Tattler's Branch (24 page)

A former registered nurse,
award-winning author Jan Watson lives in Lexington, Kentucky, near her three sons and daughter-in-law.

Tattler’s Branch
follows
Skip Rock Shallows
,
Still House Pond
,
Sweetwater Run
, and the Troublesome Creek series, which includes
Troublesome Creek
,
Willow Springs
, and
Torrent Falls
. Chosen Best Kentucky Author of 2012 by
Kentucky Living
magazine, Jan also won the 2004 Christian Writers Guild Operation First Novel contest and took second place in the 2006 Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award Contest sponsored by the Faith, Hope, and Love Chapter of the Romance Writers of America.
Troublesome Creek
was also a nominee for the Kentucky Literary Awards in 2006.
Willow Springs
was selected for
Library Journal
’s Best Genre Fiction category in 2007.

Besides writing historical fiction, Jan keeps busy entertaining her Jack Russell terrier, Maggie.

Please visit Jan’s website at
www.janwatson.net
. You can contact her through e-mail at
[email protected]
.

1. In the beginning of the story, Armina seems drawn to the house where she finds the abandoned child. Have you ever felt God’s hand pulling you toward a decision? Did you comply? Why or why not?
   
2. Armina is reluctant to accept Lilly’s help when she falls ill. Why do you think she tries to push Lilly away when she needs her most? How do you feel about accepting help? In your mind, is it a virtue or a luxury?
   
3. Lilly has her hands full with her sister Mazy visiting for the summer. Where do you see similarities between the two sisters? What are the major differences in their characters?
   
4. Mazy is enthralled with the advances of the time, especially the telephone. Do you share her enthusiasm for new technology, or are you a skeptic like other residents of Skip Rock?
   
5. After observing Chanis and Mazy together, Lilly worries her younger sister is acting too old for her age. If you were Lilly, would you tell Mazy your thoughts or let her make her own choices and live with the consequences?
   
6. Lilly struggles to keep up with the responsibilities of her practice while taking extra care of herself and her unborn child. Do you agree with her ultimate decision about what is most important? Have you ever struggled between two conflicting obligations? How did you solve the conflict?
   
7. Shade Harmon is disturbed by what he learns about mongolism, an early term for Down syndrome. What did you think of how Betsy Lane’s condition was treated or referenced throughout the story? How have modern advances in the medical field changed the general public’s perceptions?
   
8. After a particularly tiring day at work, Lilly longs for her husband to come home and rub her feet but chides herself for her “silly vanity
    
   —wishing niceties to come her way when there was so much sorrow all around.” Do you ever struggle to stay thankful in your everyday life? What do you do to maintain perspective?
   
9. When Lilly and Timmy are taken, Lilly is struck by her feelings of hatred toward Shade. How do you feel about Lilly’s struggle? Do you ever find it difficult to leave judgment up to God?
   
10. Shade made many mistakes in his life and in the search for his child, but in the end, he truly desires the best for his daughter. How did you feel toward Shade by the end of the novel? Did he redeem himself?