1. When she rummages through the first hatbox, Kate mulls over
how torn she feels dealing with what Tom and her ancestors left
behind: "Responsibility to the past. And flight from its demands.
The feelings she's come to recognize…" (p. 4). How are these
conflicting impulses exhibited throughout the novel, both in terms
of "things" - hatboxes, houses, paintings, gardens - and
emotions?
2. For Kate, Shepton is "the one place in her life that remains
perfect" (p. 12), because of her childhood memories. But as Kate
reads the hatbox letters, she becomes aware of its darker side. How
do memories of specific homes or other places define eras and stay
with us throughout our lives? How does Kate's view of Shepton
change over the course of the novel?
3. Compare Kate and Gregory's grieving processes. Does Gregory's
return help Kate come to terms with Tom's death, or make it
harder?
4. In her acknowledgments, Beth Powning thanks her husband,
Peter, "whose imagined absence as I lived in Kate's mind made me
treasure our companionship more deeply." While reading The
Hatbox Letters, did you imagine what it would be
like to lose any of your loved ones? Compare Kate's experiences to
losses of your own or in your family history.
5. At first, the garden is too overwhelming for Kate, who is
paralyzed by her cherished memories of gardening with Tom. But as
the seasons pass, she feels guilty about its poor condition and
starts to tend it. What is the significance of Kate's "heritage
garden"? Why does Kate think so often about the gardens and rose
trellis at Shepton? How does the garden imagery in the novel enrich
the rest of the story as you read?
6. As Kate reads through the diaries and letters she's found,
she reconstructs the narrative of her family's history and brings
her ancestors to life for us. Similarly, Beth Powning did extensive
research into her own family's history while researching this
novel, delving into family letters and papers. Compare the creative
processes of the author and her main character, and discuss how the
story behind Giles and Hetty's marriage enriches the novel as a
whole.
7. How is it that the diary excerpts and letters re-created in
the novel can say so little, yet so much? How does their inclusion
evoke the past for you?
8. Grief, Kate realizes, is "the reverse of what one would
expect." Instead of hitting you hard and lessening over time, grief
is "like some bizarre plant that doesn't seem to be growing until
it unexpectedly sends forth a flower" (p. 144). Compare the ways in
which Powning's various characters experience grief. Are there
similarities among those who ultimately give in to their suffering,
or those who are able to reimagine their lives in its wake?
9. Why does Kate smash the framed picture of her husband after
the chimney fire? In what ways does this night focus Kate's anger
and grief?
10. May, who lost her husband twenty years earlier, tells Kate,
"One day, Katie, you'll forgive him for leaving" (p. 242). By the
end of the novel, has Kate managed to do so?
11. How do the seasons - the solitary cold of winter, the
renewed growth of spring - mirror changes in Kate's emotional
state?
12. How does Kate feel about the phone calls she makes to her
parents and to her daughter, when she's in her most solitary phase?
Or the uneasy conversations she has with local friends who may or
may not be sure how to act around her?
13. After Jonnie's death, Dr. Baker says to Giles, "Return love
when it comes to you, and your heart will be eased" (p. 250).
Discuss Giles's relationship with Jonnie and her family, and his
eventual marriage to Hetty. How does Giles and Hetty's life
together help Kate comes to terms with her own loss?
14. "A layer of perfect black ice smoothes the river's
corrugated surface, where winter's history lies in striations of
frozen snow, rutted tire tracks, broken branches, fissures,
windblown soil" (p. 256). Discuss the significance of the chapter
"Black Ice," in which Kate joins the skating party on the river.
How does the image of the black ice relate to the story as a whole?
In what ways does Kate seem to be a new person during the
outing?