There are many layers to New Old World that can be missed on first reading, so I’ve created a new discussion guide for readers who want to dig a little deeper. Questions about style and structure, as well as characters and themes, will help book groups and independent readers get more out of the novel.
An updated edition of New Old World is now available at Smashwords, Apple Books, Amazon, and other retailers. This 2018 edition also includes a couple of fixed typos and a handful of changes in word choice. But the major enhancement is the reading guide.
Here are a few sample questions from the guide that may spark your curiosity about the book, or nudge you into rereading it:
— New Old World is a novel but it often reads like Ticonderoga Fox’s memoir. In fact it is the story of Ti writing her story while still living it. How is the first chapter like the beginning of a memoir? Where else in the novel are we aware of Ti’s writing process? Consider the changes in narration as well as the passage of time.
— How do the poems that bookend the novel enhance your understanding of the story, or of Virginia and Ti? In what way are they gifts from mothers to their children, and what kind of guidance do they offer?
— Why did the author choose to make Ti a photographer? How does her visual nature affect the way she perceives the world, interacts with people, and conducts her life?
— How does Ti exemplify the freedoms and choices that faced women of the Baby Boomer generation? Do you believe Ti ultimately found a satisfying balance of family and creativity in her life? How might things have turned out for her if she had decided against motherhood and marriage?
To get your free update if you’ve already purchased New Old World, or to buy it for the first time, just click on one of the links under “Where to Buy.”