Introduction

"Clearman paints a vivid picture of the gritty and graceful sights of Guatemala as well as of the human heart, while touching upon the universal instinct to protect our children from real and imagined threats."--Holly MacArthur, managing editor of Tin House

Catherine Barnes—shocked to discover her marriage isn't what she thought it was—travels to Guatemala for some soul searching. She takes along her rebellious fourteen-year-old son Isaac, intending to leave him with his tough-love aunt, while she paints pictures for a children's book. In the remote mountain village of Todos Santos she falls under the spell of a rugged landscape and its welcoming, tenacious Mayan inhabitants. Just as she starts to feel at home in earthy kitchens where women pat out tortillas and tell her the stories of their lives, she discovers that Isaac is missing. Kidnappers are on their way to collect ransom from her in Todos Santos. Mother and son confront rumors of foreign baby-snatchers and devil-worshippers, and threats of unexpected violence, as they search for each other. In finding Isaac, Catherine discovers that she must also find herself. Drawing on a deep knowledge of and empathy for Guatemala, and compellingly written, Todos Santos is ultimately a story of love, motherhood, and the hard choices we make.

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Excerpt

The engines cut, and two hundred tons of metal and plastic and human flesh began the long glide back to earth. Most passengers that afternoon, busy balancing their dinner trash on overcrowded trays, fidgeting with headsets or snapping their lolling heads away from strangers as they drowsed, never noticed the start of the descent. Catherine Barnes, sandwiched in a middle seat, did. She hated to leave the sky. Up here, untethered, free from the gravity of husbands and sons, she stared out the window and saw pure patterns of light, shifting and changing. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. The novel’s title means “All Saints.” Catherine wonders on p. 2 if the town’s inhabitants pray to Christian saints or to “older, darker gods.” Do they? What roles do religion, shamanism, and superstition play in the lives of the Guatemalans in the book? What are Catherine’s and Isaac’s attitudes toward the beliefs they encounter, and how do those attitudes change?

2. The novel begins with Catherine and Isaac arriving in Guatemala, a place where they are outsiders. What is the role of setting in the novel? Do you think Catherine and Isaac would have made different choices if they had stayed home in Iowa that summer? Nicolasa tells Catherine she wants to leave Guatemala; Catherine urges her to stay. Why? What do you think people who are born into poor and violent countries should do to improve their lives?

3. The story is told largely through two points of view—Catherine’s and Isaac’s. How does this structure serve the novel? How does Isaac see the world differently than his mother? When Catherine finds out that Isaac has been kidnapped, she accuses herself of being a bad mother. Is she? Is Zelda a poor choice of guardian?

4. Isaac blames himself for Bernie’s accident. Was it his fault? How does he redeem himself? Should Catherine have been angry at him when she finds out he helped engineer his own kidnapping?

5. Discuss how the theme of good vs. evil repeats throughout the book. Baudilio stirs up the populace and attacks Catherine. Is he evil? Are the people who attack the Japanese tourists? Is the society that jails the young mother because she inadvertently started the riot? Is Carlos really a kidnapper? Or just an opportunist who was sincere in his desire to help Isaac?

6. How is nature used as a metaphor? What effects do the high altitude of Todos Santos and the sea level heat of Lívingston have on the characters? Guatemala calls itself “the land of eternal springtime.” Would you agree?

7. What effect does Catherine’s affair with Oswaldo have on her marriage? Compare Catherine’s relationship with Oswaldo to what you know of her relationship with Elliot. Did she make the right decision in the end of the novel? What do you think the future holds for these characters? Will Catherine end up with Oswaldo?

8. On p. 39, Rolfe tells Catherine that everyone there believes in the power of the pulsera, and that if she stays long enough, she will, too. Do all the characters believe in superstitions? Does Nicolasa? Does Oswaldo? Why does Isaac ask the shaman if he’ll ever get home? How could Don Jerónimo have known about Bernie’s accident? Did Catherine really meet the Llorona?

9. Catherine is an artist, which means she is an observer. How does this shape her character? Is she a passive observer? How does her character change through her experiences in Todos Santos?

10. Even though Zelda is Elliot’s sister, she seems to be encouraging Catherine to break free of him. Why would she do that? Is she being disloyal to her brother?

11. What are the effects of history and racism on contemporary Guatemalans? What has the relationship been between the Spanish conquerors and the Mayans? Does it seem to be changing? What were the aftereffects of the civil war that reached its height of violence in the 1980s? At the funeral for the victims of the lynching, Catherine sees the villagers mourning “together, in a collective, as they had attacked the day before.” In what ways is the culture she finds in Todos Santos different from American culture? In what ways the same? What relevance does Guatemala have for Americans?

Weblinks

»	Publisher's Book Info
»	Author Deborah Clearman's web site

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