BKMT READING GUIDES
Beyond Molasses Creek
by Nicole Seitz
Paperback : 311 pages
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1 member has read this book
Three lives are bound by a single book . . . and the cleansing waters of Molasses Creek.
Having traveled to the ends of the earth as a flight attendant, Ally Green has finally returned to the Lowcountry to bury her father as well as ...
Introduction
Three lives are bound by a single book . . . and the cleansing waters of Molasses Creek.
Having traveled to the ends of the earth as a flight attendant, Ally Green has finally returned to the Lowcountry to bury her father as well as the past. But Vesey Washington is still living across the creek, and theirs is a complicated relationship?he was once her best friend . . . and also part of the reason she?s stayed away so long. When Ally discovers a message her father left behind asking her to quit running, it seems her past isn?t through with her yet.
As Ally?s wandering spirit wrestles with a deep longing to flee again, a young woman on the other side of the world escapes her life of slavery in the rock quarries of Nepal. A mysterious sketchbook leads Sunila Kunari to believe there?s more to her story than she?s ever been told, and she?s determined to follow the truth wherever it leads her.
A deep current intertwines the lives of these three souls, and a destiny of freedom, faith, and friendship awaits them all on the banks of Molasses Creek.
??Seitz has written good stories in the past butBeyond Molasses Creek exceeds all of them.??Jackie K. Cooper, The Huffington Post
Excerpt
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”– Michelangelo
PROLOGUE
Ally
When I was a girl, I would lie on the banks of Molasses Creek with soft green grass beneath my back and look up into the sky, dreaming of being there. In my upside down world, the clouds were pieces of land that I would hop to, and the vast blue sky was the river, the ocean that would beckon to transport me far, far away. That vast blue sky has taken me to all sorts of foreign lands since then. Sometimes the most foreign place is home. ...
view entire excerpt...
Discussion Questions
1. In the prologue, Ally admits, “Sometimes stepping back in time is the only way for a girl to move forward.” Is this something you’ve experienced in your own life? Do you agree or disagree with the statement?2. The themes of “coming home” and “escape” are threaded throughout Beyond Molasses Creek. Discuss each of these concepts with regards to Ally and Sunila.
3. Both Ally and Sunila long to be free in their own ways. How does this search for freedom affect their lives? What brought them to a “captive” state in search of freedom? Is all captivity imposed, or is it possible to keep oneself in captivity?
4. Education is important to Vesey and later to Sunila. Why? How can education be a world-changer?
5. Beyond Molasses Creek confronts diversity and prejudice in both the American South and in Nepal. Have you ever witnessed discrimination against a person because of their race, religion or beliefs? What changes have you seen in your lifetime with regards to discrimination?
6. Ally is an artist and keeps a sketchbook to chronicle the world around her. Is it possible for one person’s art to become the lifeline to another? Do you think art is made for oneself or for those around us?
7. How does the setting of Molasses Creek and the South Carolina lowcountry in this book contribute to both the harming and the healing of those who live there?
8. Discuss the relationship of Ally and Vesey when they were children. How and why does it change as they get older? What outside influences affect that relationship? What about internal influences?
9. In many ways, Beyond Molasses Creek is the story of transformative Love and Loss. Whose love in this book has the ability to transform? Is Love or Loss the victor?
10. Ally spends many of her latter years traveling the world and collecting stone statues for her garden. Discuss the symbolism of this garden. Can people (or stones or something other) become gods in our lives?
11. Sunila’s character explores the age-old concepts of genetics vs. rearing. How do her genetics play into her survival in contrast to her upbringing? Have you ever seen someone thrive because of some internal strength even in the midst of poor circumstances?
12. To which main character do you most relate—Vesey, Ally or Sunila? By the end of the book, which secondary character became most dear to you? Ally’s father (Doc Green), Margaret, Graison, or Mr. Assai?
13. Did the dream/theme of the elephants and the white bird fly right over your head or do you see the symbolic importance to the book? Several characters in this book “cross over”. Discuss.
14. Doc Green named his cat “Kat” or “Kathmandu”. Why would he do this after what happened there? Do you ever keep painful reminders of your past close at hand?
15. Discuss the importance of lying and truth-telling in this novel. Ally catches her father telling a lie. Or does she?
Weblinks
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Notes From the Author to the Bookclub
Note from author Nicole Seitz: Growing up in the South Carolina Lowcountry, I have witnessed lingering implications of the Civil Rights era and all that came before it. For those who are young, they may never understand the concept of prejudice on the basis of skin color, but for those who were there and remember, today’s South is a much more nuanced place. It is those who were there who fascinate me. In my sixth novel, BEYOND MOLASSES CREEK, I explore the deep and complicated friendship between a young white girl and a black boy on opposite sides of Molasses Creek and bring them into the present to see what lingers. On the other side of the world, an outcaste Nepali woman is searching for her freedom with a book in hand that she believes is the answer to her past and the key to her future. These three lives become intertwined on the healing banks of Molasses Creek. BEYOND MOLASSES CREEK is the story of love that that knows no boundaries. It’s about captivity and freedom, running away and coming home. I hope you find this book to be an eye-opening and worthwhile exploration of the consequences of social barriers, imagined or imposed. Happy reading! Nicole Seitz I am available to call in to book clubs and would love to Skype a video call! My web site is always up-to-date with events atwww.nicoleseitz.com. If I am visiting your area, please contact me to arrange a book club visit. For those in the Charleston, SC area, I can usually work a book club meeting into my schedule. Hope to hear from you!Book Club Recommendations
Recommended to book clubs by 4 of 4 members.
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