The following questions are intended to
enhance your group’s reading of
The Promise Girls.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. The Promise Girls tells the story of three sisters, Joanie, Meg, and Avery, whose personalities broadly conform to somewhat familiar patterns regarding birth order—bossy, hyper-responsible first-born; shy, peacemaker middle child; and the flighty, irresponsible baby of the family. If you have siblings, do you think birth order has played a part in forming your personality and influencing the relationship dynamics in your family? If you are an only child, how has that influenced your personality?
2. Though Joanie is devoted to her sisters, she values her relationship with her friend Allison because “she cared about Allison, but didn’t feel responsible for her” and could share things with Allison that she could never share with her sisters and do so without fear of judgment. Do you find it easier to be honest with friends than family? Or do you feel secure that you can tell your family members anything and know that they will continue to love and accept you as you are?
3. Meg Promise Hayes was a painting prodigy. However, after her marriage she gave up painting entirely to help Asher in his home construction business, becoming his bookkeeper, office manager, scheduler, and co-designer. What did you think about Meg’s decision to put aside her creative vocation in favor of the family business? Was she being practical and selfless? Or did you think she had hidden motives for putting aside her career as a painter?
4. Avery, the youngest Promise sister, has a vivid imagination that she fosters intentionally. Did you admire that quality in Avery? Or, like Joanie, did you find yourself wondering when Avery would ever grow up? Did you believe that Avery was as carefree as she claimed to be? Why or why not?
5. Meg and Asher met when they were just nineteen and twenty-two and were married six weeks later. Hal first laid eyes on Joanie when they were both seventeen and never really got over her. Do you believe in young love? Love at first sight? Can it last over the long haul? Or do you think the slow and steady burn of love is preferable to a quickly sparked flame of passion?
6. Many characters in The Promise Girls experience a major career change at some point in their lives, and statistics tell us that most Americans will experience five to seven career changes over the course of a lifetime. Do you see that as a positive or negative aspect of modern American life? Have you undergone a major career shift in your own life? If so, was it by choice or necessity? What positive or negative impacts has that had on you?
7. Considering career shifts—if finances were no object, what would your fantasy career be? What is it that you find appealing about that career? Do you think that this is something you could ever make happen? If so, what steps would you need to take to turn your fantasy job into a real-world career? Or if a career shift is just impractical now, are there hobbies or volunteer opportunities you could pursue in that field?
8. Asher and Meg’s construction company specializes in Not So Big houses, well-built and efficiently designed small homes. Avery lives in a tiny house with just a little over 200 square feet. Have you ever considered downsizing to a Not So Big home? What about a tiny house? What would be the plusses and minuses of such a move? Just for fun, get some graph paper and pencils and sketch out a floor plan for your perfect, compact-sized dream house.
9. Personal creativity is one of the major themes of The Promise Girls. Meg believes that “inside every person there is an artist waiting to get out, that all human beings are born with a natural talent and urge to express themselves through art.” Do you think this is true? If so, what do you think prevents people from expressing their artistic side? What can people do to help knock down those creative blocks and live a more creative life?
10. When it comes to spiritual matters, Avery is vocal about her faith and the reasons behind it, some coming from personal experiences, some from her observations of the natural world, including the fact that there are two thousand different species of starfish. Whether you profess a personal faith or not, what experiences or observations give you a sense of something greater than the here and now of this world? What wonders of nature inspire you with awe and make you think about the bigger questions of creation, God, and human existence?
11. A scathing review that referred to her as a “talented amateur” was part of the reason Meg gave up painting. As we learned in the story, the word amateur is taken from the Latin word amator, meaning “lover,” so an amateur is somebody who does something for the love of it. What things do you enjoy doing, artistic or otherwise, purely for the love of it? What might you want to try in the future? What step can you take to make that happen?
12. For personal reflection: Minerva’s arrival in Seattle stirs up strong emotions in her daughters, especially Joanie. As the story unfolds, Joanie learns that Minerva’s motivation for the decisions she made, while still hurtful, were more complicated than she realized. Most of us carry some childhood hurts into adulthood. If you were able to have an adult conversation with someone who caused you pain in childhood, what would you want to know about the circumstances and reasons surrounding that situation?
13. When Meg loses her memory, she and Asher start from square one getting to know each other again, spending several weeks “dating.” Why do you think Meg found that situation so appealing? Why was she afraid to recommit herself to her marriage? If you’re married or in a long-term, committed relationship, does a month of “dating” your beloved sound like a fabulous fantasy? Or way too much work? If your relationship could use a bit of reviving, what are some steps you could take to rekindle the love you knew early on?
14. “Sometimes the hardest part to play is yourself.” Is this true? Why or why not? What gets in the way of you being yourself? What could you do to make it easier?
