Christian Fiction Devourers discussion

A transporting historical novel about a promising young inventor, his struggle with loss, and the attractive teacher who changes his life, all set against the razzle-dazzle of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Gambling everything, including the family farm, Cullen McNamara travels to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with his most recent invention. But the noise in the Fair’s Machinery Palace makes it impossible to communicate with potential buyers. In an act of desperation, he hires Della Wentworth, a teacher of the deaf, to tutor him in the art of lip-reading.


The young teacher is reluctant to participate, and Cullen has trouble keeping his mind on his lessons while intently watching her lips. Like the newly invented Ferris Wheel, he is caught in a whirl between his girl back home, his dreams as an inventor, and his unexpected attraction to his new tutor. Can he keep his feet on the ground, or will he be carried away?

Just heard from Deeanne Gist. She is traveling this month with a busy schedule: now in Chicago, then on to San Diego, and finally just before Thanksgiving she'll be in South Carolina. So if you live close to those areas, find out where she will be. She will try and drop in to our discussion if she is able. We will begin discussion as usual mid-November.

I'm reading this book right now and loving it so far. I adore the pictures before each chapter so I can visualize what the exposition really looked like. Who's jumping in for this read? Give a holler out.

I'm jumpin' in! I need a lighter read and enjoyed Gist's previous works.

I hope I am posting this correctly. I just finished the book.

Summary

At first I wasn't liking the book but the more I read the better I like it. I simply adored Cullen and Della. Glad I finished it. It was well worth it.

Glad you enjoyed it Mary. I loved Cullen and Della as well.

I just finished the book, too, and I wish there was more of it to read. I wonder what they are up to today. This was my first historical fiction book. I think the author is very good with descriptions. As a writer, I'm taught to be careful with changing point of view too much. At first I thought the author didn't know what she was doing in that regard, but thinking back, I think she handled it the best way.

Jody, I've written/published 17 books now, all traditionally published with known publishers. I've had as many as 6 POV characters and as few as one. The key is to not jump from one POV to another in the same scene. It's perfectly acceptable to have more than one POV in a chapter, as long as you start a new scene with each shift. Having more than one POV character allows for more depth--the reader is able to get a much deeper understanding of that particular character, where if you only have one POV character, the reader is seeing everything from that one character's POV, so they never get the chance to go deep with anyone else. That's one of the main reasons I use multiples most of the time. It truly enriches the read, as long as it's handled properly. Deanna Gist is a pro and while I haven't read this particular book of hers, I know she would have handled it perfectly. :-)

I haven't started it yet, but looking forward to it. I visited St. Louis a couple years ago and toured the former fairgrounds, so I am eager to get started. Thanks for all your comments so far.

For those of you who have finished, have you read any other books by Deeanne Gist? If so, which ones and did you like them?

no that was the first one by her. I will try more as I go.

I have read: and . I particularly like the last two. But they were all good.

It's been so long since I've been able to participate! I actually bought this book at lifeway a few months ago! I'm going to pull it off the shelf within. The next few days and get to reading it! I love Deanne gist books! I think she's a great author!

Heidi wrote: "It's been so long since I've been able to participate! I actually bought this book at lifeway a few months ago! I'm going to pull it off the shelf within. The next few days and get to reading it! I..."

Glad you're joining us Heidi. We'll probably start our discussion this weekend and hopefully Deeanne Gist will be able to join us during her busy schedule.

I am a huge fan of hers! Her latest, this one included, haven't grabbed me like her first though. I still love the history she adds, that's my favorite part. Maid to Match and the Measure of a Lady are my favorite. Light, fun, historical, and romantic!

Here are some questions to start our discussion. Please feel free to add your own questions at any time. Also for those who haven't finished this book, please add SPOILER ALERT if you are going to talk about something that might give away a part in the book that should be a surprise.

1) Why do you think Cullen was so resigned to a life of farming even though it made him miserable due to his allergies?

2) What do you think Cullen's reactions were to his father paying nonrefundable money for Cullen's travel expenses and fair fees?

3) How does Cullen view his girlfriend Wanda, and why do you think he is so hesitant to set a date for their wedding?

4) What makes Adelaide so distrusting of Cullen even when he proves his loyalty and she suspects he's lying? How do you think that defined her character?

Feel free to answer any or all of these questions. I will post more later this week.

Great answers Jade!

This is so much fun to hear everyone's thoughts on the book. I wasn't going to comment because I didn't want anyone to feel censored by my presence, but Loraine promises me that authors are encouraged to participate. So ... here I am! :)

I have particularly enjoyed the discussion questions and answers and look forward to reading more! (Don't hesitate to be honest with your opinion, though. Having a thick skin is one of the requisites of being an author. I'm all about being open, honest and frank. No worries on that score!)

Warmly, Deeanne

Welcome Deeanne. We know you are a busy author and are so pleased to have you join us.

I have a question for you Deanne. What prompted you to focus on this particular exposition? I know that the US has been home to many World's Fairs, so why this particular one.

I've read two Deanne Gist novels...It Happened at the Fair and Tiffany Girl.



