The Mineral Palace
by Heidi Julavits
List Price: $23.95
Pages: 326
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0399146229
Publisher: Riverhead Books
In her debut novel, The Mineral Palace, Heidi Julavits
creates a world of dust, decay, and decadence; a world in which all creatures
struggle to survive. The story begins in the drought-ridden spring of
1934, and Bena Jonssen, her husband Ted, and their newborn baby relocate
from their home in Minnesota to Pueblo, a Western plains town plagued
by suffocating dust storms and equally suffocating social structures.
Little can thrive in this bleak environment, including Bena and Ted's
marriage, and the baby. To distract herself, Bena accepts a part-time
position at the daily newspaper, reporting on the town's plans to restore
the town's crumbling monument to the mining industry, The Mineral Palace,
to its former grandeur. As Bena is drawn to The Mineral Palace and to
more of the seamy side of Pueblo - the lurid hallways of a brothel, where
she encounters a prostitute, Maude, and Red, a brooding cowboy, she begins
to uncover the sordid secrets of the town, and the ravaging truths about
her marriage and her child.
top of the page
1. Things aren't always as they seem in The Mineral Palace. How does Heidi Julavits use lies and secrets to tell the story?
2. Inclement weather occurs throughout The Mineral Palace. How does the weather mirror actual events in the novel?
3. How do superstition and coincidence impact Bena's decisions throughout the story?
4. Bena's role as a mother is a recurring theme in The Mineral Palace. How does the conclusion affect this role? Do Bena's actions break down what might otherwise be a positive construction of motherhood?
5. How would the story change if it took place in a different setting - if, for example, Bena and her husband had originally moved to a more fertile part of the country?
6. How are Maude and Bena alike? How are they different?
7. What characteristics does Julavits give Maude to set her apart from a stereotypical prostitute?
8. Why do you think Julavits chose The Mineral Palace as her title? In what way is the Palace at the structural and thematic center of the novel?
top of the page
"Heidi Julavits is a remarkable writer. The Mineral Palace is a mesmerizing first novel and a spectacular display of her talents, her sensibilities on love and danger, and her utterly fascinating and singular voice. "
—Amy Tan
