2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #1 discussion

The author of the instant New York Times best seller This Tender Land returns with a powerful prequel to his acclaimed Cork O’Connor series - a book about fathers and sons, long-simmering conflicts in a small Minnesota town, and the events that echo through youth and shape our lives forever.

Aurora is a small town nestled in the ancient forest alongside the shores of Minnesota’s Iron Lake. In the summer of 1963, it is the whole world to 12-year-old Cork O’Connor, its rhythms as familiar as his own heartbeat. But when Cork stumbles upon the body of a man he revered hanging from a tree in an abandoned logging camp, it is the first in a series of events that will cause him to question everything he took for granted about his hometown, his family, and himself.

Cork’s father, Liam O’Connor, is Aurora’s sheriff, and it is his job to confirm that the man’s death was the result of suicide, as all the evidence suggests. In the shadow of his father’s official investigation, Cork begins to look for answers on his own. Together, father and son face the ultimate test of choosing between what their heads tell them is true and what their hearts know is right.

In this masterful story of a young man and a town on the cusp of change, beloved novelist William Kent Krueger shows that some mysteries can be solved even as others surpass our understanding.

Setting
Aurora, Minnesota

Prologue
Part One - Suicide (Summer 1963)
Chapters 1 - 35

Part Two - Murder
Chapters 36 - 61

Epilogue

Character List
(view spoiler)[
Corcoran (Cork) O’Connor: Son of Liam O’Connor, the county sheriff, and Colleen, who is part Anishinaabe. He’s 12-years old.
Jorge Patterson: One of Cork’s best friends. He’s Latino and his mother works for other MacDermid family, one of the town’s wealthiest.
Billy Downwind: One of Cork’s best friends. He’s Anishinaabe and visiting from California.
Liam O’Connor: Sheriff of Tamarack County. He’s married to Colleen and the father of their son, Cork.
Colleen O’Connor: Liam’s wife and Cork’s mother. She’s part Anishinaabe.
Grandma Dilsey O’Connor: Colleen’s mother and Cork’s grandmother. She lives on the reservation. Her husband was a distant cousin of Liam’s father.
Patrick (Paddy) O’Connor: Dilsey’s husband and Colleen’s father. He was the Tamarack County school superintendent. He died shortly after Cork was born.
Joe Meese: Deputy sheriff.
Cy Borkman: Deputy sheriff.
Otto Pendergast: Night duty officer.
Ruth Rustad: Clerk in the Sheriff’s Office.
Sigurd Nelson: County coroner and owner of the only funeral home in Aurora.
Henry Meloux: Anishinaabe Mide, or healer, known for his wisdom. He’s a member of the Grand Medicine Society.
Sam Winter Moon: Anishinaabe owner of a thriving burger joint, Sam’s Place, and Liam’s good friend.
Big John Manydeeds: County nature guide who was found hanged in Lightning Strike.
Oscar Manydeeds: Big John’s half brother.
Jeanette Downwind: Oscar’s sister and Billy’s mother.
Carla Patterson: Jorge’s mother. She works at Glengarrow, the estate owned by the MacDermid family.
Duncan MacDermid: Wealthy owner of the North Star iron mines. He’s married to Mary Margaret.
Mary Margaret MacDermid: Duncan’s wife.
Aurelia MacDermid: Duncan’s ailing mother.
Nicholas (Nick) Skinner: Duncan’s lawyer. He’s seeing Carla.
Father Cameron Ferguson: Priest at St. Agnes.
Sarah Andersen: Along with her sister Kim, owner of Borealis Outfitters. They employed Big John as a guide.
Kim Krabill: Along with her sister Sarah, owner of Borealis Outfitters.
Babette Pflugleman: Pretty wife of the pharmacist. She’s part Anishinaabe and Italian.
Ben Svenson: Owner of the Crooked Pine, a bar. He’s David’s brother.
David Svenson: aka Doctor Dave. Veterinarian and owner of the North Star Veterinary Clinic. He’s married to Moira and is Ben’s brother.
Calvin LaRose: Anishinaabe man from Leech Lake whose daughter is missing.
Louise LaRose: Calvin’s 15-year old granddaughter.
Bud Fassbinder: County attorney.
Jackson: Cork’s dog.
(hide spoiler)]

Spoiler Info
(view spoiler)[
Mary Margaret was having an affair with Big John.

Ben Svenson, David Svenson and Nick Skinner went on a fishing trip in the Boundary Waters. Ben brought Louise and it’s believed they might have assaulted her. She drowned and Big John witnessed it. David Svenson shot him with a tranquilizer gun and they killed him. (hide spoiler)]

I really enjoyed reading this story.

I just finished it this morning and found it extraordinary.

I liked it very much too. Cork turned out very much like his father didn't he!

I definitely saw his father in him.

This is the first Cork book I've read. Really looking forward to continuing the series!

Jo Ann, I wish we’d had this at the beginning of the series. It takes multiple books to understand Cork and having this background explains a lot.

I was thinking about posting just a few discussion questions. Are you ladies interested?

Jonetta wrote: "I was thinking about posting just a few discussion questions. Are you ladies interested?"

*raising hand*

Okay!

I’ll get started.

Discussion questions are now posted!

I completely missed that we are reading this book. I'll add to my catch up list.

Sharon, I just had it on my plan and set it up here on my own so I could create the character list to go along with the other books. The discussion questions just came about organically, without a plan😏

Jonetta is very good at writing discussion questions.

Thank you, Phrynne.