Jack's letter

Jack wrote Roseanne a remarkable letter in which he confessed that they had all been a little in love with her. What did you make of that statement as an "explanation" of the way they behaved toward her? And how did you process the knowledge that his mother had her own scandal? Did you read Jack's letter as a genuine gesture of caring about Roseanne and what she had endured or did you see it mainly as a way for an old man to clear his conscience before dying?

Mr. "Easy-going"

What did you think of Tom?

Escape

One notion that really intrigued me while reading this was that of escape. Both Roseanne and the doctor seemed imprisoned in a life that they were powerless to change. Roseanne was actually imprisoned in the institution, more or less, but before that, when she was in her cottage, I kept wondering why she couldn't flee. Why couldn't she just pack a suitcase and hit the road and begin anew somewhere else? And why couldn't the doctor take his life in his hands and tell Bet he couldn't live like that, that it was no life, that he needed love and forgiveness and joy? What did you make of their terrible submission to sorrow? And was it submission? Were they powerless?

There was a beautiful scene — I can't find it now! — where Roseanne had a bird in her cottage, and she scooped it up and set it free. Then the priest came for her, to tell her her awful fate, and she felt like a trapped bird, but she knew no one was going to gently scoop her up and let her fly off into the sunlight.

Infidelity

Erin pointed this out as one of her favorite passages.

I regret Bet's exodus to the maid's room above all other regrets. My dalliance -- oh, a quaint word chosen by my stupid inner self to hide my sin -- with another, whose life I also altered for the worse, being the cause. I think it was the cause. More likely, the sudden view she got of me in the light of it. A smaller, nastier person than she had thought.

It stood out to me, too, because their relationship was so damn sad. It had the potential to be so amazingly happy and it was so amazingly sad.

What did you think of Bet? Did you sympathize with her or did you find her emotionally rigid?

Both Roseanne and the doctor had their lives ruined by "adultery" in some way: Roseanne because of a false accusation and the doctor because of an incident that bore more resemblance to an adolescent makeout session than to a full-blown affair or even to a one-night stand (They didn't even undress). It was really horrific how these things that were nothing or next to nothing in the scheme of things exploded these people's lives — all because of the screwed-up notions people have about sex and intimacy and the peculiar inability to forgive in this realm. Both of their spouses were effectively poisoned against them. Do you have any thoughts on how their experiences compared?

Father Gaunt

Was he simply an evil misogynist, drunk on his own power? Did he have some other motivations? Is his character a commentary on Catholicism in Ireland?

The twist

What did you think of the twist ending? Is it a cliche? Does it work?

Also, did you see it coming?

The truth

Who do you believe? Is Roseanne a reliable storyteller at age 100? Is Father Gaunt, with his personal vindictiveness, reliable?

Two narratives

What did you think of the book's structure, alternating between Roseanne's story and Dr. Grene's? Did you find one more compelling than the other? Does that structure work?

"The Secret Scripture"

First impressions? Did you like it? Favorite parts?