CECILY for your Book Group
It occurs to me that some readers might like to discuss CECILY in their book groups - there’s certainly lots to talk about! I hope the questions here will spark lively conversations and offer a variety of ways you might think - and talk - about CECILY, both the novel and the woman.
Cecily lived more than 500 years ago in a very different society. How well did you feel you could relate to her? And can you see parallels between her life and those of women today?
E. L. Doctrow famously said: ‘The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.’ What is the novelist’s role in bringing history to life, and how well do you think Annie Garthwaite does it?
The book’s cover describes Cecily as wife, mother, politician, traitor, fighter and survivor. Which of these aspects of her life impressed you most - and did you ever feel they were in conflict?
Cecily’s marriage to Richard was arranged by her parents and made for dynastic reasons, yet they seem to have achieved a strong partnership. Is CECILY a love story? And what did you find most surprising about Cecily and Richard’s relationship?
Is Cecily politically ambitious in aiming for the crown, or is she simply driven by necessity in order to protect her family?
Richard’s father died a traitor. How does this affect both Richard’s personality and his political motivations? And do you think he wanted to take the throne?
CECILY is set during a period when England was almost constantly at war - either with the French or with itself. Do you get a sense from the novel that this constant, brutal fighting has shaped the personalities of the characters?
CECILY juxtaposes events in the national sphere (war, politics, regime change) with the domestic (marriage, motherhood, loss). What does this juxtaposition bring to the novel and does it make you think of history differently?
At the beginning of the novel, after the burning of Joan of Arc and the coronation of Henry VI as King of France, Cecily observes that ‘the will of God, which has called all things into being, might turn a child into a king, a girl into a warrior, or a body into ash. And that any man - or woman indeed - may, according to their courage, shape His will to their purpose.’ How would you describe Cecily’s relationship with God and how far does her belief in him drive her actions?
