Book Club for Introverts discussion

Here are our chapter discussion threads to discuss as we read.

We will also be doing a group discussion beginning on 3/28 that will cover the entire book.

Just finished chapter 3, but I'm having a little trouble getting settled into this book. Not loving the characters yet, but we'll see...

I'm listening to the book and really enjoying it. I don't usually read anything close to romance, but I loved when Tom asked Izzy why she sent him the first letter, and she said "I've never sent a letter to a lighthouse before."

I thought this was classic:

reporting that his wife was signaling to passing ships by stringing up messages in the colored flags of the International Code. This was unsatisfactory to the authorities for two reasons: first, because the Deputy Director of Lighthouses had some years previously forbidden signaling by flags on Janus, as vessels put themselves at risk by sailing close enough to decipher them; and secondly, because the wife in question was recently deceased.

This grabbed me, as well. I’ll bet many of us felt that way about the place where we grew up.

Throughout its infancy, the unspoken belief in Partageuse was that real things happened elsewhere.

I’ve read this book before, years ago. It’s fun to read it again. I hope I find new things to think about as I take the journey again. I’m struck by the joy Tom feels as he sees Isabel throwing the bread to the seagulls. It’s like a tiny piece of him that he thought was dead forever has awakened. He seems very fragile and wounded. We know she ends up with him on Janus and we know he loves her. We also know there is still great sadness. I often crave silence and aloneness. I see his first night on Janus alone as a respite. Chaos is sure to come.

It seems isolation is a key element in many good books. I also crave quiet and being alone. Not that I don’t enjoy my family, but it’s something I need.

Tom was so convincing about taking this post as if he was needing a long respite from something tragic. I like Isabel and I think she could be good for Tom.