Topics
for Discussion
1. Margaret MacBayne and Alyson Thomson live on the same piece
of land, a hundred and thirty years apart. In what ways is
their relationship to the natural world the same? How does
it differ?
2. In the course of the novel, Alyson comes to terms with
the death of her father and her mother’s complicity
in that event. What aspects of her own past does Margaret
reclaim?
3. Walker at first glance is an unlovable character: secretive,
controlling, brilliant but self-absorbed. What is it about
him that attracts Alyson? By the end of the book, do the revelations
about his past make him a more sympathetic character?
4. During the storm at sea, Margaret remains calm, though
“caution installs itself in some deep place from whence
it can reach out to touch the heart in unsuspected ways.”
How does this reserve eventually make itself known, both in
Margaret’s life and in Alyson’s?
5. The Holding tells three stories: the italicized story that
is written in the back of the cookery book; the longer version
of Margaret’s story; and Alyson’s story. Who is
the narrator in each case?
6. In both the old story and the new, the characters have
moved to Hopefield Road from somewhere else. Discuss the nature
of migration as revealed through Margaret and Alyson —
its motivations, its expectations, its prospects for success.
7. The ‘holding’ of the title has multiple meanings.
Discuss how they relate to the themes of the book.
8. At the end of the novel, Alyson realizes the story she
has concocted around Margaret’s brief tale is false.
What made her think that Margaret had murdered her brothers?
What is the effect of learning the truth?
9. In the novel, the garden is a central metaphor. Both Alyson
and Margaret find solace and strength in their gardens, yet
their gardens are also another doomed attempt at control.
Discuss.
10. The structure of the book is an interlace of two stories
from vastly different times. Does this technique make the
two stories difficult to follow? What was gained by alternating
past and present?
The author
comments:
On the control of nature and the nature of control
It has often struck me as I garden,
what a distinctly human pastime it is, this effort to reshape
nature — to control the soil, the weather, even certain
species of plants — in order to produce the food I want
to eat and the surroundings I personally find beautiful. Gardeners
soon learn the futility of control, yet we persist in planting
sun-loving flowers in full shade, bog trees in a sandy meadow,
shrubs that are guaranteed to bloom in some garden miles to
the south of our own. The same urge to control that produces
a garden is also visible in human relations — the desire
to make of others what we want them to be, the refusal to
acknowledge the subtle wonders of what they are.
On the interplay of past and present
The past can never be fully known. It
comes to us in bits and pieces. Even if we manage to recreate
a nearly perfect representation of the past, it is only one
view of events, an interpretation filtered through a particular
set of thoughts, beliefs, and recollections.
The past can’t be retrieved in
its entirety, but neither can it be blocked out. The present
is forever ripe with faintly remembered smells and sounds,
fragments of images, unconcious motivations, snags of old
feelings and impressions that, so long as they remain unacknowledged,
can neither be discarded nor embraced.
Not only do individuals struggle to find a proper place for
the past in the present. Society, too, has its baggage, a
history to sort through and reclaim.
On secrets and betrayal
The things we keep to ourselves define
us, in a way — what we choose to hold private and how
we guard those unrevealed aspects of ourselves are fundamental
to a person’s character. But curiosity is also basic
to human nature. What is hidden fascinates us, more than what
can be seen. Present us with a closed door and we won’t
rest until we’ve seen what is on the other side. The
desire to know and the urge to remain unknown is a potent
source of conflict in intimate relationships. Sharing a secret
can be a bond between two people, or the wedge that drives
them apart.
Similar books to read and compare:
Alyssa York, Mercy
Judith Kitchen, The House on Eccles Road
Elizabeth von Arnem, Elizabeth's German Garden
Susannah Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush
Nuala O'Faolain, My Dream of You