Photograph © Nicole Askari
MARIE BOSTWICK was born and raised in the Northwest. In the three decades of her marriage, Marie and her family have moved frequently, living in eight different states at eighteen different addresses, three of them in Texas. These experiences have given Marie a unique perspective that enables her to write about people from all walks of life and corners of the country with insight and authenticity. Marie currently resides in Oregon, where she enjoys writing, spending time with family, gardening, collecting fabric, and stitching quilts.
Please visit her on the Web at www.mariebostwick.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/mariebostwick, and on Facebook at facebook.com/mariebostwick.
FROM HERE TO HOME
New York Times bestselling author Marie Bostwick welcomes readers to the quirky, unforgettable town of Too Much, Texas, in a heartwarming, richly satisfying story of friendship and moving forward....
Mary Dell Templeton prefers the quiet charms of Too Much to the bright lights of Dallas any day. She’s relieved to be moving back to her hometown—and bringing her cable TV show, Quintessential Quilting, with her. There are just a couple of wrinkles in her plan. Her son, Howard, who is her talented cohost and color consultant, and happens to have Down syndrome, wants to stay in Dallas and become more independent. Meanwhile, Mary Dell’s new boss hopes to attract a different demographic—by bringing in a younger cohost.
What Holly Silva knows about quilting wouldn’t fill a thimble, but she’s smart and ambitious. Her career hinges on outshining the formidable Mary Dell in order to earn her own show. Yet, as Holly adapts to small-town living and begins a new romance, and Mary Dell considers rekindling an old one, the two find unlikely kinship. For as Mary Dell knows, the women of Too Much have a knack for untangling the knottiest problems when they work together. And sometimes the pattern for happiness is as simple and surprising as it is beautiful....
THE SECOND SISTER
From New York Times bestselling author Marie Bostwick comes an emotionally rich, inspiring new novel about family, second chances—and the connections that bring women together in hope and healing....
Years of long workdays and little sleep as a p
olitical campaigner are about to pay off now that Lucy Toomey’s boss is entering the White House. But when her estranged older sister, Alice, unexpectedly dies, Lucy is drawn back to Nilson’s Bay, her small, close-knit Wisconsin hometown.
An accident in her teens left Alice mentally impaired, and she was content to stay in Nilson’s Bay. Lucy, meanwhile, got out and never looked back. But now, to meet the terms of Alice’s eccentric will, Lucy has taken up temporary residence in her sister’s cottage—and begins to see the town, and Alice’s life, anew. Alice’s diverse group of friends appears to have little in common besides an interest in quilting. Yet deep affection for Alice united them, and soon Lucy, too, is brought into the fold as they share problems and stories. And as she finds warmth and support in this new circle, Lucy begins to understand that this will be her sister’s enduring gift—a chance to move beyond her difficult past and find what she has long been missing....
BETWEEN HEAVEN AND TEXAS
New York Times bestselling author Marie Bostwick takes readers into the heart of a small Texas town and the soul of a woman who discovers her destiny there....
Welcome to Too Much—where the women are strong willed and the men are handsome yet shiftless. Ever since Mary Dell Templeton and her twin sister, Lydia Dale, were children, their aunt Velvet has warned them away from local boys. But it’s well-known that the females in Mary Dell’s family have two traits in common—superior sewing skills and a fatal weakness for men.
While Lydia Dale grows up petite and pretty, Mary Dell just keeps growing. Tall, smart, and sassy, she is determined to one day turn her love of sewing into a business. Meanwhile, she’ll settle for raising babies with her new husband, Donny. But that dream proves elusive, too, until finally, Mary Dell gets the son she always wanted—a child as different as he is wonderful. And as Mary Dell is forced to reconsider what truly matters in her family and her marriage, she begins to piece together a life that, like the colorful quilts she creates, will prove vibrant, rich, and absolutely unforgettable....
A SINGLE THREAD
It’s a long way from Fort Worth, Texas, to New Bern, Connecticut, yet it takes only a day in the charming Yankee town to make Evelyn Dixon realize she’s found her new home. The abrupt end of her marriage was Evelyn’s wake-up call to get busy chasing her dream of opening a quilt shop. Finding a storefront is easy enough; starting a new life isn’t. Little does Evelyn imagine it will bring a trio like Abigail Burgess, her niece Liza, and Margot Matthews through her door. . . .
Troubled and angry after her mother’s death, Liza threatens to embarrass her aunt Abigail all over town unless she joins her for quilting classes. A victim of downsizing at the peak of her career, Margot hopes an event hosted by the quilt shop could be a great chance to network—and keep from dying of boredom.. . .
As they stitch their unique creations, Evelyn, Abigail, Liza, and Margot form a sisterhood they never sought—but one that they’ll be grateful for when the unexpected provides a poignant reminder of the single thread that binds us all....
A THREAD OF TRUTH
At twenty-seven, having fled an abusive marriage with little more than her kids and the clothes on her back, Ivy Peterman figures she has nowhere to go but up. Quaint, historic New Bern, Connecticut, seems as good a place as any to start fresh. With a part-time job at the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop and with budding friendships, Ivy feels hopeful for the first time in ages.
