Island of First Light

Reading Guide

"The flaming edge of Father Sun appeared over the sea. Slowly, it rose golden-red, a fireball. Its first rays shot across the undulating sea and she felt them on her face.... She began to chant a welcome to the dawn as shafts of sunlight moved across the rocks and the trees of Island of First Light.... "
                                                                                                                   

Island of First Light

by

Norman G. Gautreau

Book Discussion Group
Reader’s Guide

A book is a dance between author and reader, a collaboration. The experience is not complete until both partners have been involved. And the product of that collaboration is unique for each reader, giving rise to different questions and points-of-view. The main purpose of a book discussion group is to give voice to those different experiences so that participants can learn from each other. In short, the main question is “What was my personal experience of this book and how did it affect me?” Although it may be of some interest, the main question is not, “What was the author’s intent?” because that only looks at one part of the collaboration.   

With that in mind, discussion questions should come from each member of the group and the suggestions below are nothing more than that—suggestions.

Synopsis

Island of First Light is a richly textured novel about three people intertwining with one another on two remote islands off the coast of Downeast Maine, whose impulses drive them toward a startling conclusion.

Caitlin Gray, hoping for solitude, has come to Alabaster Island to escape a disintegrating marriage and the emotional scars of a horrific accident only to find she cannot escape the ties that bind people. Freddy Orcutt, a retired fisherman who is deeply troubled by personal loss (the mystery of his son’s disappearance and the terrible effect it had on his wife) and by the things he witnessed and did during World War II finds in Caitlin the fragile hope of a new kind of relationship. Their lives are changed irrevocably when O’zalik Moseley, a Native American desperate to preserve her Passamaquoddy heritage and find a sense of belonging, comes across an ancient journal kept by a Jesuit priest in 1755. The journal, exposing atrocities committed by ancestors of the current residents of Alabaster Island, propels the three people toward an explosive conclusion that reveals the truth about a long held island secret.  

Major Characters

Caitlin Gray

Freddy Orcutt

O’zalik Moseley

Father Jérôme Dalou

 

Edmond                                               Wayne Crenshaw

Nigel Gray                                            Jasper Crenshaw 

Ellen Gray                                             Burle Ledyard

Dylan Gray                                            Ernie Botham

Ekaterina Valerovna                            Morgan Fludd

Quentin Moseley                                  Angus Macleod

Garret Webster                                    Miesko Heilprin 

Possible Discussion Questions

 

1. What is suggested by the name Snagged Anchor Island?
2. What do the presence of Atlantic puffins and a whale carcass suggest about Snagged Anchor Island?
3. How does Freddy Orcutt feel about Snagged Anchor Island? What does it represent for him?
4. What is the meaning of Island of First Light?
5. Why is the other island named Alabaster Island?
6. What is the meaning of String of Pearls? Spring Tide?
7. What does String of Pearls represent for Caitlin Gray?
8. How do the section titles—Siqonomeq (Alwife Moon), Accihte (Changing Color Moon), and Kilotonuhket (Freezing Moon)—relate to what occurs in those sections?
9. What is the function of snow in the story? Where does it occur?
10. What roles do Ernie Botham and Burle Ledyard play in the story? How do their roles compare to that of Miesko Heilprin?
11. How does the landscape of the coast of Downeast Maine figure in the story?
12. How does O’zalik’s feeling for Father Dalou change? Why?
13. How does Father Dalou change?

You may order a copy of the book now from your 
   local bookstore or online at bookstores' websites: 
        Island of First Light  ISBN 1-931561-71-0.  

See online links on the page.

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