Whistler
Cut along the dashed lines and pass the cards around the table.
Where did you do most of your reading of this book, and did the setting shape how it felt?
What was the first feeling you noticed while reading, calm, nostalgic, wistful, something else?
The book lingers on people reconnecting after long gaps. Is there someone from your past you sometimes wonder about in a similar way?
Patchett writes about stepfamily bonds with a lot of tenderness. What did the relationship at the heart of this book stir up in you about your own chosen or blended family?
Which small, ordinary moment in the story felt the most comforting to sit inside?
The characters look back at the directions their lives took. Was there a passage that made you think kindly about a direction your own life has taken?
By the end, how did your feelings about time and distance between loved ones shift, if at all?
If you could sit at a kitchen table with one of these characters and pour them tea, what would you most want to tell them or ask them?