But when a popular quilting TV show is taped at the quilt shop, Ivy’s unwitting appearance in an on-air promo alerts her ex-husband to her whereabouts. Suddenly, Ivy is facing the fight of her life—one that forces her to face her deepest fears as a woman and a mother. This time, however, she’s got a sisterhood behind her: companions as complex, strong, and lasting as the quilts they stitch....
A THREAD SO THIN
While New Bern, Connecticut, lies under a blanket of snow, the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop remains a cozy haven for its owner, Evelyn Dixon, and her friends. Evelyn relishes winter’s slower pace—besides, Internet sales are hopping, thanks to her son Garrett’s efforts. In addition to helping out at the shop, Garrett has also been patiently waiting for his girlfriend, Liza, to finish art school in New York City. But as much as Evelyn loves Liza, she wonders if it’s a good idea for her son to be so serious, so soon, with a young woman who’s just getting ready to spread her wings....
Liza’s wondering the same thing, especially after Garrett rolls out the red carpet for a super-romantic New Year’s Eve—complete with marriage proposal. Garrett’s the closest thing to perfect she’s ever known, but what about her own imperfections? The only happy marriage Liza’s ever seen is her aunt Abigail’s, and it took her decades to tie the knot. Soon, Liza is struggling not only with her own fears, but with the mixed reactions of her friends and family. And when she finds herself torn between a rare career opportunity and her love for Garrett, Liza must grasp at the thinnest of threads—and pray that it holds....
THREADING THE NEEDLE
The economic downturn has hit New Bern, Connecticut, and Tessa Woodruff’s herbal apothecary shop, For the Love of Lavender, is suffering. So is her once-happy thirty-four-year marriage to Lee. They’d given up everything to come back to New Bern from Boston and start their business, but now they’re wondering if they made the right decision. To relieve the strain, Tessa signs up for a quilting class at the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop and, to her surprise, rediscovers the power of sisterhood—along with the childhood friend she thought she’d lost forever. . . .
Madelyn Beecher left New Bern twenty years ago and never looked back. But when her husband is convicted of running a Ponzi scheme and she’s left with nothing but her late grandmother’s cottage, she is forced to return to the town she fled. Unfortunately, the cottage is in terrible shape. Madelyn’s only hope is to transform it into an inn. But to succeed, she’ll need the help of her fellow quilters, including the one friend she never thought she’d see again—or forgive. Now Madelyn and Tessa will have to relive old memories, forge new ones, and realize it’s possible to start over, one stitch at a time—as long as you’re surrounded by friends....
TIES THAT BIND
Christmas is fast approaching, and New Bern, Connecticut, is about to receive the gift of a new pastor, hired sight unseen to fill in while Reverend Tucker is on sabbatical. Meanwhile, Margot Matthews’s friend Abigail is trying to matchmake even though Margot has all but given up on romance. She loves her job at the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop and the life and friendships she’s made in New Bern; she just never thought she’d still be single on her fortieth birthday.
It’s a shock to the entire town when Philip A. Clarkson turns out to be Philippa. Truth be told, not everyone is happy about having a female pastor. Despite a rocky start, Philippa begins to settle in—finding ways to ease the townspeople’s burdens, joining the quilting circle, and forging a fast friendship with Margot. When tragedy threatens to tear Margot’s family apart, that bond—and the help of her quilting sisterhood—will prove a saving grace. And as she untangles her feelings for another new arrival in town, Margot begins to realize that it is the surprising detours woven into life’s fabric that provide its richest hues and deepest meaning....
APART AT THE SEAMS
New York Times bestselling author Marie Bostwick welcomes readers back to picturesque New Bern, Connecticut—a perfect place for a woman whose marriage is in turmoil to discover a new pattern for living....
Twice in her life, college counselor Gayla Oliver fell in love at first sight. The first time was with Brian—a lean, long-haired, British bass player. Marriage followed quickly, then twins, and gradually their bohemian lifestyle gave way to busy careers in New York. Gayla’s second love affair is with New Bern, Connecticut. Like Brian, the laid-back town is charming without trying too hard. It’s the ideal place to buy a second home and reignite the spark in their twenty-six-year marriage. Not that Gayla is worried. At least, not until she finds a discarded memo in which Brian admits to a past
affair and suggests an amicable divorce.
Devastated, Gayla flees to New Bern. Though Brian insists he’s since recommitted to his family, Gayla’s feelings of betrayal may go too deep for forgiveness. Besides, her solo sabbatical is a chance to explore the creative impulses she sidelined long ago—quilting, gardening, and striking up new friendships with the women of the Cobbled Court circle, particularly Ivy, a single mother confronting fresh starts and past hurts of her own. With all of their support, Gayla just might find the courage to look ahead and decide which fragments of her old life she wants to keep, which are beyond repair—and how to knot the fraying ends until a bold new design reveals itself....
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