Welcome to our very first discussion of The Wilted Rose Book Club! I’m very excited to share with you my thoughts about the first part of A Secret History of Witches. It’s my first time reading this book and I’ve finished just today the first third of it. Before sharing my thoughts, I have a few questions for you.
Discussion #1: The Book of Nanette and The book of Ursule. Suggested dates: February 1st-February 9th. Use the “LEAVE A REPLAY ” field to share your thoughts.
1) Who is your favorite character between Nanette and Ursule? And why do you prefer one to the other?
2) At the beginning, Ursule is very skeptical of her family traditions and she seems so different compared to her mother. Yet, their relation stays strong throughout the story. Is there something that you would have changed in this mother-daughter relationship?
3) What do you think about Nanette’s interference in Ursule’s life that was a leading key event to the heartbroken end?
4) Is there a passage or a quote that touched your heart?
5) What are your overall thoughts about this story so far?
My Thoughts
I’ve enjoyed this book so far and I believe that the story will become more and more intriguing. I resonate the most with Nanette, because we have a few things in common. However, I was pretty annoyed and disappointed when she interfered with Ursule’s life. From an early age, Ursule had shown to be a confident, young woman who just wanted to live her life without thinking of getting married just because the patriarchal society wanted to. On the contrary, her mother, who had raised her daughter without a man and whom she was raised by her sisters, believed that her daughter needed a man in order to give her a child. Now, I could see how Nanette was afraid of dying, leaving her daughter alone but for me, the steps she took to manipulate her daughter’s life were a little extreme.
Pages 109: “I will marry someone Maman.” she said. She hadn’t thought about it before, but now it seemed the perfect answer. Page 111: “She wasn’t sure she wanted to share Orchard Farm with anyone, even if it meant having only ghosts for company around her table.” The end of the Book of Ursule made me spill a tear.
Discussion #2 will take place here on the blog and we’ll be sharing our opinions about The Book of Irene and The Book of Morwen. Suggested dates: February 10th-February 19th.
English
So far, I have only read the book of Nanette and I’m halfway through the book of Ursule and I have to say that I appreciate both characters and, so far, it seems like they have more characteristics in common than not. The first thing they have in common is their ability to be independent while still respecting their family (at least comparing the younger version of Nanette with Ursule); and this can be seen when in the first book Nanette is not afraid of getting pregnant with a stranger and accepts her uncles’ negative response to it knowing that the reason why they’re acting that way is because they are scared. As far as Ursule, she does not believe in the witchcraft practiced by her family but still agrees to participate in the rituals out of respect.
The love for their families is something that runs really deep in them.
Ursule however, seems to be a stronger character as she is not afraid of confronting her mother on different aspects of her life. It is also interesting to notice how skeptical she is regarding witchcraft as she sees it as just some old tradition that was practiced by older generations. I believe that this concept can be applied nowadays as well, with the younger generation either questioning or not being overly interested in the spiritual rituals and beliefs of their parents.
I have to say that I am enjoying the book so far and I am definitely interested to see how the story will unfold with the newer generations.
True. In the end, the mother-daughter relationship they had was very profound and admirable, and they were both very independent and resilient women!