"The Marriage of Opposites" by Alice Hoffman

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffmann
Call Number: FICTION Hoffman
A forbidden love story set on the tropical island of St. Thomas about the extraordinary woman who gave birth to painter Camille Pissarro-the Father of Impressionism. Growing up on idyllic St. Thomas in the early 1800s, Rachel dreams of life in faraway Paris. Rachel's mother, a pillar of their small refugee community of Jews who escaped the Inquisition, has never forgiven her daughter for being a difficult girl who refuses to live by the rules. Growing up, Rachel's salvation is their maid Adelle's belief in her strengths, and her deep, life-long friendship with Jestine, Adelle's daughter. But Rachel's life is not her own. She is married off to a widower with three children to save her father's business. When her husband dies suddenly and his handsome, much younger nephew, Frédérick, arrives from France to settle the estate, Rachel seizes her own life story, beginning a defiant, passionate love affair that sparks a scandal that affects all of her family, including her favorite son, who will become one of the greatest artists of France. Building on the triumphs of The Dovekeepers and The Museum of Extraordinary Things , set in a world of almost unimaginable beauty, The Marriage of Opposites showcases the beloved, bestselling Alice Hoffman at the height of her considerable powers. Once forgotten to history, the marriage of Rachel and Frédérick is a story that is as unforgettable as it is remarkable.

Identity and Self-Discovery:
- How do the characters in the novel grapple with their identities and societal expectations? How does this struggle shape their actions and relationships?
- Discuss the ways in which Rachel, the protagonist, navigates her identity as a woman, a mother, a daughter, and a member of the Jewish community in a colonial setting.
Love and Relationships:
- Explore the different types of love portrayed in the novel: romantic love, familial love, platonic love, etc. How do these different forms of love intersect and influence the characters' lives?
- How do societal norms and cultural expectations impact the romantic relationships in the novel, particularly those involving Rachel and her family members?
Culture and Society:
- How does the setting of St. Thomas and later Paris contribute to the themes of cultural diversity and societal norms within the novel?
- Discuss the ways in which the characters navigate and challenge societal expectations related to gender roles, religion, and race.
Art and Creativity:
- Explore the significance of art and creativity in the novel, particularly through the characters of Rachel and her son Camille Pissarro. How does their artistic expression serve as a form of resistance or liberation?
- Discuss the role of art in challenging societal conventions and facilitating self-expression for the characters.
Family Dynamics:
- Analyze the complex family dynamics within the novel, including Rachel's relationship with her parents, her siblings, and her own children. How do these relationships evolve throughout the story?
- Consider the impact of family secrets and revelations on the characters' identities and relationships.
Fate vs. Free Will:
- How do themes of fate and free will intersect in the novel? Are the characters' actions predetermined by their circumstances, or do they have agency in shaping their destinies?
- Discuss instances in the novel where characters struggle against predetermined outcomes or societal expectations to assert their own agency.
Colonialism and Power Dynamics:
- Explore the portrayal of colonialism in the novel, particularly in the context of St. Thomas as a colonial setting. How do power dynamics based on race, class, and nationality influence the characters' lives and interactions?
- Discuss the ways in which colonialism impacts the characters' sense of identity and belonging.
Nature and Symbolism:
- Analyze the significance of nature and natural elements throughout the novel, such as the sea, the landscape of St. Thomas, and the natural world as depicted in Pissarro's paintings. How do these elements serve as symbols or metaphors for the characters' experiences and emotions?
- Consider the role of nature in providing solace, inspiration, or conflict for the characters.

Alice Hoffman is a prolific American author known for her enchanting storytelling and magical realism. She was born on March 16, 1952, in New York City, New York, USA. Hoffman grew up on Long Island and developed a passion for writing at a young age. She attended Adelphi University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1973.

After completing her education, Hoffman worked in various jobs, including as a book editor and a college teacher, while pursuing her writing career. Her early literary works included short stories and articles published in magazines such as "The New York Times Magazine" and "Redbook."

Hoffman gained widespread acclaim with the publication of her first novel, "Property Of," in 1977. However, it was her second novel, "The Dovekeepers" (2011), that brought her international recognition. "The Dovekeepers" is a historical fiction novel set during the siege of Masada in ancient Israel and received critical acclaim for its lyrical prose and vivid storytelling.

Throughout her career, Hoffman has written over thirty novels, including "Practical Magic" (1995), which was adapted into a successful film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, "The Rules of Magic" (2017), a prequel to "Practical Magic," and "The Marriage of Opposites" (2015), which explores the life of painter Camille Pissarro's mother.

Hoffman's writing is often characterized by its blending of magical realism with elements of historical fiction, romance, and fantasy. Her stories frequently feature strong female protagonists and explore themes of love, family, identity, and resilience in the face of adversity.

In addition to her novels, Hoffman has also written young adult fiction, children's books, and screenplays. Her works have been translated into more than twenty languages and have won numerous awards, including the New England Book Award, the Massachusetts Book Award, and the New York Public Library's Best Books for the Teen Age.

Alice Hoffman continues to write and enchant readers with her imaginative storytelling and memorable characters. She resides in Massachusetts with her family and remains an influential figure in contemporary literature.

Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende; Margaret Sayers Peden (Translator)
Call Number: FICTION Allende
In the early years of the conquest of the Americas, Ines Suerez, a seamstress condemned to a life of toil, flees Spain to seek adventure in the New World. As Ines makes her way to Chile, she begins a fiery romance with Pedro de Valdivia, war hero and field marshal to the famed Francisco Pizarro. Together the lovers will build the new city of Santiago, and they will wage war against the indigenous Chileans--a bloody struggle that will change Ines and Valdivia forever, inexorably pulling each of them toward separate destinies.
The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis
Call Number: FICTION Davis
1928. For the people who live in New York City, Grand Central Terminal is a crown jewel, a masterpiece of design. For Clara Darden, the terminal is the stepping stone to her future. She is teaching at the lauded Grand Central School of Art, and dreams of creating cover art for Vogue. She's juggling the affections of two very different men-- with no idea they'll soon be blindsided by the looming Great Depression. In 1974 the terminal is full of grime and danger, from the smoke-blackened ceiling to the drug dealers who roam the floor. Recently divorced, Virginia Clay has accepted a job in the information booth to support herself and her daughter. Discovering an abandoned watercolor within the terminal, Virginia embarks on a quest to find the artist.

*audiobook & e-book on Libby
A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes
Call Number: FICTION Forbes
The narrative begins with Moshe's birth in the late 1950s, four years before Jamaica's independence from colonial rule, and ends in the era of what Forbes calls "the fall of empire," the era of Brexit and Donald Trump. The historical trajectory layers but never overwhelms the scintillating love story as the pair fight to establish their own view of loving, against the moral force of the colonial "plantation" and its legacies that continue to affect their lives and the lives of those around them.
If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim
Call Number: FICTION Kim
An emotionally riveting debut novel about war, family, and forbidden love--the unforgettable saga of two ill-fated lovers in Korea and the heartbreaking choices they're forced to make in the years surrounding the civil war that still haunts us today. When the communist-backed army from the north invades her home, sixteen-year-old Haemi Lee, along with her widowed mother and ailing brother, is forced to flee to a refugee camp along the coast. For a few hours each night, she escapes her family's makeshift home and tragic circumstances with her childhood friend, Kyunghwan. Focused on finishing school, Kyunghwan doesn't realize his older and wealthier cousin, Jisoo, has his sights set on the beautiful and spirited Haemi--and is determined to marry her before joining the fight. But as Haemi becomes a wife, then a mother, her decision to forsake the boy she always loved for the security of her family sets off a dramatic saga that will have profound effects for generations to come. Richly told and deeply moving, If You Leave Me is a stunning portrait of war and refugee life, a passionate and timeless romance, and a heartrending exploration of one woman's longing for autonomy in a rapidly changing world.
Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund; Chris Wormell (Illustrator)
Call Number: FICTION Naslund
Una Spenser's marriage to Captain Ahab is certainly a crucial element in the narrative of Ahab's Wife, but the story covers vastly more territory. After a spellbinding opening scene, the tale flashes back to Una's childhood in Kentucky; her idyllic adolescence with her aunt and uncle's family at a lighthouse near New Bedford; her adventures disguised as a cabin boy on a whaling ship; her first marriage to a fellow survivor who descends into violent madness; courtship and marriage to Ahab; life as mother and a rich captain's wife in Nantucket; involvement with Frederick Douglass; and a man who is in Nantucket researching his novel about his adventures on her ex-husband's ship.
The Sweetest Fruits by Monique Truong
Call Number: FICTION Truong
A Greek woman tells of how she willed herself out of her father's cloistered house, married an Irish officer in the British Army, and came to Ireland with her two-year-old son in 1852, only to be forced to leave without him soon after. An African American woman, born into slavery on a Kentucky plantation, makes her way to Cincinnati after the Civil War to work as a boarding house cook, where in 1872 she meets and marries an up-and-coming newspaper reporter. In Matsue, Japan, in 1891, a former samurai's daughter is introduced to a newly arrived English teacher, and becomes the mother of his four children and his unsung literary collaborator. The lives of writers can often best be understood through the eyes of those who nurtured them and made their work possible. In The Sweetest Fruits , these three women tell the story of their time with Lafcadio Hearn, a globetrotting writer best known for his books about Meiji-era Japan. In their own unorthodox ways, these women are also intrepid travelers and explorers. Their accounts witness Hearn's remarkable life but also seek to witness their own existence and luminous will to live unbounded by gender, race, and the mores of their time. Each is a gifted storyteller with her own precise reason for sharing her story, and together their voices offer a revealing, often contradictory portrait of Hearn. With brilliant sensitivity and an unstinting eye, Truong illuminates the women's tenacity and their struggles in a novel that circumnavigates the globe in the search for love, family, home, and belonging.
The Way to Paradise by Mario Vargas Llosa; Natasha Wimmer (Translator)
Call Number: FICTION Vargas
The dramatic lives of two bold, independent adventurers--Paul Gauguin and his grandmother Flora Tristan, a trailblazing women's suffragist--are imagined by "one of the master storytellers of our time" ("Chicago Tribune Book World").

Islington Branch Book Club - Past Titles: "The Marriage of Opposites" by Alice Hoffman

"The Marriage of Opposites" by Alice Hoffman

QUICK LINKS

CONNECT WITH US

Westwood Public Library

Main Library

Islington Branch