The Railway Man's Wife by Ashley Hay

"It's not what we forget

But what was never known we most regret

Discovery of"

Stephen Edgar 

Welcome to the month of May's book: The Railwayman's Wife by Ashley Hay. I have listed some points for discussion and to think about as you read the journey of Annika, Roy and Frank.

About the book

In a small town on the land’s edge, in the strange space at a war’s end, a widow, a poet and a doctor each try to find their own peace, and their own new story. In Thirroul, in 1948, people chase their dreams through the books in the railway’s library. 

Anikka Lachlan searches for solace after her life is fractured by a single random act. 

Roy McKinnon, who found poetry in the mess of war, has lost his words and his hope. 

Frank Draper is trapped by the guilt of those his treatment and care failed on their fi rst day of freedom. 

All three struggle with the same question: how now to be alive.

Written in clear, shining prose and with an eloquent understanding of the human heart, The Railwayman’s Wife explores the power of beginnings and endings, and how hard it can be sometimes to tell them apart. It’s a story of life, loss and what comes after; of connection and separation, longing and acceptance. Most of all, it celebrates love in all its forms, and the beauty of discovering that loving someone can be as extraordinary as being loved yourself.

A story that will break your heart with hope.

About the author

Ashley Hay is the author of five previous books including Gum, Museum (with visual artist Robyn Stacey) and The Body in the Clouds - her first novel, which was shortlisted for a number of prizes including categories in the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the New South Wales and West Australian Premier’s Awards, and longlisted for the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

A former literary editor of The Bulletin, she contributes to a number of publications including The Monthly, Australian Geographic, and The Australian, and her essays and short stories have appeared in volumes including Brothers and Sisters (2009), various issues of the Griffith Review, Best Australian Essays (2003), Best Australian Short Stories (2012), and Best Australian Science Writing (2012).

She lives in Brisbane.

Reviews & Quotes

‘Ashley Hay’s beautiful romance of grief and love set in the escarpment landscape that once enchanted D.H. Lawrence will come to speak for the south coast in the same way that Delia Falconer’s The Service of Clouds speaks for the Blue Mountains. 

Everything about this novel – sudden loss, unexpected love, misdirected hope and desire, as well as the mysterious power of the written word and the candesence of the coastal landscape itself – is expressed with a profound understanding of every nuance of emotion. An extended meditation on ‘the limitless surprise of being here’, to quote from the poem that is central to the story, The Railwayman’s Wife illuminates the deepest places of the human heart.’ - Debra Adelaide, author of The Household Guide to Dying.

For discussion:

1. 􀂊In Paula Grunseit’s review of The Railwayman’s Wife, she states ‘Many rhythms form the soundtrack to this story – the sounds of the ocean, the words of great poets and writers, the changing views in a kaleidoscope, and the constant presence of trains.’ 

Discuss Grunseit’s comment – how do these sounds and sights punctuate the novel, and bracket the major events within?

2.􀂊 Consider the following quote: ‘...Mac raised his cup and paused – the smallest toast – that was marriage, he thought, remaking yourself in someone else’s image. And who knew where the truth of it began or would end?’ The Railwayman’s Wife, p. 169. 

Do you agree with Mac’s interpretation of marriage?

􀂊3. In response to Isabel’s question about where Mac is after death, along with fallen soldiers, Annika states: ‘It’s probably like your kaleidoscope: you look at one piece of space, and every tiny twist or turn multiplies that into somewhere new – somewhere different. More than enough room for everyone’s version of everyone to fit in somewhere, to be doing different things we all think they ought to be doing.’ The Railwayman’s Wife, p. 175.

Discuss Annika’s thoughts and feelings when confronted with information and anecdotes about Mac after his death.

􀂊4. Both Mac and Roy think of Annika as an angel. Why do you think this is so?

􀂊5. What do you make of the conversation between Dr Frank Draper and Annika in the library, on their first meeting? (pp. 99 – 102)

􀂊6. Consider Roy’s poem, ‘Lost World’ (the poem appears in its entirety pp. 208 – 210). Do you think it is a nexus between the world he has seen torn apart by war, and what he has found in Thirroul.

7. Annika carries Kangaroo ‘like a literary Baedeker’ (page 21), using it to identify places around Thirroul. Discuss 

Suggested Reading

Novels:

Kangaroo – D.H. Lawrence

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë

Foal’s Bread – Gillian Mears

The Service of Clouds – Delia Falconer

In Falling Snow – Mary-Rose MacColl

Currawalli Street – Christopher Morgan

The Body in the Clouds – Ashley Hay

Poetry:

Everyone Sang – Siegfried Sassoon

How Do I Love Thee? – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

On Being Asked for a War Poem – W.B. Yeats

Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven – W.B. Yeats

History of the Day – Stephen Edgar

‘Over the Brazier – Robert Graves

Credit: Allen & Unwin's Reading Guide

http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781743314449

'Life of Pi' - Discussion Points and Reading Group Guide

If you are currently reading and haven't yet finished, 'Life of Pi' and missed the December meeting, then you might find these notes and questions helpful and thought provoking.

You are most welcome to discuss via the comments section of this post.

'Since its original publication in 2002, Life of Pi has become established as a reading group favourite. With its unique combination of religion, survival and a Royal Bengal tiger, the novel offers ample themes for discussion. You may find some of the following suggested questions helpful in stimulating thoughts and discussion.'

1. In the author's note, Mr Adirubasamy claims that this story 'will make you believe in God'. After researching and writing the story, the 'author' agrees. Did Pi's story affect your religious beliefs?

2. The young Pi insists that he cannot accept an exclusively Hindu, Christian or Muslim faith; he can only be content with all three. What is Pi seeking that can only be attained by this apparent contradiction? Is there something common to all religions? How do faith and belief differ?

3. Chapters 21 and 22 are very short, yet the author has said that they are the core of the novel. In what ways do these chapters affect your reading of Pi's story?

4. Pi's name, in its shortened form, refers to the irrational number π, a number that goes on forever without a discernible pattern, and it is used in calculations of a circle's radius and diameter. What do you think the significance of Pi's name is to the novel?

5. Discussing zoo animals, Pi tells us, "All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive." How could this idea relate to Pi's actions in the immediate aftermath of the shipwreck?

6. Pi imagines that his brother would have teasingly called him Noah. How does Pi's voyage compare to the biblical story of Noah, whom God spared from the flood he sent to destroy the rest of civilisation?

7. "If I still had the will to live, it was thanks to Richard Parker. He kept me from thinking too much about my family and my tragic circumstances. He pushed me to go on living. I hated him for it, yet at the same time I was grateful. I am grateful. It's the plain truth: without Richard Parker, I wouldn't be alive today to tell you my story." Can the relationship between Pi and Richard Parker be seen as an allegory of the challenges we face in our own lives?

8. The novel begins with an author's note, and we frequently hear the authorial voice through the book. Do you think the 'author' of this note is indeed Yann Martel? How do the different layers of narration within Life of Pi influence your thoughts about the story?

9. "I am a person who believes in form, in the harmony of order. Where we can, we must give things a meaningful shape. For example - I wonder - could you tell my jumbled story in exactly one hundred chapters, not one more, not one less?" What is the effect of giving such a precise structure, of exactly one hundred chapters, to Life of Pi? How does this regularity contrast with Pi's name, an irrational and infinite number?

10. "That's what fiction is about, isn't it? The selective transforming of reality? How does this question, from the author's note, affect your interpretation of the events in the novel? And what about the question Pi asks of his Japanese inquisitors: "Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?" What do you think is the truth of Pi's story?'                                  

(Reading guide attached to 'Life of Pi' 2002 edition)