THE WILTED ROSE BOOK CLUB: DISCUSSION #2
Welcome to our second discussion of our latest pick of The Wilted Rose Book Club, The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston! The story has become more and more interesting. I can’t wait to express my thoughts and hear from you!
We are covering chapters 9-17. Use the “Leave a Replay” field to make a comment!
THE WILTED ROSE BOOK CLUB: QUESTIONS
1- “You abandoned her!” Mistress Merton’s voice was shrill with anger. “You left my child, let them put their rough hands upon her and take her away!” Margaret Merton has been revealing herself like a mean ghost, full of anger, driven by the love for her daughter. She has threatened Xanthe and would do anything to achieve her goal. After all, she has nothing to lose anymore, she’s a ghost who died of a horrible, violent death, whose only fault was to be part of a banned religion. Do you think, now that her character has been somehow revealed, she is so evil?
2- Xanthe’s life couldn’t be more complicated, now that she met not one, but two men who live in different times in history: Liam and Samuel. Based on what we know about these two characters, who do you think it would be the best choice for her?
3- Xanthe is an antique dealer and she’s so lucky that she gets to see and live in the time of items that she might sell in her present. The chatelaine connected her to an important event in the 16thcentury. It’s interesting to notice that this item and many other items of the past, in real life are not wholly original, but sometimes less old or new pieces are added to the original item losing its value. Do you like to collect antique or vintage items? And if so, what items do you love collecting?
MY THOUGHTS
1- Margaret Merton is an interesting character: people could think of her as an evil ghost, but I can’t. What I see is a desperate mother who wants someone to go back to the past to save her daughter Alice from a nefarious fate. This ghost and her family were marked as traitors in times where you could not be free to express yourself and your faith or death would be met. I see a spirit that will have no peace until her daughter will be saved. I think she feels guilty, too. After all, it is the faith that Mistress Margaret instilled in her daughter that indirectly brought Alice to end in jail and killed the rest of her family. She’s desperate and desperation in human nature can cause unimaginable reactions to the ones who feel it in such extreme situations.
2- So far, we don’t know much about Liam. We know he’s a mechanic, he loves music and plays in a band, so it is something that unites him to Xanthe. He seems a pleasant person to be around, but Samuel seems much more than that. To me, he’s a more interesting person, definitely not so open like his brother Joshua or Liam, but Xanthe’s presence seems to lighten him up a little, he slowly shows his hidden shining side to her. Lastly, what unites the two is his job: Samuel draws building projects in life and Xanthe can help him by drawing the screens in the Drillington Hall that she witnessed in her present and this is going to help him who lives in the past. They are united by something that lasts through time, that lasts for centuries, two people united through time. I find it to be a deeper connection. Only time will tell…
3- Well, I ironically developed a passion for vintage and antique items when I left Europe for the States. One of my first impressions was the interest that this country had for the old: old photographs, old accessories, old items in general, so I decided to begin to cultivate my childhood passion for telephones, I only have a few, but at the moment it’s sufficient. I would also like to collect books, how strange!
