 | When Light Breaks
Patti Callahan Henry Introduction
"About all the things that make us worthy as human beings' integrity, honesty, and living the life you are meant to live...A triumph!"
–Dorothea Benton Frank
"Patti Callahan Henry's writing is as lush and magical as the Lowcountry she loves. Once caught in the emotional currents of her story, you'll not be released until
the last, satisfying page."
–Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author of Sweetgrass
Garnering comparisons to Anne Rivers Siddons and Pat Conroy, Patti Callahan Henry has woven her lyrical Southern voice throughout the Lowcountry landscape. Now,
as two women from opposite sides of the same sea meet, a tale unfolds that will draw you into the heart's remembrances and the tender awakenings of first love.
Twenty-seven-year-old Kara Larson is bogged down in the stress of planning her elaborate wedding to a professional golfer. Still, to fulfill the requirements of the
Palmetto Pointe Junior Society, she makes time in her busy schedule to visit an elderly woman at a nursing home facility. Soon she finds herself mesmerized by the
singsong Irish lilt of ninety-six-year-old Maeve Mahoney as Maeve recounts the rambling story of her first love back in Ireland. Or, Kara begins to wonder, is she
really retelling an ancient tale of myth and legend? Waiting for the story to unfold in bits and pieces, and trying to discern the underlying truth, Kara is drawn
in and driven to remember her own first love: childhood neighbor Jack Sullivan. Gradually she realizes that before she embarks on her new life, she must find out
how her own story with Jack will end.
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| Discussion Questions
What do you think the title means?
Maeve asks Kara to consider whether she would live her life differently if she knew her first love would return to her. Was there a first love in your own life,
someone you waited for? Would you live your life differently if you knew that he (or she) would return for you?
Kara learns that her mother hoped her children would "listen to the hints of their hearts." In your own life, are you listening to the hints of your heart?
Do you agree that it's important to do so?
Maeve tells Kara: "All our lives we must choose between what others define us to be and what we were meant to be." Is that struggle being played out in your
own life? Do you see it in the lives of family and friends?
Kara and Jack have an intense romance at very young ages—not quite fourteen—yet during the novel they discover that all these years later, their feelings for
each other have endured. Do you think that children and/or young teenagers are capable of mature and sustainable romantic relationships?
Both Kara and Jack suffer as children from brokenness within their homes—Kara through her mother's death and Jack through his father's alcoholism. Discuss
how those losses influence their relationship, both as teenagers and as adults.
Deirdre was fifteen years old and Kara just nine when their mother died. Discuss how the difference in their ages affected their experience of their mother's
death. How do you think Kara's relationship with her sister will change in the future?
Why does Kara's father, Porter, decide not to reveal to his children their mother's dying wish that they "listen to the hints of their hearts"?
Do you agree or disagree with his decision?
Although Maeve feels compelled to share her life story with Kara, she also asks Kara for help in answering one last question—what finally happened
to Richard? Why do you think Maeve needs to know?
Maeve tells Kara, "Be careful what you believe." What do you think this means and how do you think it affects Kara' life and decisions? How does what
you believe affect your own life and decisions?
Describe the lives of each of the characters in the novel six months after it ends. What do you imagine will happen to them?
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