UB Libraries Book Group discussion

Kathy will lead discussion of our March book, Frog Music, starting March 23rd.

Hey All -- Welcome to the March discussion of Frog Music! I have a couple of questions to kick us off:

I didn't do any upfront research and didn't realize until part way through that this was based on a true crime. Do you think Donoghue's interpretation of this historical event is the likely truth?

Secondly, if you read Donoghue's enormously popular 2010 novel Room, did you have any expectations going in to this book?

I have to say I didn't care for Blanche and found her so selfish and immature (drove me crazy how often she mentioned her son was ugly -- guilt talking?). It seemed she was entirely self-focused until the last few pages. Knowing it was true(ish) kept me interested but I would like to have known more about Jenny; such an unusual woman of that time. I also did not read Room so had no expectations on that front.

I'm a great fan of Emma Donoghue's writing, especially her fairy tale variants and historical fiction. I have been reading her work for a long time and have liked *most* of it very much; indeed, the only one that I didn't love was Landing. I think my favorites have been Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins, Slammerkin, and The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits: Stories -- but I've pretty much loved them all. It's partly her voice, and partly her perspective, and partly how deeply she manages to make me *feel* for her characters and their situations.

As a fan, I probably read her works rather uncritically, prepared to if not precisely enjoy -- because sometimes her works are unflinchingly painful -- then to appreciate her writing, to learn something I hadn't known before, and to *feel* very deeply. I trust her as a writer. I am willing to follow her writing wherever she wants to lead me. Frog Music did not disappoint me; I liked (well, or something like liked!) it very much. Mainly I loved the lyricism of it, the way music wound through and illustrated it, and I did love the character of Blanche, despite her flaws. I agree that she was selfish and immature, but I also thought that she was so terribly young, and trying so very hard to lie to herself. I felt such great sympathy for her that at times I almost couldn't stand it, and I wanted so desperately for things to somehow turn out for her and her son. That made the epilogue almost heart-breaking, really. I am really grateful that we knew the outcome of Jenny's story from the start, because she was such a largely likeable and wonderful character (to me, anyway) that to have gotten to know her and then lose her would have been even more terrible.

In terms of Donoghue's interpretation of history and its truth -- I guess I don't really expect it to be the truth; I tend to read her historical fiction (and perhaps most historical fiction) as speculative. I don't think the author is trying to share with us the truth so much as a particular perspective; what would it have been like to be a woman during this time period, and especially to be a particular type of woman? That's what I find meaningful, anyway.

Regarding Blanche calling her son ugly -- I thought there were two aspects to this. First, I thought it showed how Blanche was trying to distance herself (protect herself?) from him, and deny (then ultimately come to terms with) her neglect of him. Second, I thought it was the author's way of describing the physical effects of his illness, which I presumed was lead poisoning.

I have to confess to be a newbie where this author is concerned. So, I had no expectations.
I would suspect she stretched the truth in regards to the real murder. though it wouldn't be the first time a "pimp" punished a run away girl. Or someone trying to save a girl in that situation sadly.
I found myself feeling sympathetic for Blanche. She is very young really. I was rooting for her too. She was a starry eyed young girl when they came to the US. Easily influenced by the sauve gentleman. She was young enough to still want to be a rebel. I've noticed a big difference in maturity between the ages of 17 and 21, myself included. This is close to the time period Blanche is going through. I think she is 24 by the end.
Some of the book is shocking but all in all, I liked the book. I also was fascinated by Jenny. Gone too soon. The author really does have a skill for evoking emotions in the reader.

I had very mixed feelings about this book. All the characters lives were very difficult in every aspect. Jenny was the only one I liked and she was murdered. I found the historical parts interesting, such as details about the smallpox epidemic and the feelings towards the Chinese. It was very much an "every man for himself" time period, which usually results in rather a bleak mood and it most certainly did in this case, in my opinion.

I didn't know until I read the afterword that it was based on a true story and almost all were real people. I also didn't realize that Donoghue had written a number of other historical fiction titles. I only knew of her as the author of Room, which was so different.

I found myself getting confused at times as she jumped back and forth between before and after the murder. It was so sad that the young boy ended up being the shooter. Though I was a bit relieved that we found out. For some reason, I had it in my head that we would never know the truth. I'm not sure why that followed me through most of the book, but it made me sort of not like the book.

As often happens with books in this genre, which I call "hardscrabble," I didn't like the depressing nature of the lives and times. But I found the way the story was told engaging and it was not an effort to read the book.

This book was like a slow train for me--not exciting, but I didn't mind the ride, and I got to look out the window. I also really enjoyed the historical details, and I also didn't realize until about halfway through that it was based on a true story.

I wish Donoghue had let herself stray from the facts, more, though. When I read the notes at the end and saw that, with few exceptions, every character was real, it made sense that the story never seemed to get of the ground. I think what could have been a rich story suffered from Donoghue trying to connect too many dots.

I also wish we'd gotten more of Jenny's backstory, rather than the details being explained at the end. There seemed to be a lot of telling-not-showing in the book overall, actually. But again, I enjoyed reading it, and now I want to read Room!

I listened to the book via audio. I found that made the back and forth of moving between the time periods easier to take. It also made the characters more real to me, for good and ill. It made Jenny even more of a character and endearing. Unfortunately, it seems it means I missed the ending data that was in the print version. I may have to pick up the book to see what it said. I am curious to know.

I began reading Frog Music waiting for the moment when I would start to enjoy the book. None of the characters could garner my sympathy or even a mild interest. There was a time when I would trudge through a book to the bitter end. I am older now, not necessarily wiser, and my time too valuable to spend on a book I would not chose for myself. I ended at page 85.
* So I wrote the above first - because I didn't want to be influenced by how others commented before I wrote my review. Sometimes I wonder if I was reading the same book - but I still have to say thumbs down on the characters.

This was my first Donoghue book, so no expectations here. I enjoyed her writing and will explore some of her other books. Frog Music - love the title. It had my heart pumping in spots and to play off Denise's comment, took me on a nice ride too.

I found myself sympathetic to Blanche. I thought she was just so young and naive and made some poor choices just like lots of young adults do. Jenny was an interesting character for the times, and I found myself thinking this poor kid had so many of "issues" to deal with. I could see why Blanche and Jenny were drawn to each other.

I liked the setting of the book and I don't know how much Donoghue strayed from actual events, but I sense it was probably in the character development more than the actual events of the crime.

I assume the title reflects Jenny's actually catching frogs, as well as the French characters in the book. Anything else?

At one point, when they are at the "lake" at San Miguel Station, Jenny talks about the "music" that the frogs make. But I think it applies to all the other parts as well.

Why do we think the baby has lead poisoning? I thought it was just malnutrition and lack of activity. But I think someone mentioned lead poisoning? What did I miss?

Ellen, I mentioned lead poisoning. It is just my guess, based on the baby's physical symptoms and the fact that he used an old doorknob as a pacifier. I may be absolutely wrong, of course :)

He definitely had ricketts. Jenny mentioned it and Blanche asked the doctor about it. I wouldn't be surprised if he also had lead poisoning.

Oh yes, the doorknob makes sense for lead poisoning. I didn't make the connection. And the fact that Blanche still had the doorknob after the baby was taken by Earnest could explain his relatively rapid improvement.