BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS

1. Class distinction and societal pressures play a strong role in molding the characters and driving the events in the FREE MEN and DREAMERS series. List as many evidences of this as possible and discuss whether or not the characters acted nobly in handling the situations they were in.
2. Compare and contrast the four primary women in TWILIGHT’S LAST GLEAMING: Hannah, Frannie, Lyra and Clarissa. What were their primary weaknesses and strengths? Who did you most identify with?
3. Now do the same for the male characters: Jed, Markus, Lord Whittington, Arthur.
4. Describe circumstances that have matured Hannah and Jed since book one and how they were each affected by them.
5. How has the bestowal of freedom affected the Willows’ slaves who have already been made free? Those who are awaiting their freedom?
6. Royal discovers some sobering lessons regarding the cost and responsibility of freedom. What are they? Where might we find some modern-day examples of people learning to adapt to freedom? Compare their experiences to Royal’s.
7. What concerns caused Emmett Schultz to retire from the ministry? How were his concerns similar or dissimilar to Hannah’s?
8. What spiritual problems have beset Hannah since we left her in DARK SKY at DAWN? Em gave her several pieces of advice. What were they?
9. Beatrice is haunted by her meddling. How far reaching were the consequences? Consider the impact on herself, Jed, Hannah, Myrna, Dudley, their child.
10. America in 1813 is beset by numerous problems—the British, the Indian conflicts, traitors, threats of secession, a broken economy, to name some. Compare their day to ours. How can knowing that America rose above her problems give us hope today? What cautions can we learn from this period?
11. Each character element in the story is balanced by opposing personalities. For example, Jerome’s acceptance of his slavery is balanced by Abel’s anger. Find as many of these elements as you can and describe how they balance one another.

AUTHOR Q & A

1. Was writing book two easier than writing book one?     Yes, in some ways. I already had the characters’ personalities set in my mind so developing them was easier in that regard. Because Jed and Hannah were basically adolescents in the early pages of book one, we are watching them emerge into adulthood, so they still need to retain some of that youthful naïveté and inexperience while they mature, and striking that balance was challenging. Laying out the action was more difficult in this book because I’m bringing diverse historical elements together in a condensed format while keeping the history very true and accurate.
2. Markus and Arthur are break-out characters in this book. What inspired their storylines?      They balance the overall story. Markus represents the privateers who really were our Navy in this war. His story and the events that transpire in his family are based on historical facts. It’s quite a tale. Arthur shows the gentle, courtly side of the British war machine. I try to be sure that each character is balanced by another. Through Arthur I attempt to remind us how close America is and always will be tied to her European heritage.
3. What personal experiences did you have while writing this book that left an impression?    Wow. . . Two leap out at me. The first would be the trip my husband and I took to Hampton, Virginia. I had read about the attack there and about the British Navy’s conscription of French prisoners for their military, so we visited the Visitor’s Center and spoke with the docents. We spent some time digging through materials and finally we were able to pinpoint the landing site of the British.  My husband and I drove for about an hour searching through what is now known as Hampton’s Olde Wythe Neighborhood until we found the location. The area still has small, narrow creeks that wind between the streets. It was eerie envisioning the British rowing into those obscured waterways, dressed in their red jackets with the French in their green, and then to imagine the fear that sight would have instilled in the residents as they awoke and found themselves under attack.  My second very tender experience came at Chalmette Plantation in Louisiana where the final battle of the War of 1812 took place, making Andrew Jackson a national hero. Chalmette sits in a bowl beside the Mississippi in what is St. Bernard’s Parrish, the portion of New Orleans hardest hit by Katrina. The entire area still looked like a war zone when we drove through, in the fall of 2006. The park had lost its Visitor’s Center and was meeting in a portable trailer. I asked one of the rangers how Katrina was affecting the children and she told me a story that awed me. She said they were still bringing the children to the park even though some of the exhibits had been lost. Park money was tight and she didn’t know when they would be back in a building again. But that didn’t deter her from inspiring the children. In fact, she said she used the story of Andrew Jackson, “Old Hickory”, to inspire the children. She would tell them of the many tragedies and adversities that befell him like being orphaned at a young age and how his decision to pick himself up and carry on led him to become a great man. Then she said she would look the children in the eye and say, “You’ve been through some hard times, but you’re made of the same stuff as Andrew Jackson, and you can carry on!” Amazing! I could see the Mormon pioneers using the examples of Brigham Young or Joseph Smith to inspire their children in the same way. We should do that every day with our Church heroes and our American history heroes as well.
4. What character do you love most in the books?    Hmmm… I love Hannah and Jed and Frannie, but in this book I think I fell in love in with Lyra. She became such a fearsome woman but inwardly, she was such a gentle and tender soul. I love that she knew what she wanted and she was not willing to settle for anyone else, believing in her heart that he would eventually come to her. And better yet, I love that she just went for it! She was bold and fearless about saying, “Hey! I love you!” That is very admirable.
5. How about the bad guys? Some of them are pretty bad. Yeah, they are, but I hope the reader will also be able to understand how they became who they did. Stephen Ramsey, Stewart Stringham and McGowan are tragic characters who allowed their circumstance to dictate their actions. They reacted in complete opposition to how Old Hickory would have.
6. Did you discover any interesting Church History facts while researching Twilight’s Last Gleaming? So many. . . I found Dr. Nathan Smith fascinating. The more I read about him and about the timeline that brought him to the Smith family, the more I could see the Lord’s hand moving events and people where they needed to be. He is specifically named in Mother Smith’s biography of Joseph, yet in Dr. Smith’s own biography he is quoted saying he had no recollection of performing the surgery on Joseph, but he attests that the procedure performed was his. There also are no records of a bill being sent to the Smiths or monies collected by Dr. Smith, but we know the medical bills nearly bankrupted the Smith family. So it appears that Dr. Smith oversaw the procedure, but that it was actually performed by someone else, perhaps his students or his colleague, who must have collected the fees. I was also thrilled by the Indian stories—that Tecumseh’s people told tales that were similar to the story of the children of Israel’s exodus from Egypt and the miracle of Moses parting the Red Sea; and that Red Jacket was questioning why the Great Spirit hadn’t brought his holy book to the Indians just years before He did.I had never heard about Christopher Columbus’s visions nor that he felt called to serve as a messenger of Christ. The Stephen Mack story was also fascinating. More of his life will be shared in book four.
7. Can you share something with us that most people don’t know about you?    Hahaha! Well . . . I love accents. Can you tell by my eclectic assortment of characters? In order to write their dialogues correctly I speak the lines out loud using that accent. I had so much fun with the O’Malleys that for weeks afterward, and even now sometimes, I’ll just break into an Irish accent. I have a friend from Germany whose accent is still pretty apparent, and she and I will speak “Irish” to each other when we’re feeling silly. My kids think Mom’s losing it!

