There is nothing I love more than a deep dive into the themes of Goodbye Again. If your book club or reading group is exploring the nuances of adoption, grief, or the concept of “two things being true at once,” I would be honored to join the conversation. Please invite me to your meeting; I am available via Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime.
Discussion Questions
Feel free to print or share these with your group ahead of your meeting.
- The Inner Critic: Candace’s internal dialogue haunts her throughout the book. How do you think trauma affects one’s inner voice, and how does that impact how we navigate the world?
- The “What Ifs”: What if Candace had been provided help and guidance to keep her son? Do you think she would have still succeeded in college, career, and love?
- The Power of Names: Candace named her son Foster Cameron. Do you think having a name—rather than a “placeholder”—made the relinquishment more difficult?
- Open Communication: What did you think about Candace’s choice to stop requesting updates from the adoptive family? Why is it vital (or difficult) to keep a dialogue open between a first family and an adoptive family?
- The Waiting Game: Was Candace right to let Michael lead the way in their reunion, or should she have pushed for more contact?
- The “Other” Mother: Candace developed a close relationship with Michael’s adoptive father, David. If Jane had lived, do you think Candace would have eventually bonded with her, or would she have always been “the other mother”?
- The Adoption Fog: For years, Candace coped by stating that adoption was “the best choice for him.” How do you think an adoptee like Michael might have responded to hearing that?
- Generational Patterns: Candace’s mother stated that Michael was “dead to her.” If Candace had realized earlier that this was a coping mechanism rather than a lack of love, would their reconciliation have looked different?
- Support Systems: How important was Tom’s role in helping Candace reframe Mother’s Day and Michael’s birthday?
- The Path to Forgiveness: Why do you think it took so long to differentiate between being a “good mother” and a “good person”? How do we begin to forgive ourselves for choices made in impossible circumstances?
- Two Things at Once: What are some examples of the dichotomies in this memoir? Do you have examples from your own life where two conflicting things were both true?
A Note to My Readers: Your Voice Matters
If Goodbye Again resonated with you, I would be so grateful if you could take a few moments to leave a rating or a brief review on Amazon, Goodreads, or your platform of choice. Even a single sentence about how the book made you feel makes a huge difference.
Why are reviews so important?
- Visibility: Reviews help search algorithms recommend the book to new readers.
- Connection: Your words help other first mothers, adoptees, and grieving parents find a story that reflects their own experience.
- Discovery: In a crowded world of memoirs, a personal recommendation is the most powerful tool for helping a book find its way into the right hands.
Thank you for being part of the conversation and for helping this story reach those who need it most.