Altar Music

Reading Group GuideQUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSIONWomen's lost worldsKate (on page 45) thinks of all that God can take away. "Husbands, fathers, brothers, music even. God could take you life if he wanted. God could take anything. What could a woman do but endure, be faithful, and hope to be spared some small thing she loved, something perhaps God didn't want?" Each woman in the novel sacrifices a vital part of herself because she believes it is necessary if she is to live within the limits of whatever life God or the church or the society demands. What feelings arise in these women upon such choices?Such sacrifices are not usually discrete, self-contained forfeitures, but more often represent an entree into a whole world of possibilities - in some ways, an alternative life - now lost, as in Elise's potential future as a pianist. Imagine and describe the lost opportunities, the lost worlds or lives of each of the following: Meghan, Kate, Elise, Suzanne, Isabel, Sister Thomas Ann, and Sister Mary. Would those other opportunities or alternative worlds have been realistic?Can you tell similar stories of women whose lives have intersected with your own? Is Kate right -- is it God who takes away what we love? Discuss whether or not it is possible to live without such loss.PromisesElise and Suzanne promise one another: I will never leave you. In what ways did they keep or break that promise? There are a series of promises in the book that various characters struggle to keep, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing. Consider some of these promises and how the nature of the character's desire or goal in making the promise impacts its viability. Discuss broken promises. Can a promise ever be broken with impunity? Are there promises that should not be kept?PassionThe characters inAltar Musicare filled with passion: passion for God, for nature, for art, for human love and sexuality, and even for the patriotism that brings Michael to fight a war. Consider the relationship or interaction between spriritual passions and human passions, as experienced by the average person, and also as experienced by nuns and other people of the Church. Is faith in and commitment to God in conflict with human passion?MadnessDiscuss Elise's descent into madness. What steps led her there? She asks her mother, "Sometimes I think there's something deep in the convent itself that's to blame. Do you think that could be?" Do you think that social structures can lead some people into forms of mental and emotional illness? What would characterize such structures, if that were so? What would characterize the personalities of those persons who might be vulnerable to such influence?Wounds, Abuse and VictimizationSeveral characters are wounded, in different ways, early in life. Identify the wound of each of the following: Meghan, Clara, Kate, Suzanne, Elise. What did you think and feel when you read about the infliction of these wounds? How did their wounds impact the lives of these women? For the women in the book who enter the convent, what is the connection between the wounds they suffered earlier and the events that transpire after they're nuns? What is the difference between being wounded and being victimized? Do the wounds that these women experienced constitute victimization? Are they ever transformative?Michael is wounded by war. Was this a form of victimization? Discuss the relative forms of victimization for men and women. How does the image of war fit into the novel? Michael's name means "Who Is Like God!" And the Archangel Michael is a warrior against evil. What are the implications of Michael's wounding?When Clara Monroe enters the convent she receives the name, Thomas, which is the same as that of heWeber, Christin Lore is the author of 'Altar Music' with ISBN 9780684868653 and ISBN 0684868652.