![]() He is surrounded by dear friends who sparkle and shine, but he is also set apart by the burden of responsibility which he uniquely carries for his friends and every one of the “books” in hiding. The practical concerns of having enough money to buy food for everyone in hiding are constant. He was brought up to despise British soldiers now he cannot but rescue them from the Hauptmanns of this world. His journey into heroism is inevitable once he is faced with the stark brutality of a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp and the craven ambivalence of the papacy. The mix of first- and third-person narratives feels fresh, insightful, and true. He came to be friends with the people who are risking their lives alongside him. We learn to know him through the warm tales of his life as a priest fresh to Rome, and his delight and ease in the city. He is a papal diplomat brought up in rural Ireland in the bloody years of Irish Independence. Part of O’Connor’s genius is that we hear O’Flaherty’s own voice and see him through the narration of his friends. O’Flaherty himself is a complex and believable hero. (In reality, O’Flaherty’s network is credited with saving nearly 7000 lives.)ĭesperate to assert control, Berlin sends a new Gestapo Head to break O’Flaherty’s network and terrify the city into obedience. People are hidden away by Mgr Hugh O’Flaherty and his network of friends, until it seems that you can’t open a coal cellar without finding a roomful of British soldiers. Italy is slowly being liberated by American and Commonwealth forces, but Rome is still occupied. The title refers both to the fragile safety that the Vatican City provided for those resisting Nazism and, brilliantly, to the way in which Allied service personnel, refugees, and Jews were in hiding in “many mansions” all across the city. ![]() What is Isabelle's relationship with marshes?ġ1.THIS stylish, gripping, and inspiring book, My Father’s House, is based on a true story of courage made manifest through the power of friendship. The marsh appears several times throughout All the Dangerous Things, Isabelle is drawn there both as a child and as an adult. What are the "dangerous things" in the story?ġ0. The novel is called All the Dangerous Things. What was the biggest twist for you as the reader? Did you see any of the twists coming?ĩ. The author is known for writing twists in her books, and All the Dangerous Things is no exception. Why do you think the author chose to make Isabelle an unreliable narrator? How would the story have been different if Isabelle was able to trust in herself?Ĩ. How did you think of motherhood before reading All the Dangerous Things? How, if at all, did your view change after finishing the book?ħ. The author presents motherhood in a variety of different ways throughout the novel. But it's impossible to look our past straight in the eye, to see things with perfect clarity, so we have to rely on the memories." What memories of Isabelle's were distorted? Have you had similar experiences with memories of your own past?Ħ. On page 247, Isabelle says, "I like to think of our memories like a mirror: reflecting images back to us, something familiar, but at the same time, backward. It's realizing that you're not really alone at all." What keeps Isabelle company in the dark? How, if at all, does this change during the day?ĥ. On page 84, it says, "I understand that there's something even more unsettling than being alone in the dark. The idea of day versus night is a concept the author uses throughout All the Dangerous Things. Something important." Do you see ghosts in the same way Isabelle does?Ĥ. A peaceful prodding that there was something that needed to be remembered. I never thought of it as being haunted, exactly. On page 51, Isabelle says about ghosts, "All those little experiences you could never put your finger on-a tickle on the back of your neck, a nagging feeling that you were forgetting something, that creeping sense of deja vu that flared up when you visited someplace new- were other souls trying to send you a message. How does the author use sleep to build the tension until it's impossible to ignore?ģ. Noisier, harder to ignore." Sleep, or the lack thereof, is a recurring theme in All the Dangerous Things. "One thing I was starting to notice about being awake all the time was the way in which seemingly little things grew bigger by the day. ![]() On page 16, Isabelle thinks about being awake more often than not. ![]() The deep, dark, shadowy ones that lurk just beneath the skin, traveling through their veins and spreading like a sickness." What are some of these secrets the characters keep? Do you think this is true of all of us, or just the characters in a crime novel?Ģ. But some of them have the real ones, the messy ones. Early in the book, it says, "And some of these people have secrets.
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