Book Club Kit: "The Wedding Veil" by Kristy Woodson Harvey
Seeking a book that begs to be buddy read? Check out The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey. Part dual-timeline historical fiction part contemporary romance, this novel is rife with topics that will keep your book club talking.
If you’re ready to get your group-read on, use your book club kit to guide your reading and provide a structure for your discussion.
Step 1 - Download the book club guide
Want to look like you have your life together? Present your book clubbers with a book club guide before you start your read.
Book club members who like to jot down their thoughts while they read will appreciate the notes sheet (page 1), the discussion questions will help keep your conversational train on the tracks come meeting time (page 2), and the thematic drink recipes will make your party-planning a breeze (page 3).
Click the link, below, to download our free guide.
The Wedding Veil Book Club Guide
Step 2 - Use the discussion questions
If you’ve ever headed off to a book club meeting full of good intentions only to find that the conversation quickly veering off-course, you’re not alone. In the absence of a preset structure, it is easy to talk less about the book you all just read and more about your youngest member’s recent Tinder swipes or your oldest member’s frustration over her daughter’s recent disaster at cheerleading tryouts.
To keep your discussion on-course - and book-focused - use the discussion questions, below (which can also be found on page 2 of the downloadable guide).
Babs made a conscious decision not to inform her daughters of her plan to move to a retirement community until the process was complete so that they would be unable to stop the relocation. How do you feel about this choice? What does it say about the relationship Babs has with her now-grown daughters Meredith and Alice?
When the opportunity presented itself, Julia quickly decided to extend her time in St. Thomas. What do you think truly motivated her to stay past her original planned departure? Did staying longer help or hinder her emotional recovery?
When Cornelia decided to essentially abandon the life she had built, Edith didn’t intervene, despite the fact that she clearly didn’t fully agree with her daughter’s choice. Why do you think Edith didn’t try to influence her daughter’s decision?
Though Julia’s mother, Meredith, hadn’t enjoyed a problem-free marriage, she clung to the union - at least in part - in an attempt not to sully the reputation of the otherwise purportedly lucky wedding veil. Do you think it is realistic that Meredith would have allowed her concern about maintaining the reputation of this family heirloom to induce her to put up with a relatively unhappy marriage? What about who she is as a person might have made her more likely to give in to such rigidity?
Did you find the explanation of how the eponymous wedding veil changed hands to be satisfying? Is there anything you would like to change about how this family heirloom is woven into this novel?
Babs eventually reveals that she had a very sound reason for choosing her now-deceased husband over her longtime love Miles. Knowing what she does now, though, do you think she regrets her decision?
Were you surprised when you discovered who sent the explosive text that resulted in Julia abandoning her plans to marry Hayes? Do you think the sender did the right thing, or should she have approached the situation differently?
As the novel draws to a close, it seems that Julia and Connor have a good shot at finding lasting love together. Do you think that they will truly enjoy a “happily ever after”? Why or why not?
This novel contained a rich, robust cast of female characters. With which character(s) in this novel did you most identify, and why? Which character(s), if any, did you not like?
Step 3 - Finish with a quiz
Finish with some fun. As you snuggle down with your cocktails and your meeting draws to a close, take our (incredibly scientific) personality quiz, below, to find out who you’re most like!
