Regina's Closet
by Diana Raab

List Price: $23.00
Pages: 166
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780825305757
Publisher: Beaufort Books

When glamorous Regina inexplicably ends her own life, her ten-year-old grand-daughter Diana is devasted by the loss and haunted by questions she never got to ask her grandmother. Three decades later, Diana discovers her grandmother's journal which gives Diana a window into the unknown events of Regina's tumultuous life, including surviving World War I, the heartbreak of being orphaned, and the pandemonium of events during her immigrations from Poland to Vienna to Paris and finally to the United States.

Diana draws strength from her grandmother's example, which sustains her when she receives some of her own shattering news. To share her personal story, Diana must first tell Regina's. The end result is a unique braided narrative, with excerpts of Regina's diary interwoven with Diana's own life experiences, creating a touching portrait between granddaughter and grandmother, their past and present, loves and losses, and the discovery of their shared legacy.

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1. When Diana Raab first started working on Regina’s Closet, she considered just publishing her grandmother’s journals. Do you think interweaving her own life with her grandmother’s added to the book? Why or why not?

2. Do you think that Regina and are Diana reliable narrators?

3. Do you think Regina planned her suicide for her granddaughter to find her or do you think it was an accident?

4. Were you surprised by Diana’s behavior in the house when she discovered her grandmother? How do you think your own children would have responded during such a scene?

5. Has anyone ever committed suicide in your family and how did you discuss it with the children?

6. Do you think it is important to be honest with kids about the reason for the death of a loved one? Why or why not?

7. Do you think Diana would have coped better with the loss if she were allowed to attend her grandmother’s funeral?

8. What are your thoughts on Regina’s relationship with her father? How is her relationship with her father different from the relationship she had with her mother?

9. Do you think Ethel’s reactions were appropriate in her reaction to Regina’s breaking the kitchen window? Explain.

10. In what way is Regina different from the other girls in the boarding school?

11. How does Regina learn her entrepreneurial skills?

12. Do you think Regina’s desire to go to medical school was prompted by her mother telling her she thought she should be a doctor one day?

13. How does your opinion of Regina change as her story unfolds?

14. What are the similarities between Regina’s relationship with her mother and Diana’s relationship with hers?

15. What incidents in the book show the author’s relationship with her own mother?

16. How does the author’s relationship with her grandmother shape the books’ narrative?

17. How would you compare all the women in this book – i.e. Ethel, Regina, Diana, Rusza and Eva?

18. How would you compare the men in this book – Regina’s father, Regina’s husband and Diana’s father?

19. What did you find to be the most compelling scene in the book?

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