The White Rose
Page 43
Compare the scene in which Oliver first meets Marian with the scene in which he first meets Sophie. What do his actions and observations during each encounter reveal about his eventual relationship with each woman?
Compare Sophie’s need to cook with Oliver’s connection to flowers. In what ways are their passions similar, and in what ways are they different?
Describe Sophie and her father’s relationship with Jewish culture and the Jewish community. How did their place in this heritage shape the people they eventually became?
It is revealed that Sophie and Barton’s marriage is one of convenience for both parties. Do you think it’s possible for an arrangement like this to work out? What about for the children that Sophie wants to have?
How does Marian’s encounter with Soriah change each character’s outlook on life? Why does Marian initially respond to Soriah, and why does she continue their meetings?
“It is terrible to think of the years, coming so soon, without her father, who looks ahead to this wedding with every happy thought she herself does not have, and only a genial, respectful blank of a man to replace him.” Why does Sophie want to marry Barton if she is so ambivalent about their future together? What does she mean by “blank of a man”?
“…the service she is now being asked to perform seems so much more straightforward than any of the other tasks currently facing her. Pick up a kid, take her somewhere, take her home…Isn’t that blissfully uncomplicated?” In what ways is Marian correct about her assessment of her taking Soriah to visit her mother in prison, and in what ways is she wrong? How does this relationship compare to what’s going on in the rest of Marian’s life?
“…she sees something in Denise’s face that is not an abdication of responsibility, and not an imperviousness to her daughter’s needs, and not the narcissism of a mother who failed to reject both drugs and gun-wielding boyfriends the minute she gave birth to another human being. This is unfettered misery. And it is a supplication.” What does Marian come to understand about Soriah and her family when they visit Denise in prison?
“Olivia has become more of a problem, more of a snare, and not just for himself and Barton but for Marian, too. And, he supposes, for Sophie Klein. Every one of them…has a right to be furious with him.” Why did the Olivia charade begin in the first place, and what has Olivia come to represent for all the people Oliver names here? Is there any way in which this could have ended without Oliver hurting anyone?
During Oliver’s argument with Marian after he is dropped off by the police in the Hamptons, what is going through each of their minds that the other is unaware of? What do each of them want out of their relationship, and what do they get?
The chapters in Act I of the book alternate between the perspectives of Marian and Oliver (Sophie is added to the rotation later). However, the chapter in which Oliver is detained by police on the beach in the Hamptons is told from his point of view, and the chapters immediately following it (in which he and Marian leave the Hamptons and stop to eat from a diner, and in which he goes up to Columbia and finds Sophie) are also told from his perspective. What is the effect of this change in storytelling pattern?
Compare Marian’s response to the end of her affair with Oliver to Caroline’s response to finding out her husband was cheating on her, ending their marriage.
Caroline tells Marian that every woman has her “magic age,” and she thinks that Marian is currently at hers. Do you think that such a thing exists? Why would Caroline think that Marian is at her magic age now?
Why does Marian impulsively decide to become a foster parent for Soriah? What do you think happens to the two of them after the book ends?
There are many different types and stages of love explored in The White Rose. Were there any love relationships you were particularly able to identify with? Were there any you were not at all able to identify with?
In discussing his business, Oliver describes his philosophy of flowers: “We recognize that a flower’s impermanence is part of its beauty.” The idea of impermanence is a running theme throughout the story. Do you believe that the fleeting nature of something can be part of its appeal? What didn’t last in the story? What has the possibility of lasting?
What do you think will happen next for Marian, Oliver, and Sophie?
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Act ICHAPTER ONE: Right Now
CHAPTER TWO: A Ridiculous Man
CHAPTER THREE: About Time
CHAPTER FOUR: Clos des Fleurs
CHAPTER FIVE: Who Is Charlotte?
CHAPTER SIX: A New Rose
CHAPTER SEVEN: Appetite
CHAPTER EIGHT: Metaphysics
Act IICHAPTER NINE: Deliveries
CHAPTER TEN: An Observant Jew
CHAPTER ELEVEN: The Song of Songs
CHAPTER TWELVE: An Unlovely Daughter
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The Flower Issue
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A Prison Catechism
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Insomnia
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: The Diner That Time Forgot
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Its Necessary End
Act IIICHAPTER EIGHTEEN: The Magic Age
CHAPTER NINETEEN: Transformations
CHAPTER TWENTY: Another Woman
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: A Good Person, If Not a Good Wife
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Aubergine Time
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Awake, But Not Awake
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Two Lovely Women
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Here Saw Nothing to Regret
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: The White Rose
Acknowledgments
Praise for the White Rose
Also by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Reading Group Guide
Newsletters
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2004 by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Reading Group Guide’s discussion questions © 2015 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Reading Group Guide’s introduction and “A Conversation with Jean Hanff Korelitz” used by permission of Miramax Books.
Cover design by Brigid Pearson / Cover Photo by Getty Images
Cover copyright © 2015 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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ISBN 978-1-4555-3082-3
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