Ones Who Matter Most, The - Softcover

Herron, Rachael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 045147676X ISBN 13: 9780451476760

Publisher: NAL, 2016

Synopsis

After her husband dies unexpectedly, Abby Roberts finds wedding photographs of him with another woman, along with pictures of a baby boy. Shocked, she does something utterly impulsive: She embarks on a journey to discover the family her husband apparently left behind. What begins as one woman is search for truth becomes a deep bond forged between the unlikeliest of people, and the discovery that there are many ways to create a family - as long as you take care.

About this title

About the Author

Rachael Herron is the acclaimed author of Splinters of Light and Pack Up the Moon. She received her MFA from Mills College.

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Questions for Discussion

1. What role does Kathryn play in Abby’s life? How has she helped shape Abby’s life trajectory?

2. Do you think Abby will be able to carry this pregnancy to full term? What echoes do her past miscarriages present in her current life?

3. “Chosen family” is a theme of The Ones Who Matter Most. What other themes do you see in this novel?

4. How has Abby changed by the end of the novel? Is it for the better? How do her decisions as the book progresses affect this change?

5. Same question for Fern: How has she changed? Is it for the better? Is life pushing her? Is she pushing life back?

6. Fern thinks of herself as stubbornly independent and actively wants Scott to stay out of her and Matty’s life, yet she’s been taking checks
from him since he left. Is this a contradiction? Why or why not?

7. Matty learns several skills through the course of his science project. What’s the most important thing he learns? What will serve him the best
as he grows up?

8. What do you think Matty will be like at sixteen? At twenty-five? At forty?

9. When Scott left Fern and Matty, his father, Wyatt, chose the ones left behind. Do you think he made the right decision? Why?

10. Estamos completos: “We are complete.” Is there a complete family by the close of this novel? Is this something a family can truly attain, or is it a dream on Fern’s part?

11. Is most of your family related to you by blood or by choice? Of course you wish for health and happiness for your family, but what else do you wish for the ones who matter most to you?

Edition details

• Publisher: NAL
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 045147676X
• ISBN 13: 9780451476760
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432