A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries
by Kaylie Jones
List Price: $12.00
Pages: 176
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0060977558
Publisher: HarperCollins
In 1964, Charlotte-Anne "Channe" Willis is four years old. She lives with her
famous father, an American expatriate writer, and her socialite mother in an
apartment overlooking the Seine River in Paris. Charles de Gaulle is
president, America's involvement in Vietnam is not yet a global issue, and
something has just happened that will change Channe's life forever.
Channe is used to having what little attention her preoccupied parents
devote to child rearing all to herself. When her parents illegally adopt a little
French boy, Benoit, who is her same age, Channe is jealous and treats him
as an intruder. Having to share with him her parents' love and limited
time--particularly her father's--she grows both fiercely resentful and
protective of her new sibling.
As the years progress and the family moves to New York, Channe wavers
between feelings of love and jealousy for her brother, while simultaneously
exploring sexual and emotional relationships with other boys. But soon after
they nestle in their new small town on Long Island, Channe is forced to
cope with the rapidly declining health of the man she loves the most: her
complex father. In the midst of this harrowing struggle and her mother's
alcoholic depression, the truth about her brother's parentage is revealed. As
Channe becomes obsessed with his mysterious past and begins to
confront the ghosts of that long-ago sibling rivalry, she realizes that it is only
through her brother that she'll find solace.
Told with all the compassion, verve and wit that one would expect from the
author, this uncommon coming-of-age story explores the complex and
volatile relationship between a brother and sister who learn to love and
respect each other for what they were as children--and what they have
become as adults.
top of the page
1.In "The Suitcase" chapter, what effect does Channe's repeated use of the phrase "the little brother," when referring to Benoit, have on her family--as well as the reader?
2. Most people would assume that Channe is living a privileged lifestyle. In what ways would such an assumption be true/not true? What would it be like to be the child of a famous writer and expatriate parents?
3. What effect does her father's instruction that "a soldier's daughter never cries" have on Channe's behavior and life?
4. What external events occur to alter the relationship of Channe and Billy as the novel progresses?
5. Consider Channe's expression of her sexuality. Is Channe's father too permissive with her or is his way of dealing with his daughter's sexuality healthier for both parent and child than more restrictive approaches?
6. Why does Channe think her father is "the most trustworthy person I know, honest to a fault?" What is the nature of Channe's relationship with her father? And Billy's?
7.From Bill's viewpoint, why is it okay for the Willis children to spend their formative years in Paris but preferable to spend their adolescence in the States?
8. Why is Channe unwilling to stick up for her brother in difficult situations and why is Billy, conversely, so fanatically loyal to her? From where does Billy get his principles, his deep-rooted sense of what is right?
9.Describe Channe's feelings for Billy. Why is she resentful of him? Why is she protective? What are some of the events which make her feel differently about him?
10.Considering some of the examples of mothers or mother substitutes that the novel offers--Marcella, Candida, Veronique, and Veronique's mother. What constitutes a good mother and how do these various women measure up?
11. With Channe and Billy so clearly adoring and favoring their father, how does this in turn effect their relationship with their mother, Marcella? Billy is protective and nurturing toward her, and when details about his biological mother surface, he insists that he has only one mother, remaining loyal to Marcella. But what does Channe think of her mother? And what is Marcella's relationship to her two roles: wife and mother?
top of the page
