The Gourmet, by Muriel Barbery

France’s greatest food critic is dying, after a lifetime in single-minded pursuit of sensual delights. But as Pierre Arthens lies on his death bed, he is tormented by an inability to recall the most delicious food to ever pass his lips, which he ate long before becoming a critic. Desperate to taste it one more time, he looks back over the years to see if he can pin down the elusive dish. Revealing far more than his love of great food, the narration by this larger-than-life individual alternates with the voices of those closest to him and their own experiences of the man. Muriel Barbery’s gifts as an evocative storyteller are put to mouth-watering use in this voluptuous and poignant meditation on food and its deeper significance in our lives. A delectable treat to savour.

Questions for discussion

1. How far do you think The Gourmet is a book of the senses?
2. Muriel Barbery’s writing evokes food very vividly. Which was your favourite description of food and why?
3. Pierre Arthens has ruthlessly pursued ambition and personal enjoyment at the expense of everyone else in his life. What do you think drove him to do this? Do you think it is a trait shared by many people who achieve this level of success?
4. Is there anything surprising about Arthens’s personality? Do you find him at all likeable? Why does he seem to have a special affinity with animals?
5. There are many memories of childhood in the book. Which would you say best captures how children experience the world?
6. How significant is the theme of self-deception in the story?
7. What does the book tell us about the difference between the way individuals present themselves to the world and how they feel inside?
8. How do the many voices who speak in the novel contribute to our understanding of Arthens? Do you feel this is an effective way of telling the story?
9. What did you think of the ending? What does Arthens derive from finally remembering his long-sought-after flavour?
10. Ultimately, is the book really about the significance of food?

The Cookie Club, by Anne Pearlman

Every year on the first Monday of December, a group of women gather to share cookies, food, wine, and stories. This year, Marnie, the “head cookie bitch” is preoccupied with caring for a bereaved friend, waiting for a life or death call from her pregnant daughter, and debating how far to fall in love with her boyfriend Jim. Meanwhile, the guests have problems of their own: a father’s infidelity with a friend, a move to another state, a husband’s desertion. But they come together, knowing that dark times and snowy nights call for the warmth that only friends can provide.

Questions for discussion

1. How does the present action of the narrative, as well as the way details are revealed about characters, affect your reading of the novel? In what ways does the story draw the reader in as a new member of the group?
2. As Marnie says, “The people in our lives change as our understanding changes.” (pg. 193) How does each character in the novel change for you as you learn more about them? How does Aaron change for Marnie after hearing Sissy’s story?
3. How does the opening of The Christmas Cookie Club establish the themes of darkness and light that run through the novel? How do you feel about the choice of the hospice as the recipient of the group’s generosity? Why do you think Marnie is so especially attuned to the pain her friends suffer and brave in facing the starkness of events such as Luke’s death?
4. Marnie wonders, “Is Jim another chance for intimacy or another dodge from commitment?” (pg. 22) Why do you think Marnie is so conflicted about moving forward in her relationship with Jim? What gives her the courage to tell him that she loves him?
5. The book highlights the social histories of baking ingredients such as vanilla, sugar, and dates. Was there anything you learned that surprised you? Marnie also mentions her personal associations with these common items. What are your associations with these ingredients and others in your kitchen?
6. Thinking about Rosie’s quest for children, Marnie wonders, “When I see a friend heading down a difficult road, how much do I confront, and how much do I accept knowing I’ll be there to pick up the pieces?” (pg. 68) What do you think is the best approach to friendship: honest advice or unquestioning support? How do you think Marnie is able to stay so nonjudgmental when it comes to her friends’ tangled lives?
7. “The past gets carried with us. It’s always there,” according to Marnie. (pg. 217) How is the past evident in the current lives of the characters? For example, how does the past affect Marnie’s relationship with her daughters and with Jim? How does Juliet’s high school façade help to create a long-term double life?
8. Rosie confronts Jeannie by asking if Jeannie had told her mother about her father’s infidelity. Do you think the situations are comparable – a friend hiding another friend’s betrayal and a daughter hiding her father’s? How are the two friends able to come to a reconciliation over the course of the party?
9. While all of Charlene’s friends are supportive and healing in different ways, how is it that Sissy, the cookie virgin, is able to best advise her on a path forward? How can an outsider sometimes better see a person for who they are in the moment?
10. Marnie describes “the season’s thrill” (Pg. 72) of the holidays in terms of the warmth and excitement that her friends bring to the cookie club. What are the key elements that form the holidays for you?

Teaching history at Trinity College, Cambridge, is Claire Donovan’s dream come true – until one of her colleagues is found dead on the banks of the River Cam. The only key to the professor’s unsolved murder is the seventeenth-century diary kept by his last research subject, Hannah Devlin, physician to the king’s mistress. As Claire and historian Andrew Kent follow the clues Devlin left behind, they discover the life of an extraordinary woman and a hidden conspiracy involving King Charles II which might still have deadly consequences today.

Questions for discussion

1. What is your first impression of Claire Donovan? What did you think of Andrew Kent at the beginning of the novel? How did your feelings about these characters change throughout the story? What were major turning points for you?
2. The Devlin Diary has two major settings: the court of Charles II and present-day Trinity College, Cambridge. Each of these places has unique characteristics, yet they share a few similarities. How are these two communities similar and how are they different?
3. Claire Donovan and Hannah Devlin are both strong women in predominantly male cultures. How does each woman approach difficult or delicate situations throughout the book? Compare and contrast Claire’s and Hannah’s situations and personalities. Which female character did you relate to more? Why?
4. What motivates Hannah Devlin to step beyond the circumscribed role of a respectable woman in seventeenth-century London society? What does Hannah appear to sacrifice by flouting society’s conventions?
5. Lord Arlington tells Hannah “You are a woman, after all” and Hannah thinks “A woman, after all. Something inferior to man is his implication – what all men imply when they speak of the ‘weaker’ sex, the ‘gentler’ sex, a woman’s ‘modesty’.” (pages 253-254) Do you believe that either Claire or Hannah is a feminist? Why or why not? What does it mean to be a feminist?
6. Many of the characters in this novel harbor secrets from others and many characters are not entirely honest with themselves. Which characters in both the historical and contemporary stories seem straightforward and at ease with themselves and their desires?
7. Ralph Montagu and Edward Strathern , two very different male characters, are attracted to Hannah Devlin. Do the same aspects of Hannah’s character attract each man? How did your opinion of each man change during the course of the novel?
8. What is the role of Theophilus Ravenscroft in the novel? Do you believe the author inserted him in the historical story merely to provide some comic relief? Does he have a counterpart in the contemporary story?
9. How is Colbert de Croissy, the French ambassador, different from the English courtiers at King Charles’s court? What differences between French and English cultures during the late seventeenth-century do you infer from the novel?
10. How does the author use language and imagery to bring the characters to life? Did the novel’s characters or style remind you of another novel in any way?
11. Several characters during the course of the novel seem to have ulterior motives or act oddly. “Odd is simply odd – anyone can see it. Or, at least, most people can see it, if they’re paying attention.” (page 264) Claire points out that Andrew Kent does not seem to have the ability to notice when someone is acting oddly. Do you believe that women have this innate ability more often then men?
12. Whose story is The Devlin Diary? If you had to pick one, is it Claire’s story or is it Hannah’s? Why? Who changes the most from the beginning to the end?
13. How did this book touch your life? Did it inspire you to do or learn something new?

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