NetGalley Buddy Readers discussion

Has anybody else already read this? I just finished it yesterday and am dying to talk to someone about the ending. Thanks,

Liz, what book are you talking about?

On the app, Goodreads doesn't show the book you selected when creating the topic. So annoying. It's best to put it in the post.

She linked the discussion to The Hired Man by Sandra Dallas.

Liz - I edited your title and moved the discussion to the buddy read folder. I don't have this one, but hopefully someone will have it to discuss with you.

Kristie wrote: "Liz - I edited your title and moved the discussion to the buddy read folder. I don't have this one, but hopefully someone will have it to discuss with you."

Thanks Kristy. I’m new to posting a discussion.

Kevin wrote: "Liz, what book are you talking about?"

The Hired Man by Sandra Dallas.

Elyse wrote: "On the app, Goodreads doesn't show the book you selected when creating the topic. So annoying. It's best to put it in the post."

The Hired Man by Sandra Dallas.

Liz wrote: "Kristie wrote: "Liz - I edited your title and moved the discussion to the buddy read folder. I don't have this one, but hopefully someone will have it to discuss with you."

Thanks Kristy. I’m new ..."

You're welcome, Liz. You did well. I just thought more people would see it that way.

Liz, I read this book with DeAnn and she got to hear an earful from me about the ending so I'd love to hear what you thought about the ending.

Is this where we can discuss it?

You can discuss it in this thread, just be sure to use spoiler tags.

Marilyn, I actually even emailed the author! (view spoiler)[ I mean, was she trying to say that Mrs. Kessler was a dupe for trusting Otis (the other/outsider? Was she saying the community was right for wanting to throw him out? I even questioned if there was a parallel to the present day with liberals as Mrs K and the community as MAGA. She said the book was written before the current immigration issue, which is only true if she is referring to MN and not the campaign and election of Trump. But she also didn’t really answer my first two questions, saying it was somewhere in between.
(hide spoiler)]

About the hired man
(view spoiler)[Helping people who don't have homes is a good thing to do but that does mean that a killer or brutal person could be among those coming into the community. But life is hard on everybody, even their neighbors are losing their homes and bordering on starvation. I can see the mother wanting to reach out and help someone such as Otis when she had such a man stand up for her (and die) back when she most needed help (hide spoiler)]

About the ending
(view spoiler)[This is where I'm conflicted with the ending: I know I read too many police procedurals 😂 but I have a hard time feeling comfortable with Martha Helen making the call that Otis was the murderer for sure based on what she found. Could someone else have placed those things in the hiding place or could Otis have come across them later after someone else killed her friend? I would have liked the author to have given us a more definite answer about the guilt of Otis but I guess that is my more modern times brain wanting "proof" when the things and their location probably should be proof enough. Still, I feel uncomfortable about sending him to his death when I'm not positive he was the killer

Plus, Otis was not dumb. He had to know walking where Martha Helen told him to walk was dangerous and I don't see him doing so with a storm coming but then I've lived in NM and TX where there are flash floods and have known such a thing was dangerous for most of my life. Seems like Otis would know such a thing, too, even if he wasn't from the area. He had to hear Martha Helen preaching to the boys about such dangers, more than once (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[ yes, I also questioned the idea of Martha Helen’s vigilante Justice. And why did Darrell state under oath that Hogg and Jake had done it? Were they just trying to make themselves seem important? (hide spoiler)]

Liz wrote: "[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[The Darrell statement about Hogg and Jake is confusing to me, too, and gave me more reason to not be comfortable with Martha Helen's vigilante justice. I liked the story mostly but have some big doubts about what transpired on the part of Martha Helen and wish things were clearer to me. There is so much vagueness and I wouldn't be able to convict a person based on what I know. (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Liz, thanks for alerting me to this group! Ironically I see Marilyn also posting here as she and I buddy read this one!

I was convinced that Otis was innocent and that justice was served.

Then they had to clean out the barn and discovered some weird things. Could these be trophies from a killer? I wanted to think that someone else planted them to frame Otis. But that doesn't explain the other items, not just from Frankie.

I wanted the author to make it more clear! I was left sad that Otis died and not feeling like if it was other men that they were punished.
. (hide spoiler)]

DeAnn wrote: "Liz, thanks for alerting me to this group! Ironically I see Marilyn also posting here as she and I buddy read this one!

I was convinced that Otis was innocent and that justice was served.

Then th..."

Marilyn mentioned you two read it together and that she gave you “an earful” after finishing it. 🤭.

Here’s what I wrote to Dallas and the reply I got back.

(view spoiler)[
I just finished an advance copy of The Hired Man. I literally woke up in the middle of the night
wondering what message you were looking to send with your ending. Is Mrs. Kessler a dupe for believing in Otis? Are the community members who were prejudice against anyone who was an “other” in the right? And given our current political situation, is there a parallel between the left who embraces immigrants and MAGA who wants to throw them all out of the country?
I loved the book, but the ending disturbed me due to its implications for who had the right approach to life. Thanks.

Her answer:
Thanks for your note. I suppose the answer is none of the above (or below, as it is.) I hope I am posing questions not answers: What do you do when jjustice fails? And is it ever right to commit a smaller sin to prevent a bigger one? I intended no parallels with today, because the book was written before Trump was elected to his second term.
Sandra

(hide spoiler)]

Thank you for posting her reply, Liz. She achieved her goal, she had me asking questions and wanting answers but she wants us to come up with the answers ourselves, if we can!

I can get all worked up during buddy reads with DeAnn and it makes reading even more fun than ever to get to let off steam about what I read 😁

MarilynW wrote: "Thank you for posting her reply, Liz. She achieved her goal, she had me asking questions and wanting answers but she wants us to come up with the answers ourselves, if we can!

I can get all worke..."

Thanks for giving me someone to discuss this with!

Liz wrote: "MarilynW wrote: "Thank you for posting her reply, Liz. She achieved her goal, she had me asking questions and wanting answers but she wants us to come up with the answers ourselves, if we can!

I ..."

Liz, I'll be watching this group for books I've read so I can jump in when the books are discussed! 🤗