May 2023 Book - Wed., the 10th @ 7PM
In Reach
By: Pamela Carter Joern
In writing both rich and evocative, Pamela Carter Joern conjures the small plains town of Reach, Nebraska, where residents are stuck tight in the tension between loneliness and the risks of relationships.
With insight, wry humor, and deep compassion, Joern renders a cast of recurring characters engaged in battles public and private, epic and mundane: a husband and wife find themselves the center of a local scandal; a widow yearns for companionship, but on her own terms; a father and son struggle with their broken relationship; a man longs for escape from a community’s limited view of love; a boy’s misguided attempt to protect his brother results in a senseless tragedy. In the town of Reach, where there is hope and hardship, connections may happen in surprising ways or lie achingly beyond grasp.
About the Book About the Author Book Review
Discussion Questions:
- What was your impression of this book? Did you enjoy reading this? Why?
- The title of the book is relating to location it’s taking place in Nebraska. Beyond the location, what significance did the book’s title have for you and how did you connect it with the story Joern was telling?
- Pam Joern’s book focuses on short stories within the small rural town of Reach, Nebraska. Is there a story or experience of your own which came to mind when reading this book?
- In her stories, Pamela Joern brings out the hardships of people’s lives in this rural area but tells their stories sympathetically. Which character did you find most interesting?
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