Introduction

Set in smalltown upstate New York, Lily spends a summer at Stone Creek while her powerful, workaholic husband, Paul, is home in New York City. Their once passionate marriage, has fizzled somewhat under the weight of Lily's childless sadness. While Lily is a vulnerable character, you get the sense of a quiet, penetrating power within her. One that Danny (ten years younger) rugged, sexy, outdoorsy thirty-something widower is drawn to and they form a very realistic and compassionate bond. Danny's son Caleb is swept up by Lily, too. It's well done and there are some nice moments between even the minor characters. Get tissues ready.

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Excerpt

Chapter One

In a house in the woods on the outskirts of a small town seventy miles northwest of New York City, Danny Malloy wakes with the dawn. There was a time when he woke gently, rising through the layers of his own soft darkness until his consciousness emerged, whole and round and perched on the radiant horizon of his day. Now he wakes rudely, abruptly, in a recurring state of shock, tangled in his bedcovers. There was a time when he slept without moving, her hand always somewhere on him, stilling any urge to restlessness or disquiet. Now disquiet takes possession of him in those dark hours. There is too much space in his bed and he thrashes in his sleep, blindly seeking what is missing. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

All three characters believe that they have met the love of their life. Danny thoughtTarawas the love of his life. Lily and Paul each believe the other is the love they were destined for. Do you believe there can only be onetruelove? Or is it possible to love again with the same kind of depth and fulfillment?
The book purposely brings up, without judgment, some of the many ways, motives and reasons why people are unfaithful to their committed partners, or to their idea of moral rightness. Do you think infidelity is ever justified? Can it be a good thing under the right circumstances? Do you think its ever justified to act in opposition to your own sense of what’s morally right? What are other reasons, not explored in this book, that might cause someone to take such an action?
Each of the main characters in the book experiences a loss that paralyzes him or her in some way. Danny’s loss is the most obvious; what loss do you think each of the other characters—Lily, Paul, Eve—suffer from? Do you think they all succeed in forgiving? Do you think that the act of forgiving, in each case, allows that person to move on with his or her life?
In reading about the beginning of their marriage, Lily’s and Paul’s relationship seems to be in perfect balance. How do you think this changes and what does Danny offer that Lily hasn’t gotten in her relationship with Paul? Do you think Danny envisions the same intimacy in a relationship with Lily as he had withTara?
Danny believes that he and Tara would never have had the problems that Lily and Paul have. Do you agree? Why? What are the differences in the two relationships?
Lily wonders which is worse – to lose something vital that you’ve had, or to have never had it at all; is one worse than the other and why? The reactions of the outside world are different in each case—when you lose something you had, the world notices and grieves with you. If you lose something you want but don’t get, does the world notice? How do you grieve differently for a private loss rather than a public one? Do you think one process is easier than the other?
Lily’s love for Danny is inextricably bound to her love and need for Caleb. They two of them bring up the two most primal urges in a woman/person: sex and parenthood. Would she have fallen in love with Danny if he didn’t have a son, or if she didn’t yearn for a child?
Danny’s feelings for Lily go deeper than her resemblance to his dead wife. What is he responding to in her? Do you think they could have had a future together?
Do you think that Danny was right to give Eve Tara's journal?Why do you think he chose to do that? Who do you think it helped more, Danny or Eve? What does his act say about his feelings toward Eve and about his grieving overTara? What do you think Eve’s reaction to what she reads would be? Do you think she will feel differently about Tara and Danny afterward?
Lily faces one of the toughest decisions a person can face—torn between loving two people and having to choose one. Did Lily make the right decision in staying with Paul? What do you think would have happened if she had chosen Danny? What do you think are her reasons for her choice?
Lily and Danny will see one another again - they are determined not to lose their friendship, and Caleb’s happiness. What do you think will happen when they do? Do you think it’s possible for two people, who feel the way they do about each other, to remain just friends? Can very strong feelings for a person morph into something just as strong, and yet different?

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