On Distant Shores (34 page)

Read On Distant Shores Online

Authors: Sarah Sundin

Tags: #FIC042030, #FIC042040, #FIC027050, #Letter writing—Fiction, #Friendship—Fiction, #World War (1939–1945)—Fiction

BOOK: On Distant Shores
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Discussion Questions
  1. Georgie thinks she’s gotten herself in over her head as a flight nurse. Do you agree? Have you ever been in a situation where you felt you were in over your head? What did you do?
  2. Hutch struggles with disrespect in his position. How does he cope at first? How does that change during the story? Have you ever felt like your work wasn’t respected? How did you cope?
  3. Both Hutch and Georgie are blessed with deep, long-term friendships. How do these friendships help them? Do you have a friendship like that?
  4. Hutch and Bergie say they balance each other out. How do you see that in their friendship? In your closest relationships, do you prefer lots of similarities or a balance of differences? Some blend?
  5. How does Georgie deal with grief? How does grief change her?
  6. Hutch has an interfering supervisor and a rude co-worker. How does Hutch deal well, how does he come up short, and how does he improve? How have you dealt with unpleasant workplace relationships?
  7. In what ways is Georgie’s family deeply loving? How do they stifle her? How can we avoid locking family members into roles and help them grow?
  8. Hutch and Georgie find themselves in an uncomfortable situation, with the woman outranking the man. How does this create difficulties? How do they try to work through these difficulties? Today it’s not uncommon for a wife to earn more than her husband. How can modern couples deal with this?
  9. Hutch starts with a good goal, but it turns into an obsession. Why do you think this happened? Do you agree with his decision at the end of the book?
  10. How does Georgie handle fear at first? How does she handle fear at the end? Do you ever find fear holding you back?
  11. In what ways does Lucia demonstrate the resiliency of children? The vulnerability? How are she and Hutch good for each other?
  12. Both Georgie and Hutch find their dreams have changed by the end of the story. Has that ever happened to you?
  13. How are stars symbolic in the story? What do they mean to Hutch? To Georgie?
  14. Why do you think Vesuvius (which erupted from March 18–23, 1944) is pictured on the book cover?
  15. If you read
    With Every Letter
    , did you enjoy watching Tom and Mellie’s story progress? The last book in the Wings of the Nightingale series (summer 2014) follows Lt. Kay Jobson and Lt. Roger Cooper. From what you’ve seen of these characters, what might you anticipate?

Sarah Sundin
is the author of
With Every Letter
,
A Distant Melody
,
A Memory Between Us
, and
Blue Skies Tomorrow
. In 2011,
A Memory Between Us
was a finalist in the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Awards and Sarah received the Writer of the Year Award at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. A graduate of UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy, she works on-call as a hospital pharmacist. During WWII, her grandfather served as a pharmacist’s mate (medic) in the Navy and her great-uncle flew with the US Eighth Air Force in England. Sarah lives in California with her husband and three children.

Books by Sarah Sundin

W
INGS
OF
G
LORY

A Distant Melody

A Memory Between Us

Blue Skies Tomorrow

W
INGS
OF
THE
N
IGHTINGALE

With Every Letter

On Distant Shores

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