Book Club Discussion Questions for The Fallen Woman’s Daughter
This book is very much about mothers and daughters. Who is who in the story? Discuss the various mother-daughter relationships found throughout, including Aunt Rita and Celia, Nora and Mrs. Harvey, Mamen and Gertie, Nora and Patsy, Gertie and her girls, or any others you spotted.
Who did you most identify with in the story—Gertie, Nora, or Patsy? Who do you feel is the most “motherly” of the three?
Could you understand Gertie’s desire as a young girl to escape from Keystone with Lorenzo? Did you see this as realistic?
At one point, Nora yells at Gertie: “Ma, you’re the most selfish person I’ve ever met! You . . . you just ran off— ran away from your family with a carnival worker? What were you thinking? I’m sure they were worried sick about you—probably for years! And why? Because of some wild impulse? You know, you say that Patsy has gypsy blood, that she takes after our dad. But maybe she takes after you! Ever think of that?”
Whom do you think Patsy takes after, and why was she so “ethereal” and artistic? Did she inherit the “gypsy” spirit, or was she simply affected by what happened when she was four at the hands of their neighbor, Mr. Richardt? Was she in actuality as sensitive as her own son, Wren, but had no other way of dealing with her feelings but to “check out” of reality?
Nora is quick to blame Gertie for many of the bad things that happened to them, but how much of this do you think is projected guilt over the bad things that happened when she was “mothering” Patsy, such as the Mr. Richardt incident, Patsy getting locked in the Carrie Cort, frequently disappearing, and eventually becoming pregnant while at the Park Ridge?
Gertie is constantly bragging to the girls at the Sunshine that her girls were at the finest school ever. Why do you think she did that and discuss the irony of Nora’s feeling that it actually was a wonderful place that she didn’t want to leave.
Was it realistic that Nora wanted to remain at the Park Ridge and that she was resentful of Gertie when she did finally show up?
Discuss Nora’s longing to be the perfect mother and housewife. Why do you think that was? Do you think Nora is too judgmental? Discuss her feelings when she meets Aunt Ingrid and the long-lost family in Iowa.
Discuss the differences between Nora and Lyle’s relationship with Gertie and Patsy’s. How and why are they different?
Discuss Gertie’s reaction to Patsy coming home pregnant? Why do you think Gertie embraced her situation?
There are several “paranormal” elements in this story, such as Roman’s abilities, Gertie’s continuous dreams about Warren, and, of course, the epilogue. Discuss whether these are believable and name any others you spotted in the story. (Hint: Wren’s abilities, the old woman who tends Madre, Patsy knowing when Ma was going to arrive at the Park Ridge, etc.)
Discuss Gertie’s relationship with Wren. Do you think she was right or wrong to remove Wren from the hospital? Discuss its impact on Kenny.
Were you disappointed that Kenny decides to return to Iowa instead of returning with Nora to Chicago? Discuss his fascination with the mines.
Were you surprised by Gertie’s inability to read? Discuss how this shaped the course of her life.
Do you think it was wrong for the lawyer, Mr. Cohen, to advise Gertie to stay away? How would the story have been different if she had ignored him? Was he yet another man who steered her wrong, or was he wise to advise her to leave the girls alone?
Was Gertie wrong to report Jerry to the draft board?
Were you surprised by Ingrid’s story about Warren killing someone in a bar fight in Chicago? Did you guess that the victim was Lorenzo?
Did you at first believe that Olson was a good guy, even though the first line of the book is: “This was all Olson’s fault.” Discuss how he contributed to Gertie’s downfall. Gertie is very much a victim of her own circumstance; discuss the various men she chose and why.
Discuss how each of the main characters—Gertie, Nora, and Patsy—each represented the three figures in the Prodigal Son story (the father, the good son, the prodigal son) at different points in their lives.
