Inside

What do you make of what we are not shown of Alice’s childhood? We are given detailed accounts of her time with various relatives and hired help, but we don’t learn about her interactions with other children when she is little. Then rather suddenly we learn that she is dating an ever changing string of boys. But even that episode is told from a perspective inside the house. We know she goes to school. Does she have friends? Does she get on well or poorly with the other kids? Why is this left out?

Jane Eyre references

Did anyone else pick up on the references to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre? That was one of my favorite books in childhood, and I still like it.

1) In "Mr. Early," Alice mentions teaching at a small school like Jane Eyre and how she defends Mr. Rochester - "the caped, brooding Rochester, a man as ugly as my own Mr. Early, Rochester, who, in disguise, tested Jane and found her worthy..." Then, too, Mr. Early also has a wife ...

2) The "Little governess" passage in one of the chapters titled "Mother" - "Jane Eyre is a talker of such succinct or impassioned, memorable speech as in, how to avoid the burning pit of hell? 'I must keep in good health, and not die.' "

3) In "Short Identifications," Alice writes, "I was hoping for the discovery of a rich uncle from Madeira." The same uncle that gave Jane her fortune! Except in Jane's case, she wasn't expecting or hoping for it - it just came. And she gave most of it away.

4) How Alice's students don't understand Jane: "Most of them get mad at her or don't care what she does, if only she would get to it. Make a life in the brisk climes, honest and alone, or travel with your lover undercover in warm places, but in less than forty pages, please!" (Wow, how times have changed! Hehe.)

The title

Why do you think the book was called "Florida"? Any theories about the suntan box?

There's a lot of geography covered in the book. The story moves around the upper Midwest, the Southwest, Florida, California and New York (these are the ones I can remember). Why so many locations?

"Florida"

I'm going to get the conversation rolling before we fall too far behind.

What did you think of "Florida"? I had mixed feelings about it. I enjoyed Christine Schutt's writing style and was captivated by the early part of the narrative but became less intrigued as the main character aged and became reacquainted with her mother. I'm not sure I understood her trajectory into adulthood, exactly. Any insights?

Next pick

"Miss Lonelyhearts" by Nathanael West

Food in "Mango Street"

Mama's hair smelling like bread in "Hair" - Angel Vargas in "There Was an Old Woman..." who dropped from the sky "like a sugar donut" - Alicia and the "lunchbox tortillas" ...

References to food abound in "The House on Mango Street." Are there any special foods you associate with childhood, and is there a history behind it?

My special food is the "nine-layered cake" that my grandmother made. It's made with coconut milk and rice flour. I'd peel each layer apart in a sort of sacred ritual before eating it. Ahh! It's beyond good.

Florida

For our next book I thought we could read about another young girl, but this time growing up in rather different circumstances. This book is “Florida” by Christine Schutt.

Does that sound appealing to everyone? And would the 1st of July be suitable for starting our discussion?