— A U T H O R B I O — — R E A D A L I K E S — Donna Tartt is an American writer The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh who received critical acclaim for her first two novels, The Secret History (1992) and The Little Friend (2002). Tartt was the 2003 winner of the WH Smith Literary Award for The Little The story of a woman whose Friend. gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even The daughter of Don and Taylor Tartt, as she struggles to overcome she was born in Greenwood, Missis- her own past sippi but raised 32 miles away in Gre- nada, Mississippi. At age five, she wrote her first poem, and she first saw publication in a Mississippi literary review when she was 13 years old. Enrolling in the University of Mississippi in 1981, she pledged Great Expectations by Charles Dickens to the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma. Her writing caught the attention of Willie Morris while she was a freshman. Follow- ing a recommendation from Morris, Barry Hannah, then an The orphan, Pip, and the convict, Ole Miss Writer-in-Residence, admitted Tartt into his gradu- Magwitch, the beautiful Estella, ate short story course where, stated Hannah, she ranked higher than the graduate students. Following the suggestion and her guardian, the embittered of Morris and others, she transferred to Bennington College and vengeful Miss Havisham, the in 1982. ambitious lawyer, Mr. Jaggers -- all Tartt began writing her first novel, originally titled "The God have a part to play in the mystery. of Illusions" and later published as The Secret History, during “A glorious, Dickensian novel, a her second year at Bennington. She novel that pulls together all Ms. graduated from Bennington Tartt's remarkable storytelling in 1986. After Ellis Rock, Paper, Scissors by Naja Marie Aidt recommended her work to literary agent Amanda Urban, talents into a rapturous, The Secret History was published in 1992, and sold symphonic whole and reminds out its original print-run of Her world upended by the death of a the reader of the immersive, 75,000 copies, becoming a beloved artist uncle who was the bestseller. It has been only person who understood her, stay-up-all-night pleasures of translated into 24 languages. fourteen-year-old June is mailed a teapot by her uncle's grieving friend, reading." Tartt's second novel, The -New York Times Little Friend, was published in with whom June forges a poignant October 2002. Tartt's long- relationship. awaited third novel, The Goldfinch, was published in 2013. (Source: Goodreads.com, 2016) (Source: NoveList Plus, 2016) — D I S C U S S I O N Q U E S T I O N S — — S U M M A R Y — 1) Theo’s life revolves around physical objects, but it is also you were one of the grown-ups in Theo's life, what would you say It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New dictated by the tragedy of chance. Discuss how these forces differently to him? Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his shape Theo. mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the 10) Apart from Hobie, Pippa and Theo’s mother, most of The family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new 2) Donna Tartt has said that the Goldfinch painting was the Goldfinch’s characters are deeply flawed and/or egomaniacal. home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't "guiding spirit" of the book. How so and what do you think Why does Tartt populate the novel with so many antiheroes? Of know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his she meant? What does the painting represent in the novel? them, including Xandra, Kitsey and Mrs. Barbour in the sup- unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing porting cast, who is your favorite and why? that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating 3) Tartt has said that, "Reading's no good unless it's fun. The painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of one quality I look for in books (and it's very hard to find), but I 11) In your opinion, who was the true hero in this book? Why? art. love that childhood quality of gleeful, greedy reading, can't- As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms get-enough-of-it, what's-happening-to-these-people, the 12) Why was so much time spent describing the drug scenes? Did of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store breathless kind of turning of the pages. That's what I want in this detract or add to the book? Why were these scenes where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the cen- a book.” In other words, a good book should propel readers necessary? ter of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. from page to page, in part because they care about the characters. Has Tartt accomplished that in The Goldfinch? 13) Give three examples of characters forgiving other characters The Goldfinch combines vivid characters, mesmerizing lan- Does the story engage you? Do you care about the charac- for things they had done in this story. guage, and suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's ters? 14) Tartt asks us to consider whether or not our world is orderly, calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is an 4) Reflecting on his mother’s funeral, Theo refers to “the whether events follow a pattern (which could indicate an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self- place where words didn’t work.” Identify other moments in underlying meaning), or whether everything that happens is invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate. the novel where language fails. simply random—like the explosion that killed Theo's mother. What does Theo's father believe...and what does Theo believe? (Source: Goodreads.com, 2016) 5) David Copperfield famously says in the first line of Do Theo's views by the end of the story? Dickens's book, “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will beheld by anybody 15) How do you feel about the final chapter’s meta-narrative else, these pages must show.” Because of the many turn, in which Theo pivots to address his reader directly? Are his comparisons made between Dickens's work and The summative philosophic musings helpful or heavy handed? How Goldfinch, that same question could rightfully be asked by would you have closed the novel? Theo Decker. What do you think? Is Theo the "hero" of his own life? What, in fact, does it mean to be the "hero" of a novel? 6) How convincingly does Tartt write about Theo's grief and his survival guilt? Discuss the ways in which Theo manifests the depth of his loss and his sense of desolation? 7) What, if any, were the positives about Theo's father? 8) What do you think of Andy's family: especially Andy himself and Mrs. Barbour? Are we meant to like the family? Is Mrs. Barbour pleased or resentful about having to take Theo in. What about the family as it appears later in the book when Theo re-enters its life? Were you surprised at Mrs. Barbour's reaction to seeing Theo again? 9) Talk about the ways in which the numerous adults at his school try, to no avail, to help Theo work through his grief. If (Source: LitLovers.com and Readinggroupguides.com, 2016) .