Chapter One Nineteen Book Club Reads North Across the River

At right is a picture of charter members of the Chapter One Nineteen Book Club who gathered on Tuesday evening, June 3, to discuss my first book, North Across the River. This was a real treat for me because many of those in the picture are good friends I met through the water aerobics classes at One Nineteen. It was so much fun to discuss the story and how the book came about.

Hats off to Becki Reardon for putting this group together. I'm sure many more good book discussions will take place in the coming months. If anyone in the North Shelby area is interested in this activity, please e-mail me at ruthcook@bellsouth.net, and I will give you the information.

In case anyone else would like to use them, I've posted the study questions we used for our discussion below. Other book clubs are welcome to use them and/or to contact me for more information about the book:

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR NORTH ACROSS THE RIVER
1. Were you aware, before reading this book, that civilians in the South had been deported by Union troops for supporting the Confederacy with their labor?

2. If you had been Synthia Catherine Stewart Boyd, making a phonograph recording for her grandson in the 1940s, what would you have wanted him to remember most about the tale of your experiences during the Civil War?

3. Why do you think the Kendley brothers and sisters chose to remain in Indiana rather than returning to Georgia after the war?

4. What do you think is the significance of the sub-title, “A Civil War Trail of Tears”?

5. Based on this book, how would you compare and contrast the lives of the textile mill workers at that time with those of the antebellum mansion owners we normally think of in connection with pre-Civil War Southern towns?

6. Although this book is non-fiction, dialogue has been created in some places, based on tales handed down in the families of the descendants. Do you think this contributed to or detracted from the narrative?