Introduction

A touching new novel from bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand in which a woman sets out to find love for those closest to her - before it's too late.

48-year-old Nantucketer Dabney Kimball Beech has always had a gift for matchmaking. Some call her ability mystical, while others - like her husband, celebrated economist John Boxmiller Beech, and her daughter, Agnes, who is clearly engaged to the wrong man - call it meddlesome, but there's no arguing with her results: With 42 happy couples to her credit and all of them still together, Dabney has never been wrong about romance.

Never, that is, except in the case of herself and Clendenin Hughes, the green-eyed boy who took her heart with him long ago when he left the island to pursue his dream of becoming a journalist. Now, after spending 27 years on the other side of the world, Clen is back on Nantucket, and Dabney has never felt so confused, or so alive.

But when tragedy threatens her own second chance, Dabney must face the choices she's made and share painful secrets with her family. Determined to make use of her gift before it's too late, she sets out to find perfect matches for those she loves most. The Matchmaker is a heartbreaking story about losing and finding love, even as you're running out of time.

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Discussion Questions

1. The Matchmaker is told from multiple points of view. How does seeing Dabney through other people’s eyes change or enhance your view of her?

2. It’s been thirty years since Dabney last saw Clendenin Hughes, and yet his sudden reappearance in her life provokes intense emotions. Have you ever had a similar experience? Does love ever completely disappear, even long after a relationship has ended?

3. Dabney is never wrong about romance…except when it comes to her own relationships. What do you make of this paradox? Do you know anyone who reminds you of Dabney? Is Dabney’s obsession with matchmaking a way of protecting herself? If so, from what?

4. Dabney lives and breathes Nantucket. Do you see her intense bond with the island as a source of strength, or weakness? Does it hold her back, or is it inextricable from who she is?

5. How does Hilderbrand juxtapose Dabney’s relationships with the two men in her life -- Box and Clendenin? Are there parallels between the two relationships, and how do they differ? What does each man offer Dabney?

6. Do you find Dabney to be a sympathetic character? In what ways is she flawed? How would you behave if you were in her shoes? Which path – and which man – would you choose? What steps would you take for the future of those you love—a future that may not include you?

7. Do you think Hilderbrand is condoning adultery? Should we forgive Dabney for her infidelity to Box? Why or why not?

8. The Matchmaker is full of heartbreaking contradictions. How could Clendenin accept a life apart from his soul mate and their child? How could Dabney love one man, but marry another? What do such contradictions suggest about the nature of love? Do they ring true to your own experience?

9. Agnes’s fiancé, CJ, is not an easy guy to like. What do you think draws Agnes to him?

10. Do you see any hope in the midst of the tragedy that ends this novel?

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Weblinks

»	Author Elin Hilderbrand's web site
»	Special Book Club Kit for Matchmaker

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