Book Club Discussion Questions
For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of Second Honeymoon.
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
In Brief
As actress Edie contemplates the yawning chasm threatening to engulf her now
that her third and last child has flown the nest, her husband, theatrical agent
Russell, quietly relishes the thought of having her to himself once more, after
nearly three decades of devoted parenthood. Edie decides to tread the boards
once more, landing herself a part in Ibsen's
Ghosts and surprising
herself with her accomplished performance. But before long all three children
find themselves returning to the family home: Rosa, still struggling with the
aftermath of a disastrous love affair, loses her job; Matthew's relationship
with girlfriend Ruth is strained to breaking point; whilst younger brother Ben
needs to give his own girlfriend, Naomi, some breathing space. With
characteristically perceptive observation and astute characterisation, Joanna
Trollope explores the dilemmas that face both parents and children as they cope
with finding new ways to live, both with and without each other.
In Detail
Joanna Trollope began her working life as a researcher for the Foreign
Office, learning skills which she still puts to good use when researching a new
novel, seeking out and interviewing people whose experiences mirror the dramas
played out in her characters' lives. After a twelve-year stint as a teacher she
turned her hand to writing historical romantic novels, beginning with
Eliza
Stanhope, published in 1978 under the pseudonym Caroline Harvey. It was not
until the late 1980s that she began to write the kind of fiction which has
become her hallmark: novels which delicately dissect the myriad complications of
modern relationships.
She has described the nineteenth century as 'the Golden Age of fiction', and
likes to refer to her ancestor of this period, Anthony Trollope, as the 'real'
Trollope. Like him, she excels at the intelligent examination of those small
troubles and everyday traumas at the heart of ordinary lives. For Joanna
Trollope, fiction provides both entertainment and enlightenment: 'You learn more
about your fellow humans from fiction than from non-fiction. If you want to
learn what it was like to be in the retreat from Moscow, read
War and Peace,
not
The Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars. I think it's there to
console, to illuminate, entertain. You know that wonderful thing Anthony
Trollope said about nobody getting in closer to a reader than a novelist, not
even his mother. It's the confessional.'
Joanna Trollope is an acute but sympathetic observer, examining the shifting
alliances and emotional upheavals of relationships from all sides, refusing to
pass judgement and often leaving the ending open for her readers to decide. Her
later novels have tended to be concerned with particular (and diverse) issues,
from the pitfalls of being single in
Girl From the South to the
difficulties of identity inherent in adoption in
Brother and Sister. In
Second Honeymoon she tackles the loneliness of the 'empty nest' for both
parents — the mother left wondering what do to with her life, the father hoping
for the return of the woman he married — while casting an eye over the problems
that bedevil the next generation, in particular women struggling to combat
stereotypes and reconcile the conflicting pulls of work and family.
Finally, those lazy critics who once dubbed Joanna Trollope's the writer of the
'Aga saga' should take note:
Second Honeymoon has more of the bleak than
the cosy about it. What's more, after spending time with her at a recent
literary festival in Brazil, Salman Rushdie described Joanna Trollope as 'very
cool' and 'so smart', resolving to read all her books.
For discussion
- How do Russell and Edie differ in their reactions to Ben's departure? Why is
Edie so resistant to being alone with Russell? Is he so selfish to want her to
himself? How realistic are his hopes that they can return to the marriage they
had before they became parents?
- 'Crying for Eliot was crying for a lost small boy, not crying for a lost
role, like Edie,' thinks Vivien (page 50). Is this fair? How do Vivien and
Edie's reactions to their 'empty nests' compare? How do they fill those nests?
What kind of relationship do the two sisters have? How does Edie's mothering
compare with Vivien's approach, and with that of Naomi's mother?
- ' "God!" Russell said. He tried a little yelp of laughter. "End! Does
parenthood ever, ever end?" (page 8). Parenthood, it seems, is for life, but
what about childhood? How does each of the three children feel about their
independence?
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- How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
- What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
- Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Bloomsbury USA.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.
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