Introduction

A Kind of Hush examines how life is seldom a tidy affair exploring whether there is a gray area between right and wrong. Matt and Summer Mackie with children Willa and Gabe are enjoying a June outing at nearby Zoar Valley Gorge, an area showcasing waterfalls, forests, shale cliffs, and a whitewater creek running through the ravine, when tragedy strikes. One parent survives along with their teenage daughter and seven-year-old son found hiding in the nearby woods. Was this a tragic accident or something more heinous, and if so, whodunnit and whydunit?

Set in Buffalo, New York, and in the Big Bend area of Texas, the heart of the novel centers on how survivors deal with the circumstances and subsequent revelations surrounding the incident. But as each one begins to piece together the events of that day a mantle of ambiguity—a kind of hush—hangs between them like a live grenade without its pin.

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Excerpt

2012 June Solstice. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity is easier to grasp than a teenage girl. Reportedly, a “typical” teen might exhibit all seven personalities associated with this age group with Willa Mackie’s photograph at the top of the profile page. She changed gears faster than a race car driver, often a darling until spoken to then spewing the venom of a dragon spitting fire in response. Mornings before school introduced the drama queen of the day, as if the end of the world lurked nearby because it was Monday and she wanted it to be Tuesday. Spending time with family was seldom a priority in her teenage world. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

Shortly after my debut novel, Life in a Box, was published, I scratched out a young boy’s profile in the middle of the night along with a few sentences and an ending. I didn’t know the whole story, but I knew Gabriel Edward Mackie had to be in whatever I wrote next. He exudes the characteristics of giftedness, intellectually playful, high energy and a vivid imagination using art to express his feelings. Patrick, his grandfather, says he’s “so young but has the vision of a John Rockefeller…some people have strength of mind…his is of the soul.” On a side note, I’m having a terrible time putting Gabe to bed and have jokingly warned my grandsons that he’s likely to be in my will. --Author JoDee Neathery

1. His “old soul” insights are prominent throughout the novel. What are some examples? Victor Kurtz is a complicated, quirky, and disturbing character with more than his share of issues as outlined throughout the narrative…an accused pedophile with Tourette’s who found a way to clear his name of a heinous crime and place the blame on those caustic family members who hung him out to dry.

2. In the end, were you able to find any sympathy for this tortured soul or did you feel his actions were too difficult to offer any positive energy toward him? Patrick and Margo Mackie, childhood sweethearts and married for over forty-years, had grown apart and were secretly living separately when their only son, Matt, needed their strength and guidance to deal with the tragedy of losing his wife, Summer, and caring for his two young children.

3. How did the family’s tragedy change their perspective towards each other and what role did they assume in the lives of Matt, Willa, and Gabe? I sat down with my own book club for a question-and-answer session about my novel. One of the questions that fostered the most discussion was Matt’s handling of Willa’s confession and culpability in the death of her mother. To me the scene spoke to the theme of the novel – is there a gray area between right and wrong – fitting Matt’s forgiving personality. I wrote it in a way to give her some hope of becoming a worthwhile adult.

4. Were you angry that Willa was protected by her dad and paid no consequences for her actions?

5. Were her actions “understandable” since her mother blamed her for the death of their young son, Griff?

6. Was Willa’s story posted on Wattpad a scream for help or some way to cope with the guilt for what she had done?

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