Woman in Red
by Eileen Goudge
List Price: $24.95
Pages: 356
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 1593154445
Publisher: Vanguard Press
Alice Kessler spent nine years in prison for the attempted murder of the drunk driver who killed her young son. Now she’s returned home to Gray’s Island, WA, to reconnect with the Jeremy, son she left behind, who is now a sullen teenager. When Jeremy is wrongly accused of rape, mother and son are thrown together in a desperate attempt to prove his innocence. She is aided by Colin McGinty, a recovering alcoholic and 9/11 widower, who returns to the island in the aftermath of his grandfather’s death. Colin’s grandfather, a famous artist, is best known for his haunting portrait, “Woman in Red,” which happens to be of Alice’s grandmother.
In a tale that weaves the past with the present, we come to know the story behind the portrait, of the forbidden wartime romance between William McGinty and Eleanor Styles, and the deadly secret that bound them more tightly than even their love for each other. A half century later, that secret is about to be unburied, as Alice and Colin are drawn into a fragile romance of their own, and the ghost of an enemy from long ago surfaces.
top of the page
1. The difficulties Colin McGinty and Alice Kessler experienced sprang from mistakes made by their grandparents, William McGinty, the artist, and Eleanor Styles, with whom he fell tragically in love. What were these mistakes, and what did you think of the choices they ultimately made about their love for one another?
2. In Eleanor’s time, when a woman got pregnant out of wedlock, there were few socially acceptable options available to her. What different decisions or actions might Eleanor have made or taken if she had lived in today’s world and this had happened? What changes have occurred in people’s attitudes and in the laws that have changed the social landscape?
3. In the author’s story, what role did the border collies play in connecting the present to the past?
4. Similarly, what function did the establishment and growth of Colin’s oyster beds serve as a story-telling device?
5. How do you think you would react if, like Alice, you had witnessed your son’s death at the hands of a negligent driver? Who suffered the most from this tragic accident—Alice; Lowell White; Alice’s other son, Jeremy, or Alice’s husband, Randy?
6. Colin commented in the story that he’d always heard that great art was born of great suffering. How did the author demonstrate this in Woman in Red? What did you think of the ultimate destiny of the portrait?
7. Ultimately, Woman in Red is about second chances. What characters in the story had second chances? Which characters made good choices the second time, and which ones didn’t? In your own life, have you experienced any second chances, and, if so, how wise were you in your second choices?
8. When Colin sells his grandfather’s beloved painting of Eleanor, how is it a gift to William? What did the sale bring to his grandfather that had eluded him in life?
9. In reading Woman in Red, what do you think you learned about the author’s values? What is important to her? What makes her angry? With what is she impatient, and what does she respect?
10. If you were to write a sequel to Woman in Red, what characters would you feature? What do you think these characters would pursue? What would their challenges be? Who would work against them, and who would help them?
top of the page
“Eileen Goudge, always wonderful, has written her best book yet. Woman in Red is both sweeping and intimate, a broad canvas of time and place, and a tender family portrait. I held my breath from the first page, and couldn’t put the book down until I reached the last. Be prepared: this novel will tear your heart out. It’s nothing short of brilliant.”
—New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice
“Eileen Goudge has crafted a beautiful tale of loss, redemption and hope. Woman in Red is a masterpiece.”
—New York Times bestselling author Barbara Delinksy
“Fast paced, intricately plotted, and multi-layered, Woman in Red is a compelling novel about loss, loyalty, love, and the high price of redemption. Eileen Goudge has created a fascinating character in Alice, a woman striving to undo the harm she’s done in the past and to reconnect with the family she’s left behind. Once you start this wonderful book, you won’t be able to put it down.”
—New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah
