When the story begins, we meet Maggie Fortenberry, the still beautiful ex-Miss Alabama and former model, who has returned to her home town of Birmingham and is now selling real estate in the high-end market of Mountain Brook. On the outside, Maggie may appear to others to be cool, calm, and collected, but all is not what it seems. For years, Maggie has been living with a painful and secret past, and now that the bottom has suddenly fallen out of the real estate market, her future is not looking all that great either. Maggie finds herself with a dilemma that many baby booomers are facing these days: “Too young to retire, and too old to start a new profession.” Now what?
After months of long, sleepless nights, Maggie finally comes up with what she thinks is “the perfect plan” for what to do with the rest of her life. But as we all know, plans don’t always turn out the way we want. Anyhow, while Maggie is busy trying to put her perfect plan into action, something unexpected happens and she finds herself embroiled in the middle of a mystery that might even baffle Nancy Drew!
There were several times I wondered why I continued reading this story because Maggie's drive to end it all did not set well within me. There was, however, a place in the story where I took pause and considered my own plight and how if I never had my daughter and my parents had moved onto the next realm, if I, too, would not have considered the same path. Mostly because I have lost my path at times in life and claimed my daughter's existence as my Saving Grace. As I grow older I grow to know that I have a strong faith that life is like the pendulum swing in that it swings just as far into the dark as it does into the light.
Discussion Questions:
1. Maggie’s life hasn’t turned out the way she’d hoped, and at the beginning of the book she makes her big decision to fix it once and for all. Why do you think she feels this way, and what makes her decide that the time has come to put her plan into action? Have you ever felt the way Maggie does, and if so, what did you do to solve it?
Maggie had all sorts of dreams that were based on her winning the Miss USA pageant, but when she did not win she came home feeling as though she let everyone, including herself, down. She compared her life with those around her - those she deemed happy or successes at life. She had no children, no husband and her parents were gone. He greatest friend in the world had just passed and with it fears of their business spinning into the drain. She lost hope, but worse, she lost faith. Why this particular time? She had no one left to object or to whom she felt responsible. Or maybe she felt as though she had no one left who needed her.
I have definitely gone through a few dark patches on my journey and no doubt I will again. The difference with the times I experience now and the earlier ones in my life is that I now understand the pendulum swing and have faith in the Universe that I will not be given more than I can handle. I know that there are learning opportunities and silver linings to all challenging times - I just have to find the patience and keep faith alive.
2. Maggie’s decision comes at the end of a perfectly ordinary day, with no bells and whistles or dramatic events. In your opinion, is this typical of the way big changes happen in real life? Can you think of examples in your own life where a major event happened on an otherwise ordinary-feeling day?
No, not really. The times I have experienced the want to just move on and end this trip through the living realm have been when I am going through rough and rocky roads. I always feel the need to depart this world during depressive, dark, times.
3. What are Maggie’s “16 perfectly good reasons to jump in the river”? If you were making the list, what would you put in your “pros” and “cons” columns? Cons: I would miss the next swing of the pendulum into the light, my daughter, my parents and other family members. I may not have a spouse, or a thriving business and financial security, but I do have the opportunity to become better, to learn new lessons of faith and understanding, to perhaps share something with another in need that helps them along their journey. I am nothing more than a tool of the universe. This body is borrowed, my soul a at times a tool, at times a sponge... My life has purpose even if I do not know exactly what its purpose is at every moment. I have faith and I believe in the Great Mystery to shine the light on the path I am to take.
4. When Charles proposed to Maggie years before, she turned him down. Why did she do this? Do you think she made the right decision, given the circumstances at the time? In hindsight, should she have made a different decision? What would you have done?
I cannot remember the exact reasons she gave Charles as to her answer. I do remember that her reason had something to do with holding him back from knowing true happiness. I am not much on martyrdom and try always to make decisions based on my truths. If it were going to hold me back from being of further use to the Universal needs I may turn down a proposal. I always ask myself, "Who am I that I should know what is best for you and your path?" I can't answer for Maggie's hindsight but she seemed to have learned a great lesson. We as mere humans can rarely answer our own riddles, or know what's best for our own lives; how can it be that she could know what's best for Charles' future and sojourne?
5. Both Brenda and Maggie each think that the other’s life is easier and happier. Brenda is envious of Maggie’s good looks and constant cheerfulness and charm, while Maggie wishes she had Brenda’s practicality and the comfort of her big family. Why do you think they believe this—is the grass simply always greener on the other side of the fence? If you had to choose between Brenda’s and Maggie’s, which kind of life would you prefer?
In my life I have had both. I grew up in a huge family with strong family ties, yet I chose a life of solitude 3000 miles away. I'm an odd one indeed, because I do not do well carrying a burden of other's expectations of me, especially when those people are people I care most about. If I were to return to Brenda's life I would surely disappoint so many of the people I love the most. Now that I live Maggie's life I do get lonely quite often, but enjoy the quiet and peace of no expectations.
6. Edwina Crocker-Sperry spent her life protecting a huge secret, one that both gave her tremendous freedom and tightly curtailed her world. What do you think that life was like for her? Would you like to have been Edwina, or to have lived a life like hers? What do you think would have happened if her secret had been discovered?
I have read quite a few stories about times during the mid to late 1800's and how boys were preferred over girls, and each time it turns my stomach to think of how girls were treated just because their father's were not given male heirs. Poor Edwina. How she must have felt knowing her father could not accept her for who she was. Poor family in that the community belief that a woman could not be heir to a busineses. Do I wish I could live a double life? Uhm, no. I have enough of a hard time living my single one in good measure and keeping. It did make me happy to read that Edwina found a way to live and disclose her true womanly self it is just too bad that she could not do so in her own home with her family.
7. Everyone who meets Hazel Whisenknott falls in love with her, with her energy and enthusiasm and optimism. Even five years after she is gone, she still brightens the lives of all her friends and employees. Do you know anyone like Hazel?
8. Hazel refused to let anything get in the way of her dreams. What lessons could we all learn from Hazel’s story? What about Maggie’s?
9. At one point, Maggie meets a schoolmate who is surprised to hear that Maggie never became Miss America—the friend has been bragging about knowing Miss America for years. When Maggie tells her she was just the second runner-up, she laughs, “Honey, it’s like the Oscars; after so many years, nobody ever remembers who won, just who was nominated.” How does this change Maggie’s perspective? Do you think the observation is true, or not? Can you think of examples?
10. One effect of Maggie’s decision, she realizes, is that she no longer has to worry about the consequences of her actions. She stops going to the gym and watching the news, and starts having a lot more fun. She even speaks her mind to Babs Bingington! If you didn’t have to worry about the long-term consequences of your actions, what would you do differently? Is there anything on your list you might want to do anyway? Is there anything you might want to give up, despite the consequences?
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