All This Belongs to Me
by Ad Hudler
List Price: $13.95
Pages: 272
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0345481070
Publisher: Ballantine Books
An often hilarious, always moving novel that explores love and fate and the ways we lie to ourselves to get by in a sometimes overwhelming world.
When a mishap in the mail brings Geena into Ellis's life, neither realizes how much they need each other. With her marriage in tatters, Geena is still recovering from the sudden loss of her son. Ellis has been alone in the world since the death of his mother, and as he approaches his twilight years, the routine of everyday life has replaced the relationships he might once have known. When that routine is thrown into disarray by changes at the Thomas Edison estate, where Ellis works as a tour guide, he is lost until Geena brings courage and independence back into his life. For Geena, caring for Ellis is the salve on her own wounds.
In a fascinating tale of fate and second chances, Ad Hudler weaves an intricate web showing the importance of friendship, family, and the need to accept one another, flaws and all.
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1. Knowing what you know about the evolution of Ellis, what would have happened to him had he lived?
2. Chance plays a large role in the novel. Does Geena's serendipitous reunion with her husband cross the line between believable chance and artistic contrivance?
3. Is Judith a protagonist or an antagonist?
4. During the novel Geena moves out from a cloud of grief to a clarity of living. What were key moments that pulled her back into reality?
5. In the course of the novel, Geena does some very unscrupulous, mean things, such as using Ellis' credit card for expensive pedicures. Could you, would you have done the same thing in the same situation? How did she justify such behaviors? How aware was she of her actions? And did this awareness change over the course of the novel?
6. How does Geena deal with grief over her son's death? At times she uses humor, other times anger, at other times conspicuous consumption. How and why would retail therapy help Geena? How does it help you?
7. The author has described this as "a love story of sorts." If that's true, who are the characters in love?
8. How did Ellis' relationship with his mother influence his dealings with other women?
9. A sub-title for the novel could be, "A Tale of Identity Theft." Besides the obvious credit-card scam, what are some other examples in the novel of one person stealing or borrowing another person's identity?
10. After a lifetime of little change, Ellis begins to grow for the first time in his life. Discuss the women in his life and the roles they played in enabling him to grow.
11. What did Geena get from Safe-T-Man? Should every woman have a Safe-T-Man?
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"Simply enchanting. There is a quiet kind of magic in this poignant novel. Ad Hudler's prose swoops effortlessly between the voices of two brilliantly conceived characters, between past and present, between loss and triumph."
—Bev Marshal, author of Right as Rain and Hot Fudge Sundae Blues
"One of the freshest voices in women's fiction is coming from a man. . . . Funny, moving, insightful, sweet, and immensely satisfying."
—Susan Elizabeth Phillips, author of Ain't She Sweet?
"This heartwarming novel radiates wit and charm."
—Romantic Times Book Club (Top Pick)
"An incredible work of women's fiction, which happens to be written by a man."
—Pages magazine
