Book Club Questions for An Uncommon Woman
- Life in the eighteenth century was difficult and dangerous. How would you have responded to the hardships of that time? Dutifully, like Tessa Swan? With the wry tenacity and humor of Hester? Or with the courageous spirit of Clay Tygart? Would you have been among those who left the more civilized East to cross the mountains of present-day West Virginia? Why or why not?
- What perceptions does your reading group have about Virginia/West Virginia or Appalachia in general? Are any of the novel’s characters stereotypical of that region? How do you feel about the Indians being displaced by settlers during that turbulent time? How has that complicated history impacted our culture today?
- While researching this novel, the author read many Indian captivity stories, namely the historical record of Jemima Boone, Mary Draper Ingles, and others who survived such events and even thrived in very hostile, heartbreaking situations. Often, redeemed captives didn’t want to return to the white world. Why do you think this was so?
- Clay is a conundrum of a frontiersman, born to Pennsylvania Quakers (Friends), captured and raised by Lenape/Delaware Indians, then redeemed and returned to white society. He is at war within himself, taking command of a fort named in his honor as a hero of the French and Indian War, yet desiring peace at all costs on a very embittered, embattled frontier. What did you make of
- Friendship is one of the themes of the novel. As Proverbs says, A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.(Proverbs 17:17). On the frontier, standards of friendship were often different than what they are today. Courage and endurance were prized. Men and women who lacked those essential traits were often run out of settlements back then. Given that, who would you have wanted to befriend in the novel? Who would you have wanted to “run out on a rail”?
- Often we face discontentment over our circumstances. Tessa is no different. She longs for a different sort of life in a far more civilized area. Though she’s never traveled beyond the Buckhannon region, she believes she would be happier and certainly safer elsewhere. When have you ever wanted something badly and then later been relieved or even grateful that things didn’t turn out as you’d hoped?
- Keturah, Tessa’s childhood friend, stolen away by the Indians over ten years ago is back in body–but does her spirit long to be with her new family from the Lenape tribe? As Tessa tries to help Keturah remember her old life, the question is raised: who exactly is the “uncommon woman” of the title? Is it the Indian captive, Keturah, pulled between two worlds? Or is it the plainspoken but compassionate Tessa?
- Tessa’s father was killed in an Indian raid, and her older brother Jasper carries a deep and bitter hatred as a result. During this time period, nearly every family on the frontier had a similar loss. Is Jasper’s resentment and bitterness justified? What is different about Tessa and Clay’s response, both of whom have experienced great upheaval?
- At first Clay Tygart is intrigued with Tessa Swan, and then he falls in love with her. What did you find attractive or endearing about Tessa? What did you find displeasing? Which attributes of Tessa’s do you think won him over? Do you think they’re a good match? Why or why not?
- What expectations did you have as you began reading An Uncommon Woman? What hopes did you have for Tessa, Clay, and Keturah by the novel’s end? What surprised you? Pleased you? Troubled you?
- Author E.L. Doctorow said, “Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader. Not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.” Were you able to get a feel for the sights, sounds, and tastes of the eighteenth-century frontier? Did that world come alive for you as you were reading? What stood out to you?
- Many readers felt the need for the rest of the story and so an epilogue was written after the book was published. Just visit https://laurafrantz.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/328015_AnUncommonWomanFrantz_Epilogue_Covers.pdf