BKMT READING GUIDES

Skizzer: A Novel
by A. J. Kiesling

Published: 2008-01-01
Paperback : 249 pages
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Two sisters. Many unanswered questions. One undiscovered past. Claire Trowling is on a quest. It’s June, 2001, and she has just received news of her sister Becca’s abrupt disappearance. After finding a stack of mysterious letters bound by a rare necklace, Claire leaves her home in North ...
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Introduction

Two sisters. Many unanswered questions. One undiscovered past. Claire Trowling is on a quest. It’s June, 2001, and she has just received news of her sister Becca’s abrupt disappearance. After finding a stack of mysterious letters bound by a rare necklace, Claire leaves her home in North Carolina and heads to England—the source of the heirloom—for answers. Soon she realizes she must piece together the shadowy remnants of a past she’s long forgotten in order to save her family’s future. Suspenseful and full of intrigue, Skizzer is a dramatic tale of a sister’s race to discover her true beginnings amidst the secrets that hold her family captive. But are some secrets better left uncovered? Join the transcontinental hunt for answers and discover the truth.

Editorial Review

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Excerpt

Gideon, North Carolina
June 2001

The events of the summer that changed our lives might never have come together as they did if I had not stopped for fast food before reaching my aunt’s house near Raleigh. In a sense, that one simple decision affected all our lives—the way a fallen log in a river diverts water into a tributary, slowly over time. You don’t notice the difference at fi rst. Then you wake up one day and realize that where you are is not where you meant to be going, that the person you’ve become is not who you thought you’d be. And that deductive reasoning—working backward in time, over all the details and events—leads you squarely to that one moment that turned out to be the genesis of change. By the time I crossed the Virginia–North Carolina border the rain had spent itself to little more than a drizzle. The wind lashed at my windshield, and in spite of the muggy air outside I felt a chill run down my spine. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. Read the first paragraph of the book. Is there some event or time in your life that you can point to when everything started to change? What was it? How are things different months or years down the line?

2. Childhood memories are important in Claire’s search for Becca. How do your own childhood memories inform your life today? Do you find it meaningful to search your past?

3. Becca’s disappearance caused her sister and her husband a lot of anxiety and worry. Do you think it was fair for her to leave like that with no explanation? How would you have handled the situation as one of the ones left behind?

4. Have you ever taken a trip that changed your life? Where did you go? What did you do? How are you different because of it?

5. Every family has secrets. Who is the keeper of your family’s secrets? What is the most surprising thing you have discovered about your family? What other secrets do you suspect people might be keeping? Do you keep any secrets from your family?

6. Do you believe in evil spirits? Why or why not? If yes, do you fear them? Why or why not?

7. Who was your first love? Was he someone older? Someone out-of-bounds? Did he return your affections? Or did you keep your feelings to yourself?

8. Claire worries that she is past the point of finding true love. Is there a time when the possibilities for love are ended? Is there a benefit to finding a love later in life?

9. Place plays an important role in this story—North Carolina, England, the huge old house, the shack in the woods. How does the sense of place change the way you read this story? Would the story be essentially the same or dramatically different if it was set in urban Chicago and Brazil, or some other places?

10. What do you think comes next for these characters?

Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

Dear readers,

The story of Skizzer has been simmering in the back of my mind for the past twenty years, and I tried to start it two or three times but never felt "ready" until about five years ago. One contributing factor to these fits and starts was that I simply hadn't lived enough, experienced enough, to make the story come alive (for me--this isn't true of all authors). A second impediment was point of view. All my life I had heard that third person is the easiest POV for storytelling, and so I dutifully set out to write in the third person. It felt clunky for some reason, and the minute I switched to first person the words--and the storyline--flowed. I finally heard my main character, Claire, speaking to me.

The theme of sisterhood threaded through my growing up years in North Carolina and marked me in a powerful way, although when you're young you don't think about things like themes and symbols. Not surprisingly, sisterhood is the central theme in Skizzer, coupled with the idea that the people you think you know best don't always turn out to be who you thought they were.

As a child, the woods were my playground, and my siblings and I would romp in them unfettered by fear (it was a different time back then) until our mother rang the dinner bell, calling us home for supper. Not until I reached adulthood did I realize how deeply those woods impacted me. Like sisterhood, woods and full moons make a strong showing in the pages of Skizzer, anchoring readers to the places as I remember them. A final note: the Rectory Inn with its beguiling stone church is a real place I visited in England in 1997, years before the story took shape. It was a place so vibrant in my memory that it's no wonder it finally found a "home" in this book. I hope you enjoy reading Skizzer.

A.J. Kiesling

October 2007

Book Club Recommendations

Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
  "Would not recommend"by Erika G. (see profile) 03/04/08

This book was not very good. The story was very predictable, and I felt like the religious aspect at the end was "forced", as if the author suddenly remembered she had to fit it in somewhere. My book... (read more)

 
  "Want to read more."by Faye H R. (see profile) 01/17/08

Got confused at first between "nearing Raleigh from VA/NC line", then the reference to "coming from Florida"???
Definitely want to read this story.....looking forward to the book!

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