Rainbow Rowell is back! She has been one of my favorite authors since I first wrote about my “Summer of Rainbow Rowell” ten years ago when I read all four of her novels she had published. Since then she has written short stories, YA books centered on Simon and Baz (fanfic characters introduced in Fangirl) and graphic novels. We always enjoy her work, but Carrie and I have been very excited about the release of her new full-length novel, Slow Dance. And friends, it was good. Read on for our Slow Dance book club chat and questions!
Slow Dance Book Club Discussion
In this book we find Cary on leave from the Navy, back in the small town where he grew up to help with his mother’s care and house. Shiloh, who was his best friend has never left, though she has been married, had two kids and got divorced. Fourteen years have passed, which seems like both a lifetime and no time at all for these two friends who are finding their way back to each other–and figuring out what their friendship really means.
My favorite part of Slow Dance was how Rowell artfully and gently introduces truths so real for many of us in this life as we move through different seasons and stages. She somehow hits the nerve of what is at the heart of things and reveals it so beautifully. Like with so much of what she has written, when I am finished reading, I feel seen. Her work is simply gorgeous.
Slow Dance Book Club Questions
- High school friendships and relationships can be tremendously impactful, even later in life. Do you still have connections with anyone from high school? What is unique about those relationships?
- Discuss the significance of the title. Shiloh and Cary share a slow dance at a wedding at the beginning, but how did you interpret the title their story progressed.
- How was Shiloh and Cary’s relationship different in high school? How were they different? What has stayed the same?
- Both Shiloh and Cary had other responsibilities that heavily influenced choices they made and how they spent their time. How does this affect the progression of their relationship?
- Speaking of influences, how did you feel about the role Ryan, Shiloh’s ex-husband played in their lives? What did you think of him as a person? As a father?
- Shiloh struggled with intensity of emotion and feelings. Can you relate to this at all? How do you see her managing this in her life?
- Cary’s mother made many questionable choices, but he continued with unwavering loyalty to her. Discuss their relationship. How did they support each other?
- Cary had a tough job handling his relatives, specifically in selling his mom’s house. How did he handle this? Have you ever been in a similar situation?
- Did you have a relationship with anyone similar to the one shared by Cary and Shiloh? Do you ever look back and wonder about how things would be different if you had made other choices?
- On this note, the rekindling of their relationship evoked so many memories from high school and being a teenager. What parts of your own teen years do you remember the most? What do you miss the most?
As always we are giving away a copy of our next book club pick! Next month we are diving into the latest from Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment. To be entered for a free copy of this book, leave a comment on this post or on Instagram. As long as you are 18 or older and live in the continental United States, you are eligible to win!
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?
Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.
Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.
How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.”
Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.
A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.
If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?
Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. A modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery, Moriarty asks profound questions in her newest I-can’t-wait-to-find-out-what-happens novel.
Thank you for joining our Slow Dance book club chat! We love having you read along with us and share your thoughts! Happy fall books, friends!
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Meredith says
Wow! Liane Moriarty strikes again! That book sounds fabulous, and now I’m itching to read it!
Somehow, I missed the Rainbow Rowell alert, but that book sounds good, too. I’ll have to check her out since you recommend her so highly!
Meredith says
Slow Dance was so good, Meredith! And I am in the middle of the Moriarty. We need to chat! 🙂