Non-alcoholic and smells like the whole house is hosting.
Bourbon in a short glass over one big ice cube
A quiet, unfussy pour for a book about quiet nerve. Bourbon reads warm and American without any cocktail shaking.
Sweet tea with lemon and mint (no alcohol)
Pitcher-made, endlessly refillable, and the most hospitable drink there is. Serve it over ice even in sweater weather.
Run of show
7:00
Door open, mugs out
Cider in the slow cooker, sweet tea on the counter, nobody expected to talk about the book yet.
7:20
Casserole and cornbread
Eat first. Serve buffet style straight from the dishes so you are not stuck in the kitchen.
7:45
Warm-ups while plates are still full
Start with the reading-spot question. It lets latecomers and slow finishers in without pressure.
8:00
Theme questions, two voices
Go through the four theme questions. Let the two-narrator structure guide the conversation naturally.
8:35
Cobbler and the deeper two
Bring out dessert, then ask the deep questions. Sugar makes people more honest.
9:05
Trivia, scorecards, and soft landing
Quick trivia round, fill in scorecards, hand out bookmarks, and let people drift out whenever they want.
Host tips
- Say explicitly at the start that nobody has to have finished, and that spoilers wait until after dessert. It keeps the whole night relaxed.
- Make the casserole and cobbler the day before. Reheating is the entire cooking plan.
- If a question lands flat, answer it yourself first. In a cozy room the host going first gives everyone else permission.
Playlist
Low lamplight and old records: warm piano, brushed drums, and voices that sound like they are sitting right next to you.
- 01 God Bless the Child - Billie Holiday
- 02 At Last - Etta James
- 03 The Very Thought of You - Nat King Cole
- 04 Lift Every Voice and Sing - Kim Burrell
- 05 Autumn Leaves - Nina Simone
- 06 Dream a Little Dream of Me - Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
- 07 Lean on Me - Bill Withers
- 08 Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell
Trivia
- 1.Which two authors wrote A Pair of Aces together? (Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.)
- 2.This pair first became known for a 2021 collaboration about Belle da Costa Greene. What was it called? (The Personal Librarian.)
- 3.What was the duo's second collaboration, about an unlikely friendship between two prominent women? (The First Ladies, about Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune.)
- 4.Marie Benedict's novels almost always center on what kind of subject? (Real women from history whose achievements were overlooked or credited to someone else.)
- 5.Before her historical collaborations, Victoria Christopher Murray was best known for writing in which category? (African American fiction, including a long run of bestselling contemporary and inspirational novels.)
- 6.What genre does A Pair of Aces belong to? (Historical fiction.)
- 7.The two authors are known for writing in alternating voices. What does each author typically handle? (Each writes one of the two main narrators, so the perspectives are drafted by different hands.)
- 8.Marie Benedict writes under a pen name. What profession did she work in before becoming a novelist? (She practiced law as a commercial litigator.)
Bookmarks
Print, cut, and tuck one at every seat, a small keepsake from the night.
Rate the book
Comfort level (would you reread it on a sick day?)☆☆☆☆☆
The two voices☆☆☆☆☆
How much it moved you☆☆☆☆☆
Characters you would invite over☆☆☆☆☆
Afterglow (how long it stayed with you)☆☆☆☆☆
One word for how this book left you feeling: ______________________
The friend I want to hand this to next: ______________________
A moment I will keep: ______________________
That's a wrap
Thank you for coming
We hope the company was good and the conversation even better. Until the next chapter.