TRIVIA QUESTIONS

1. Frannie attends the 1814 inauguration of what President?
2. Dolley Madison hosted social gatherings with the wives of prominent men in Washington in order to influence their husbands. What were these gatherings called?
3. Why did Sarah Ann Benson spurn Jonathan Pearson to marry the Reverend McClintock?
4. At least three horses are named in Twilight’s Last Gleaming. Who rode them and what were their names?
5. Jed had a very special rifle. Where was it made and for what event?
6. Which pirate’s tale does Ryan O’Malley tell the children?
7. The Indian Chief Red Jacket gives a beautiful blanket with a turtle print to Dudley. He has a question about the white man’s religion. What was it?
8. Name a few of the Irish good luck charms and omens employed on Lyra and Markus’ wedding day.
9. Juan gives insight into what motivated Christopher Columbus to search for the New World. What was it?
10. What evidence did Frederick provide to verify that Priscilla and her family were dead?

ANSWERS

1. James Madison

2. Dove parties

3. The reverend convinced her parents that sins had at least been committed in spirit, and Sarah was promised that by marrying the reverend he would lead her to redemption and win salvation

               for Jonathan.

4. Tildie-Jed; Donovan- Markus, Figaro-Frannie

5. Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia; Lewis and Clark Expedition

6. Blackbeard

7. Why has the Great Spirit not given the Holy Book to the Indians.

8. Good weather, bells sewn on the sleeves of her dress, a white handkerchief to be made into a baby’s bonnet, horseshoe wristlet, bells rang at the end of the ceremony, Lyra tossed an old

            shoe, Markus was told not to lift the bride off the ground.

9.To heed the cry of the ancient prophets, to find and bring salvation to those of God’s scattered children who had not yet heard of the Christ

10. A pearl button from her wedding dress threaded on a ribbon and her son’s flute

RECIPE FROM LC LEWIS’S KITCHEN