Introduction

How far would you go to protect your children? Would you do it at the expense of your marriage? How far would you go to protect yourself?
     For Susannah Delaney, the answers lie thousands of miles away, off the northwest corner of Washington state. When Susannah discovers her young son is being bullied and her adolescent daughter is spinning out of control, she moves them to remote Sounder Island in the San Juans to live off the grid for a year. Susannah hopes to save her children from the risks they've encountered at home, and to come to terms with her own haunted past. But the move threatens her marriage to the man she's loved since childhood, and her very sense of self.
     For Betty Pavalak, who first moved to Sounder to save her own troubled marriage, the island has been a haven for more than fifty years. But Betty also knows the guilt of living with choices she made long ago and actions that cannot be undone.The unlikely friendship between Susannah and Betty ignites a journey of self-discovery for both women that brings them both home to what they love most. A SIMPLE THING moves beyond friendship, children, and marriages to look deeply into what it means to love and forgive--yourself.

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Excerpt

I’m not running away, Susannah told herself. After all, what she was doing could hardly be called “running away” when she was bringing her kids with her—including the child who, to be honest, she’d rather leave behind. She wasn’t leaving Matt, even though half the town thought so. This wasn’t about Matt, although he could have been a little more involved—okay, a lot more involved. She was doing exactly what she had sworn to do from that moment fourteen years ago when the nurse had first placed fierce newborn Katie into her arms: She was protecting her children.

The ferry began to move, and Susannah gripped the green iron railing with both hands and tried to still the fear rising in her chest. The blue-gray water rose in soft swells around the boat, and small whitecaps crowned the waves. It’s going to be okay, she said to herself. The breeze caught her hair and whipped it around her face and for a moment she forgot her fear and felt a sudden sense of freedom. I’m really doing this. I’m leaving all that behind. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

1.) Was Susannah’s decision to take her children to Sounder ultimately selfish or selfless? Was it fair to her husband, Matt? What lessons did it teach her children? Who benefited most from the decision, Susannah or her kids? How do you imagine their lives were changed when they returned?
2.) Why did Betty move to Sounder? Do you agree with her decision? What could she have done differently?
3.) Can you relate to Susannah’s desire to protect her children? Is her decision to go to Sounder reasonable given the circumstances? Why or why not?
4.) Many of the characters in the book—especially Susannah, Betty, and Lila, Susannah’s mother— struggle with feelings of shame. Barefoot tells Betty she needs to learn the difference between guilt and shame: “It’s okay to feel guilty about something you do. But this shame—this feeling badly about who you are—it’s unnecessary, and it’s wrong.” What could Susannah have done to help herself feel less shame? What about Lila?
5.) Could Susannah have achieved what she achieved in the book if she had stayed at home?

Weblinks

»	Check out the Publisher's book info
»	Author Kathleen McCleary's web site
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