“I did not forgive him for abandoning us,” she says. Joan’s relationship with her father remains complicated throughout the novel. “I wasn’t sure if my burying that comb was what landed my cousin in prison,” Joan says, “but I thanked God - and Miss Dawn - for the magic of it.” Do you believe the magic worked? Either way, do you feel Joan got justice for what happened to her when Derek went to prison? Why or why not? How do the people of Douglass support each other throughout the years? What do you think Memphis is saying about the value of community? Does this community support ever fall short? If so, where? What do you think she means by this? Do you agree? Why or why not? “History had awakened me to the fact that racism is the only food Americans crave,” Stringfellow writes.

How did these details influence your reading experience? Which reference was your favorite? Memphis is full of cultural references, from historical events and figures to well-known music and literature. How do Myron and Hazel’s lives - and deaths - reverberate through the future generations of their family? What do you make of this comparison? Do you believe personal traumas can be as damaging as war? “How on earth could a sane man charge into a volley of bullets-say, at D-Day? Weren’t they terrified?” She later compares these feelings to her own experience walking into August’s house knowing Derek lived there, too. Why do you think Miriam brought Joan and Mya to live with August and Derek, despite knowing what happened to Joan years before? Do you think she made the right choice? Why or why not? Which traits were passed down through the family line? Which traits seem to belong to individuals? How did this change in perspective affect your reading experience? Did it make you identify more strongly with any of the characters?ĭiscuss the different generations of North women - and North men - and some of the defining characteristics of each person.

Joan’s sections are told in first person, while the other North women are written in third person.

Read With Jenna Browse the full list of Read With Jenna book picks by monthĪfter reading, use the questions provided by the publisher to spark a conversation amongst friends and family.

Book memphis by tara stringfellow