Autumn, One Spring

Autumn, One Spring

ISBN: 9780888013743
Author: Patti Grayson
$19.00

Every time Autumn Greene opens her mouth, an ugly, steaming pile of truth falls out. This hasn’'t changed in the six years since she fled her home town of Hematite, Ontario. Now that she’s back, the truth-bombs are flying once again, exposing secrets and guilty agendas throughout the community.

Hoping for exoneration, Autumn returns unannounced and uninvited a few days before her big sister Christine’s wedding. In tow is the daughter she conceived in a one-time encounter with Christine’s ex-fiancé. Once burned, twice angry, Christine does all she can to make Autumn unwelcome. Despite her cool reception, Autumn discovers doors to new possibilities when she comes face to face with her high school crush.

Autumn, One Spring is a humour-infused drama that takes truthfulness in relationships seriously.

Book Club Questions
  1. Forgiveness is a hard thing to come by in the novel. Are there actions which are unforgiveable in the book? Which characters deserve the forgiveness they seek?
  2. Throughout the book, someone is either abandoning the wedding or in the process of crashing it. Discuss this see-saw effect and the importance of Gabriel being its fulcrum, ie: steadfast and loyal to the wedding.
  3. Truth and lies prevail. While Autumn blurts the truth at inopportune times, she also cannot escape the little white lie ie: lying about Alec's words on the dock. Is there merit in the little white lie? Or is truth the key to setting these characters free?
  4. “Regret makes life sad.” Mom says in her simple way. How does regret colour Joyce’s life? The other characters’?
  5. Winnipeg and Hematite are juxtaposed and contrasted throughout the novel in a variety of ways. Ie: Autumn sees her arrival in Winnipeg as a springboard to launch her courage to have and keep Sara. On the flip side, back in Hematite, she realizes she has never seen her boss, Dr. Jewel, in natural outdoor light while working in Winnipeg. How do these opposite pulls affect Autumn? What does it say about her character when she embraces the big city? When she returns home?
  6. The title, Autumn, One Spring, sets a tone of seasonal opposites. This theme is common in literature, with spring representing rebirth and fall being the season of decay. How large a role doe season and weather play in the book?
  7. The story is set the same week as the Chernobyl disaster. How do the events in Hematite connect to Chernobyl?
  8. The rugged Canadian Shield plays a part in the book. How do the iconic symbols ie: voyageur, canoe, moose etc. affect the tone of the story?
  9. “I could hug a stranger more readily.” Autumn says when she is reunited with her father. How much does Autumn’s relationship with her father influence her actions in the rest of her life?
  10. It has been stated that comedies end with a wedding and tragedies with a death. Considering the book ends with a wedding, are there aspects that can be considered tragic, nonetheless?
  11. Though Alec and Gabriel are considered best friends throughout the book, the reader rarely encounters them together. Does this strengthen or lessen their relationship in the reader's mind?
  12. Autumn’s moral dilemma regarding Sara and her father is brought to the forefront near the end of the novel. Is Autumn justified in her actions? Project and predict the outcome for Sara as an adult.
  13. Gabriel’s spewing of Batman quotes laced with Shakespeare is an oddity. Is he less the romantic hero or more appealing as a result?
  14. Autumn’s habit of self-editing prevails right to the final line of the novel. Discuss this tendency with respect to her character and as a technical aspect in the structure of the story.
  15. Gabriel’s creed, “Accept convention in literature; avoid it in life.” Does he adhere to his own creed? How do other characters measure up? Does the novel itself adhere?
  16. Explosions occur everywhere within the confines of the text: From the coyote on the tv show Sara watches, to the blasting at the iron mine, to the tragic Chernobyl accident. Discuss this usage.
  17. Wedding day fantasies; wedding day horror stories. Everyone has one or the other or both. The book works hard at dispelling the fantasy. In the end, how will Christine and Alec look back on their day?
  18. The narrative is written in first person. There are frequent situations in which Autumn discovers the other characters collectively knowing things she doesn’t. The reader is only privy to this information as Autumn discerns it. How might the book differ if written with a third person narrative? ie: if the reader knew Christine’s thoughts, Gabriel’s, Joyce’s? Sara’s?
  19. After Sara’s seizure, Autumn says, “…I know that my capacity to love Sara is limitless; the accompanying pain is inescapable. The terrain of motherhood is as rugged as the bush surrounding Hematite.” Discuss with respect to the treatment of motherhood in other Canadian and international books. Ie: Unless, A Good House, The Stone Angel, White Oleander, Angela’s Ashes.

birdball500pxTurnstone Press Ltd.

206-100 Arthur Street

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

R3B 1H3

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