About the Author
In addition to her Tuscany memoirs, Every Day in Tuscany and Bella Tuscany, FRANCES MAYES is the author of the travel memoir A Year in the World; the illustrated books In Tuscany and Bringing Tuscany Home; The Discovery of Poetry, a text for readers; five books of poetry; and most recently a southern memoir, Under Magnolia. She divides her time between homes in Italy and North Carolina. Visit France Mayes’s blog at www.francesmayesbooks.com.
Reading Group Guide
1. The first two chapters introduce J. J. and Ginger in settings where they seem fulfilled and at peace. What does J. J.'s cabin have in common with the farmhouse Ginger rents in Italy? Is there any similarity between Ginger's relationship with Marco and J. J.'s experience with Julianne, the teacher from Osceola? How does Julianne measure up to Georgia Larkin?
2. Discuss the narrators voice in Swan. What traits do you recognize from Frances Mayess non fiction and poetry? How did her accomplished writers eye serve her in creating a novel?
3. Compare her depiction of small-town Georgia to that of Tuscany. Are there any similarities between the Masons family house and Bramasole?
4. Frances told her editor that Swan is “a book of memory, how it cuts and comes again, and of a powerful landscape, which is always at work shaping the people who live on its surface.” What are some of the ways in which memory and landscape define the inhabitants of Swan? Were Swans “old days” good ones?
5. Holts relationship with Lucy is considered just as taboo as Catherines extramarital affair. As time passes, how is this legacy of racism handled in the town of Swan? In what ways do Tessie and Scott reflect their generations?
6. Frances Mayes is renowned for her description of Tuscanys cuisine. What are some of the most tempting Southern dishes presented in the novel?
7. From Big Jim to Ginger, the novel portrays a variety of traditional and highly non-traditional men and women. Discuss how Swans characters compare to the men and women in your life. Do you think that Southern gender roles are different from those found elsewhere in America?
8. Occurring early in the novel, Gingers passionate scene with Marco is immediately followed by gruesome events in Magnolia Cemetery. How are attitudes toward sex and death entwined in the town of Swan?
9. Why do Ginger and J. J. have such opposing reactions to their father? How did your impression of Wills change when you learned of his connection to Dachau?
10. Do you suppose that Catherine would have rebuffed Austins marriage proposal if she had been born twenty years later? Is her situation reflected in Gingers first marriage? How does Catherines affair compare with her childrens romances?
11. Who were your primary suspects in Catherines murder? How would you have reacted in Sonnys place?
A Guide for Reading Groups
SWAN
A Novel by Frances Mayes
Author of the international bestseller
Under the Tuscan Sun