Discussion Guide
Sweet Hush
-
The
Jacobs are loosely modeled after some familiar First Couples. Who do
you think they most resemble?
-
Deborah
Smith never mentions the President's political party by name. Which
party do you think he belongs to, and why?
-
In Sweet
Hush, Nick Jacobek is a Lt. Colonel, and happens to be the President's
nephew. In real life, do you think a prominent military officer could
stay on active duty after a close member of his family is elected
President?
-
Hush
embodies a stand-by-your-man philosophy (regarding her late husband,
Davy) that is often portrayed in novels set in the south. Can you think
of other literary examples of stoic southern wives?
-
The
book's Georgia mountain setting, with its apple farm, is described in
loving detail. Southern writers seem to put a lot of importance on
"place" as a vivid influence on the lives and motives of their
characters. Do you think this is primarily a focus of southern writers,
or do writers from other regions display the same fondness for "Going
home, to Tara."
-
Hush's
relationship with her son, Davis, is both trusting and over-protective.
Discuss other notable examples of mother/son conflicts in fiction.
-
Hush
and First Lady Edwina Jacobs have a deliciously wicked "friendship"
built on mutual antipathy, yet they are alike in being strong,
compassionate women. What makes you uncomfortable about the portrayal
of women's roles in modern fiction? Do modern female characters often
seem too strong, or still not strong enough?
-
Hush and
Nick's romance is mature but also vibrantly reckless. What is your idea
of the perfect man? And what would he have to do to win your devotion?
-
Do you
believe in love in first sight, which seems to happen to Hush and Nick?
-
If
you suddenly became nationally — and even internationally — famous — as
Hush does after her son marries the President's daughter — what do you
think would be the worst drawback to that fame? What would be the best
thing about it?
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