The Book of Polly
The Book of Polly Book Club Questions
Did you read all of the book? Part of it? Or none of it?
Do you think Polly is a good mother? Why or why not? Should Polly be judged by the modern standards of parenting? Why or why not? What effect does Polly’s age at the time of Willow’s birth have on her parenting? What effect does the Captain’s death have on Polly’s parenting of Willow?
Polly hates varmints, and yet she nurtures Elmer, the baby squirrel, in secret. Why does she do it in secret? And what does this say about who she really is?
What do you make of Willow’s relationships with her siblings?
Dalton is Willow’s childhood best friend who becomes her boyfriend when they grow older. What do you think is special about these kinds of changing relationships? Did any of you marry your childhood/high school sweetheart?
There seems to be a lot of drama around Polly’s cooking—for example, Thanksgiving dinner or the time she invited the neighbors over to discuss the fence. Have you ever had a dinner party go horribly wrong? What is it about food that adds humor to a dark situation?
Polly and her neighbor have a contentious relationship, but after the night he dies she admits in a weak moment that she “kind of liked the old bastard.” Do you think she softened in her view of him after his death? Or that she was secretly fond of him during life? Or is this simply an example of our desire to never speak ill of the dead?
What did you make of the dramatic change of the neighbor’s wife after the dinner party?
Was Polly right to shield Willow from her personal history? When is the appropriate time to share certain details about your life and your health with your family? Can you think of examples where your parents have shared stories of their lives after you’re an adult? Or examples where you’ve shared these kinds of stories with your children?
What do you think is the significance of Polly using the term ‘the Bear’ to refer to her cancer? In what ways does superstition play a role in the novel? Can superstition be a good thing as well as a bad thing? What is the significance of the analogy of ‘the Bear’?
It seems that the book is all about the theme of rescue. Can you think of examples of this theme throughout? (i.e. Willow attempting to rescue Polly from the Bear, Phoenix and Shel’s rescue of Willow and Polly on the raft, Polly rescuing Elmer, etc.) Why do you think that this is a theme used by the author?
In some ways, Phoenix seems to be an almost saint like, protective presence around Willow and Polly. What do you think of his thematic role? How does his involvement affect the dynamics of the family?
What do you think happened after the book ended?
Who would you cast in a movie of this movie for Polly? For Willow? For the other characters?