BKMT READING GUIDES
What the Heart Knows (The Milford-Haven Novels)
by Mara Purl
Paperback : 180 pages
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Introduction
The peaceful coastal town of Milford-Haven is unaware that reporter Chris Christian is being murdered while investigating a half-built house on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Artist Miranda Jones encounters oil magnate Zack Calvin who might be the man of her dreams. Meanwhile on Main Street, Sally is dishing up home cooking and perfecting her eavesdropping on everything from Jack Sawyer's nefarious building practices to Environmental Planning Commissioner Samantha Hugo's secret journal.
The Milford-Haven novels center on the fictitious town of Milford-Haven, in the Central Coast of California. Based on the popular radio drama Milford-Haven USA, the story (which will be completed in 12 novels) chronicles the involvement of town residents and visitors in multiple issues including: romantic relationships, ecology, coastal development and erosion, off-shore oil rigs, adoption, the search for lost children and parents, battered women and domestic violence, espionage and journalism.
Excerpt
Chapter 20from Samantha Hugo’s Journal
(Volume 47, maroon cloth cover)
Written at The Cove
There’s a woman in the post office I don’t know well, but often see. When she saw me carrying my journal, she asked if I wrote in it every day. No, I said, but often. Oh, brother, she said, I could fill it up for you. We laughed, but I sensed her pain. ...
view entire excerpt...
Discussion Questions
Book Club and Reading Group GuideTopics for Discussion "What the Heart Knows"
1. What are the dynamics of a small town? What is nurturing and supportive about a small town? What is intrusive and destructive?
2. Why do people keep journals? Why does Samantha keep a journal? What function does journal writing perform in her life? Is Samantha in crisis? At what point have we encountered her in her life?
3. Is Chris careful or foolhardy? Does she place her job or her personal life first? Was her trip to the Clarke house impetuous or well calculated?
4. Why is Jack so angry? What in his background might have happened to Jack to cause his emotionally abusive behavior toward the people in his life?
5. What makes an artist essentially different from other people? As an artist, what are Miranda's priorities?
6. Why do some women manipulate every personal and business relationship? What are Zelda's motives? What's her history? Why is Cynthia so calculating at such a young age?
7. What is Zack's attraction to Cynthia? What is his ambivalence toward her? What attracts him about Miranda?
8. How does a person tell whether or not they've met the "right" person? Is Miranda responding to a deep and soulful recognition when she meets Zack? Is she wise in pursuing a relationship with him, or is she treading on dangerous ground?
9. Why is this book called What The Heart Knows? Does this phrase apply only to Samantha and her journal writing? How might this apply to Miranda's meeting Zack? To what extent does Sally trust what her heart knows? As the title for the first of a series of twelve books, is it possible this is a theme for Milford-Haven itself, and everyone who's drawn to the town?
Notes From the Author to the Bookclub
As a former journalist who wrote for the Associated Press, The Financial Times of London, Rolling Stone, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Mainichi Daily News, Mara Purl was trained to do extensive research and to report accurately. How might her journalistic background have influenced her as a novelist?Book Club Recommendations
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