A Fine Layer of Dust
Book Club Questions
1. On paper, Jake Trenton appears to have it all: A beautiful wife, a daughter who idolizes him, and a solid position in the prestigious law firm where he works. But he wants more. Jake wants to be named a senior partner in his law firm. Sound familiar? Why is it that no matter how much we have, we always want more.
2. Jake’s wife, Sophia, also wants more. She adores Jake, shares the same lovely daughter, Emily, and is curator at the Shelburne Museum, a position that she worked hard to attain. But she also wants to become a surrogate mother. She wants to give a baby to a woman who is unable to have her own. Little does she realize that what she sees as a truly generous act will bring the life she loves crashing down around her. Do we only see the results of our actions in hindsight? Is there ever a thought to the ramifications of a huge decision? Don’t you wish there was?
3. Every move Jake makes is based on proving to his father, Robert, that he is worthy of his father’s love. When a parent withholds love from their child, who is at fault? The parent? Or the parent’s parent? Where does this cruelty begin? Does it ever end?
4. Along with surrogacy and the rescue of beagles from product-testing facilities (a theme I include in all of my books), this novel addresses mental health issues. Jake’s brother, Robbie, suffers from what would have been diagnosed as schizophrenia if he had ever been diagnosed. But a doctor never diagnosed Robbie. Why do you think that was? Why do you think Robert, Robbie’s father, reacted the way he did to Robbie’s condition?
5. Jake tries to be on board with Sophia’s surrogacy, but, ultimately. he fails when Sophia grows bigger, and the pregnancy reminds him of how terrified he was when she was pregnant with Emily. Jake didn’t know if Robbie’s condition was hereditary, and he was terrified to find out. And when Sophia tells him the surrogate baby will be born in June, the same month his brother died, Jake becomes so flustered he walks out of the house. At this point, Sophia doesn’t understand the full story of Robbie’s death. Should Jake have divulged the secret his father forced him to keep? Would Sophia have given up the idea of surrogacy if she had known the secrets in Jake’s family?
6. Jake makes a monumental error and recognizes almost immediately that he needs to ‘fix’ his mistake so that Sophia never discovers his one night with Marianne, the biological mother of Sophia’s baby who Jake has never met. If Marianne hadn’t told Jake that her name was Marcie, do you think Jake would have made the connection as to who Marcie really was? Would that have made a difference to him?
For a short period of time after Jake and Marianne no longer see each other, Jake has some cruel thoughts about her because he is still trying to place his anger with someone else rather than himself. Are thoughts the same as actions? Can we forgive our thoughts if we never act on them?
7. When Jake finally confesses to spending the night with Marianne, he calls it a mistake, but Sophia vehemently disagrees. A mistake is putting a quart of milk in the cupboard rather than the refrigerator. Sleeping with another woman is a choice Jake made of his own free will. Agree or disagree?
8. Sophia and Jake’s daughter, Emily, does not spare Jake’s feelings after she learns about his night with Marianne. But once Marianne and her husband are killed in a tragic car accident, Emily worries that Marianne was punished for her night with Jake, and that possibly Jake will also be punished. Do you ever consider the possibility of punishment from a ‘higher’ being?
9. When baby Mia is born, her only living relative is Kerry, Marianne’s cousin. Kerry doesn’t want the baby even though she agreed to be Mia’s legal guardian. Sophia doesn’t understand how a woman can turn away from a baby who needs to be cared for and loved, so she agrees to adopt Mia, breaking her promise to Jake to not bring more children (especially this child) into their family. Can you forgive Kerry for breaking her promise to Mia and not forgive Jake for breaking his promise to Sophia? Is a promise a promise – no matter what?
10. Jake continually refers to Mia as “the baby,” never saying her name. But once he gets himself straightened out, accepts responsibility for his one night with Marianne, and accepts that he most likely has lost his marriage, he begins, without realizing it, to call the baby by her name. Why do you think that is? Do you think this has anything to do with Sophia’s decision to open the front door after Jake leaves her house and stands on her front porch, heartbroken?