The March book selection for the Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is Furious Hours:  Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep.  A true-crime book that delves into a dramatic murder trial in 1970s  Alabama, Furious Hours goes in depth into the trial, the key participants, and Harper Lee, the writer who spent years of her life after her success with To Kill a Mockingbird attempting to write her own true-crime book about the sensational trial. 

Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South. At the same time, she offers a deeply moving portrait of one of the country’s most beloved writers and her struggle with fame, success, and the mystery of artistic creativity.

How did you experience the book? Were you engaged immediately, or did it take you a while to
"get into it"?

How did you like the writing style of the author?

Did you like the way the book was structured?  Why or why not?

What specific passages or sections of the book were most memorable for you?

Let us know how you liked Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee.

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group read The Gown:  A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson for the February book selection.  This book is an enthralling historical novel about one of the most famous wedding dresses of the twentieth century--Queen Elizabeth's wedding gown--and the fascinating women who made it.

With The Gown, Jennifer Robson takes us inside the workrooms where one of the most famous wedding gowns in history was created.   Alternating time lines between 1947 Britain and 2016 Canada, Robson vividly brings to life three women's struggles.

Were you surprised by the frenzy surrounding the secrecy of the gown? Does it remind you of today's obsessive celebrity watching? Why was absolute secrecy important? Would you have been able to withstand the pressures of maintaining silence?

Ann and Miriam Dassin become friends as the two work on the gown together. What do the women have in common, and in what ways are they different from one another? What forms the basis of their friendship—why are they drawn to one another?

 Was Ann right never to have revealed her past over the decades to her family? Would you have done likewise?

Do you find Heather Mackenzie's 2016 storyline as engaging as the historical part of the novel? Why or why not?

Let us know what you think of The Gown.