This time our "game" was to draw statements about the book and say whether or not we agreed with them and why. Some of them were about the writing, some of them were about the events in the book, some of them were about the characters. The statements were meant as a kind of provocation and they really worked in that people were very vocal in their reasons for their answers and others jumped in with their opinions as well.
Most of us had grown up during the time period this book was set in so we could remember what it was like for people returning from the Vietnam war and the state of women's rights at that time. Imagining Alaska at that time was trickier but even those of us with less knowledge about that thought the Allbright family would have had an even more difficult time than Hannah portrayed. We talked about the pacing of the book and all agreed that it felt rushed toward the end and somewhat implausible. At first, most people seemed to feel that Hannah had not added too much to the book, but during discussion, we did agree that there were somethings that were more than needed to be added. And we agreed that the ending would have been better had it not been so "happily ever after."
This one was a hit with everyone and has a lot to discuss. We'd definitely recommend it for other book clubs.
