BKMT READING GUIDES
Twang
by Julie L Cannon
Paperback : 330 pages
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Introduction
Twenty-three-year-old Jennifer Clodfelter believes she is destined to be a country music star. When her passion, determination and homemade demo tape were rejected by every music label in Nashville, she refused to give up. In just three years, a combination of guts and raw talent have propelled her on a journey of fame beyond her best dream.
Now Jennifer has all she ever wanted, only to discover that there is a dark side to the glitz and number one hits. She will have to decide whether to sing her pain to a loving audience or find the courage to face the music in the private studio of her heart.
Discussion Questions
1. Jennifer believes it’s her destiny to be a country music diva. How much of a person’s life is determined either by their individual talents/gifts or by their belief about what they’re “meant to do”?2. Though Jennifer gets that thing she wants so badly—fame as a country music superstar—the consequences of this create yet another problem. Has there ever been anything you wanted very much but that turned out to have a hard side?
3. Jennifer believes she can repress her troubled past and it won’t affect her. Do you think people can bury their pasts with no repercussions? Why or why not?
4. Tonilynn assures Jennifer that instead of emotionally crippling her, she can pour her painful memories into art. Do you believe that expressing feelings through art can promote healing? How?
5. Tonilynn has strong spiritual beliefs and is very vocal about them. Do you believe people have supernatural “gifts of the spirit” such as the word of knowledge Tonilynn claims to have? What do you think about how Tonilynn talks back to the devil?
6. Roy Durden says some people use religion as a crutch. Do you think people use religion in harmful ways?
7. Do you think people have to come to their own decision, in their own time, when it comes to faith in God? Can faith in God be forced? Explain.
8. Does having an earthly father like Jennifer’s make it harder to relate to a loving heavenly Father? How?
9. When does Jennifer’s faith in the Cumberland River evaporate? Do you believe that natural disasters/acts of God force people to realize that they don’t control life?
10. Aunt Gomer’s two biggest fears are Satan and going into a nursing home. What are your greatest fears?
11. Jennifer feels the young girls inside Déjà Vu are victims as she was. She believes men are using them and that real gentlemen don’t visit these “gentlemen’s clubs.” How do you feel about the so-called gentlemen’s clubs and the girls who work there?
12. Jennifer blames her father for her screwed-up life. She doesn’t want to offer him forgiveness because she feels that would be like saying what he did to her didn’t matter. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
13. If a person doesn’t get rid of hate and bitterness, can it destroy them? Do you agree with the statement: “Forgiveness is such a powerful weapon for any survivor or victim of crime?” Why?
14. Forgiveness is a choice that can be very difficult. When you forgive people, you don’t get an instant case of amnesia. Jennifer says she has decided to forgive her father, but then states in the epilogue that she does not have a close relationship with him. Do you think she’ll ever be able to have a good relationship with her earthly father? Why or why not?
15. For lots of girls/women, even if their relationship with their father was a flawed one, they’re drawn to men who remind them of him. Do you think this might be why Jennifer fell for Holt Cantrell? Why did it take her so long to lose her feelings for him?
16. Jennifer despises her mother’s weakness in denying her father’s drinking problem and for turning a blind eye to the way he treats women. How does Jennifer display this contempt toward her mother?
17. Were you surprised toward the end of the book when Jennifer feels some empathy for her mother? Why do you think Jennifer changed?
18. Do you think God cares about every detail of your life? Why?
19. Can God redeem a person’s past and use the bad stuff for the glory of His kingdom? How?
20. We’re told that in Heaven we’ll understand everything clearly, that God will take his children by the hand and show them how all their heartaches and losses down here on earth were of value, that beautiful and good things came of the most difficult circumstances. Do you think this hope is enough to help you make it through the dark valleys? Why?
Notes From the Author to the Bookclub
About the Author CBA best-selling author Julie L. Cannonis a native of Tennessee with a degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia.She is the authorof five published novels, includingthe award-winning Homegrown Series, described as 'Southern Fried Soul Food.'Her booksinclude a finalist for the Townsend Prize for Fiction and for the SIBA Book Award. Truelove& Homegrown Tomatoes was named by Good Housekeeping as one of '20 Books to Tote on Vacation.' The Romance Readers' Book Club was chosen as a Target Breakout Book, andI'll Be Home for Christmas was named a Top Pick of Fall 2010 releases by CBA Retailers & Resources Magazine, in addition to beingincluded in Nielsen's Top 50 Inspirational Titles. Along with writing novels and listening to Country music,Jule is an inspirational speaker and teaches various creative writing workshops.Shelives in Watkinsville, Georgia,with her husband and youngest son. Visit her website at www.juliecannon.infoBook Club Recommendations
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