As Loraine mentioned earlier on, the pictures before each chapter really add to the understanding of the time period and content. My question for Deanne is what inspired you to add pictures and how much time does that add to completing a novel? Are the pictures made especially for the novel or ones you found?

Thanks so much for joining the discussion!

1. I think Cullen was resigned because he felt he had given his dream of inventing an honest effort and failed. He felt like that door had been closed. I also think he had very little encouragement (beside his father) to do otherwise. In addition, he realized that he was losing his hearing and feared leaving the "safe haven" where he knew he would be accepted regardless.
2. Guilty pleasure. He was getting his dream at his father's expense.
3. Wanda is his best friend, a comfortable companion, but she doesn't understand or encourage his dreams.
4. Della does not trust herself when it comes to men. It is clear that her father has put a fear of men in her head to protect her, and you do not hear the voice of her mother who might have balanced this out. Her lack of confidence in her own decision making overflows into a few other situations as well with her job & her claustrophobia.

I have read this book a couple of times and I am fond of it because of how it handles the lip-reading/signing debate. My brother is severely hearing impaired and functions only by hearing aids & lip reading. Though some aspects of how the deaf are treated have improved, there is still prejudice, and heated debate between the two teaching camps.

I would love to see more authors brave enough to write fiction with deaf or hearing impaired main characters!

Karen wrote: "1. I think Cullen was resigned because he felt he had given his dream of inventing an honest effort and failed. He felt like that door had been closed. I also think he had very little encouragement..."

Karen I am a retired elementary teacher. I took a year of sign language. I totally understand that there is still prejudice and debate about what is best. My opinion has always been use every modality possible because the more avenues they have the better they can succeed. I have a Down's Syndrome niece who is 18 and she learned to sign from her Grandma because her speech is so difficult to understand. She still uses it occasionally. Good responses to the questions.

Here are some more questions for those of you interested. The first is one that Karen touched on.

5. Della is forbidden from teaching sign language to her pupils because if they were to engage in it, they would be branded as different. Hos do you feel about that and has the stigma changed since the 1890's.

6. One of the overarching themes of the culture of America during the World's Fair appeared to be assimilation--if you weren't one of us, you were against us. In what ways did this culture manifest itself during that time period?

7. Did Cullen do the right thing in writing Wanda to break off their engagement? Should he have waited, done it in person, written earlier? What else could he have done?

8. The backdrop of the World's Fair adds a certain ethereal magic to Cullen and Della's relationship. How do you think things would have developed under different circumstances?

Loraine wrote: "Welcome Deeanne. We know you are a busy author and are so pleased to have you join us.

I have a question for you Deanne. What prompted you to focus on this particular exposition? I know that the ..."

Good question. I guess because it was such a turning point for our country, because it had such an impact on our country and culture from that moment forward and because it was the most well-known one. :)

Staci wrote: "I've read two Deanne Gist novels...It Happened at the Fair and Tiffany Girl.



As Loraine mentioned earlier on, the pic..."

My inspiration for using the pictures first came when I was writing *It Happened at the Fair.* I felt that my descriptions couldn't really encapsulate how over-the-top spectacular the fair and buildings were. Since I had a personal library full of books in the public domain with thousands of pictures, I asked the publisher if they'd consider add them--and they said yes!

After that, I felt that in order to make the series have some cohesiveness, I needed to continue with them in each of the following books. The images for *Fair Play* and *Tiffany Girl* were much harder to come by--and those I had to pay to use because they weren't in my personal library. Believe it or not, the publisher won't pay for those. The author has to.

So, in answer to your question, I sunk not only a lot of time into finding just the right images, but also a good amount of revenue. In some cases (in *Tiffany Girl*), I couldn't find the image I wanted or it was ridiculously expensive to license, so I commissioned an artist (Monica Bruenjes) to do renditions for me. That was really special. A few weeks ago, she sent me some of the originals--so exciting!

Karen wrote: "1. I think Cullen was resigned because he felt he had given his dream of inventing an honest effort and failed. He felt like that door had been closed. I also think he had very little encouragement..."

Thank you, Karen. I was amazed to find out about these struggles when I did my research--and even more amazed to find out how very sensitive the topic still is, even today. Thank you so much for your thoughtful post!

Great new questions, Loraine! I can't wait to see y'all's answers! This is so fun! :)

Deeanne wrote: "Great new questions, Loraine! I can't wait to see y'all's answers! This is so fun! :)"

Thanks so much Deeanne for responding to our questions. Glad you are enjoying our discussions, and we are enjoying getting to know you better.

Deeanne wrote: "Staci wrote: "I've read two Deanne Gist novels...It Happened at the Fair and Tiffany Girl.



As Loraine mentioned earli..."

Ooh! That is so interesting!! Thanks so much for sharing the story behind the beautiful and story enhancing pictures. I'm grateful for the investment you've made in adding them.

Staci wrote: "Deeanne wrote: "Staci wrote: "I've read two Deanne Gist novels...It Happened at the Fair and Tiffany Girl.



As Loraine..."

I think so too Staci. It definitely added a special touch to this book.

Thanks to Deeanne Gist for visiting with us. I hope everyone enjoyed our read and discussion.