Beyond the Storm (9780758276995) Read online

  Thanks to Susan Kunz and Wolfgang Joensson, who, over drinks in Paris, France, during that same trip, helped breathe life into Vanessa’s sense of wanderlust.

  Thanks also to Audrey LaFehr (my editor!) and Steve Marquart, without whom I’d never have met the above people. You invited me to places in Europe I could only dream about, and what do I do? Write another novel set in Upstate New York.

  Thanks to Liz Fleming, who allowed me to take a break from the writing when I landed in London, England, toward the end of my trip. And a break translates to pints at the local pub.

  Lastly, thanks to the Fayetteville-Manlius High School Class of 1982 for helping to inspire a story about a reunion. All those glamorous cities, and ultimately where do I end up? Home. Not bad.

  A READING GROUP GUIDE

  BEYOND THE STORM

  Joseph Pittman

  About This Guide

  The suggested questions are included to enhance your group’s reading of Joseph Pittman’s

  Beyond the Storm.

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Vanessa and Adam seem to have very little in common when they attend the prom. But years later, what life issues have bonded them?

  2. How is Vanessa’s personality like Venture’s? How is it not?

  3. How is Adam’s personality like Aidan’s? How is it not?

  4. What are your thoughts on why, after the accident, Vanessa is always feeling a chill, while Adam seems fine despite the piece of glass in his forehead?

  5. How did the author’s “then” and “now” structure inform the novel? Did it drive the narrative and create a sense of mystery, or did it frustrate you in wanting to know all Vanessa was holding back?

  6. Do you think the discovery of the old trunk upstairs in the cupola helped convince Vanessa and Adam that they were Venture and Aidan in a previous life?

  7. Food and drink (especially wine) play a role in the book. How do the bare cupboards play into their isolation, and how do the cornfields release them?

  8. Do you think the sexual nature of their relationship was impulsive, an attempt at burying the hurt, or an unconscious acknowledgment of their connection? Do you think both had sex on their mind when they decided to attend the reunion?

  9. The storm never seems to let up. Did it strike you as odd that a fierce thunderstorm like that would linger for so long? How was the storm another character in the book?

  10. Adam has a fear of death from nearly the first page. Discuss his memories of old Mrs. Woodson and how they informed his thoughts on death and his rather cool approach to learning of his own at the end.

  11. Who is Elizabeth Grace, and where is she leading Vanessa and Adam? What are your thoughts on reincarnation?

  12. Given the choice Vanessa had to make, at the end of the book, what would you do?

  Joseph Pittman is the author of the novels Tilting at Windmills, When the World Was Small, Legend’s End, A Christmas Wish, and A Christmas Hope. He has also written the acclaimed Todd Gleason crime series, including London Frog and California Scheming. He lives and works in New York City. He writes wherever.

  Visit him on the web at josephpittman.com.

  A CHRISTMAS WISH

  This Christmas, the greatest gifts can’t be found beneath a tree . . .

  Eight-year-old Janey Sullivan has had a difficult year, between losing her mother and adjusting to life with her guardian, Brian Duncan. But with the holidays approaching, her one Christmas wish is to find the perfect gift for Brian—if she can learn to trust him first.

  Reeling from the loss of his soul mate, Brian is determined to give her daughter, Janey, an extraordinary Christmas. But he struggles to read her irregular moods, and when he catches her in a lie, he begins to doubt the future of their new little family. Yet with the help of their friends in Linden Corners, and a bit of Christmas magic riding on the wind, they may be able to preserve Janey’s mother’s traditions, perhaps even start some new ones—and discover that the life they hadn’t planned on can still bring the happiness they’ve always wished for.

  A CHRISTMAS HOPE

  One final Christmas wish could change their lives forever . . .

  Nora Connors Rainer has returned to her hometown, Linden Corners, to tend to her elderly but spunky pie-baking mother—and to nurse a broken heart. To keep busy, Nora opens A Doll’s Attic, a consignment shop where locals can unload their unwanted heirlooms. And the upcoming holidays are bringing a host of interesting objects—and people—through her doors.

  Eighty-five-year-old Thomas Van Diver hands Nora her first challenge: track down a rare, vintage item that holds powerful childhood memories for him—memories of his father and their last Christmas together before he went off to war and never returned.

  Helping them both is Brian Duncan, whose farmhouse and windmill Thomas once called home. Together with his irrepressible young charge, Janey, Brian will uncover the mysteries of Christmas past—and create a Christmas present that just might restore their hope, and fulfill everyone’s deepest wishes. . . .

  KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2013 by Joseph Pittman

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  ISBN: 978-0-7582-7698-8

  eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-7699-5

  eISBN-10: 0-7582-7699-0

  First Kensington Electronic Edition: June 2013