Please contact me if you’d like me to attend your book club meeting (virtual or in-person).

SPOILER ALERT: You may want to read this guide after you’ve read The Cicada Spring. This guide provides discussion questions to serve as talking points during your book club meeting. I would love to hear your thoughts on the characters and your ideas for future story lines in the series.

  1. The novel provides two very different mother-daughter relationships: Katie and her mother, Clara, and Katie and her daughter, Belle. How are their relationships similar or different? Can you relate to any of their disagreements? Could Katie have done better with either relationship, and if so, how?
  2. The loss of Katie’s mother puts Katie in charge of the family’s legacy, including cleaning out her mother’s house. She finds her mother’s engagement ring, a collection of quilts, and an old diary, plus a lot of worthless junk. But one person’s trash is another’s treasure. If you’ve experienced this situation, what unexpected treasures did you find?
  3. The pandemic is an integral part of the story. How was Katie’s experience similar or different from your life during lockdown? Was the experience eye opening for you in any way? Did you or any of your friends change their career paths during or after their pandemic?
  4. The Beach Bonfire Babes are Katie’s lifeline to her core self, reminding her of the person she used to be before she lost her way. Which one was your favorite and why?
  5. Katie makes a new friend in Miranda. Do you think forgiveness was essential in order for Katie to move on?
  6. Katie and Deke have a budding romance. Do you think Katie is moving too fast, given her past experience with James?
  7. Were you happy that Katie and her brother, Ben, decided not to sell the river house at Bonnie Brae? Do you think the home and what it represents was important to Katie’s recovery?
  8. Bonfire Voices seems to be all things to all people, a gathering place for music, art, book readings, comedy shows, and more. Have you ever visited a gallery like this? Do you think it can survive as a pop-up for a variety of entertainment? Or would you like to see one of the Beach Bonfire Babes take over and turn it into something else? If so, who and what?