August 2024

13. Custody revolves around Linda Lowry, as she is influenced, for better or for worse, by her parents’ troubled relationship, most especially after their divorce when she is four years old, and their subsequent two-year battle over her custody. What does the story tell you explicitly about her first four years living with Myles? 

How would you describe their relationship? 

What does Linda seem to remember about those times together? 

14. Did you form an opinion about Rosalyn’s parenting and personality as you were reading Custody? Especially mindful of her mantra of “A woman has to be her own person.” Did Angie Flynn’s final revelations of her private discussions and time with Linda late in the story have any influence on your opinion? 

15. Happydale offered Linda her first in-school experience, after a few years of home schooling by her mother. 

What did you learn about Linda as she tried to figure out how to interact with the bully, Deirdre, and her supporters, and her own ally, Clementine, aka “Red?” 

16. Even as a six-year-old, Linda relates to adults as many “only children” who spend most of their early life more with adults than other kids. 

Who does she tend to befriend? 

Who does she tend to avoid as you witness her over the six weeks of Custody? 

What sense about people does she seem to possess?

17. As you read Custody, did you perceive any difference in the way Linda spoke in general and when she was explaining what her mother told her about the books they were reading, especially about Jinns in Arabian Nights and men in everyday life in 1992 America?

18. Do you think Linda will grow up to be like Rosalyn, with regard to her view of men and husbands? What in the book makes you think that way? 

19. What insights into how Linda is affected by living with both her parents again did you obtain as you read the Epilog?

20. How are the marriages in Custody similar and different from each other?

Think of: Rosalyn and Myles Lowry, Ned Hegerman and his wife, Itzel and Bembe  Cocom, and Dominic Corredor and his wife.

21. In Custody there are men and women who work closely together and forge close relationships of trust and friendship. 

Were you expecting any of them to become romantically involved? Which ones? 

Were you disappointed when they did not? What is Custody saying about adult sexuality and relationships?

22. In response to readers’ suggestions as the months progressed, two features were added. The first was the summary of the story so far, printed in italics at the start of the monthly installment, to set up the new month’s continuation of the book.

The second was the list of characters and places in the book, published a few times in the second half of the serialization. Did you find these helpful? (If so, and you

would find it helpful again, you may wish to review the installment introductions

or even download the first pages to have a hard copy of those transition highlights).

23. Within the text of the story itself, there were occasions when characters took the time to remind their colleagues of something they had discovered together, or to bring their colleagues up-to-date on their separate activities. These conversations were also placed in the story as ‘recaps’ for the readers, necessitated by the fact that the information might have been something that was first encountered two months previously, due to the serialized format of the book. Did you find the ‘recaps’ helpful or annoying?

24. Custody employs a framing mechanism. The front end of the story and the back end of the story each occur in a custody hearing setting. Between them there were similarities and differences beyond the most obvious and visual one—one is set in a traditional courtroom and the other takes place non-traditionally in a hospital suite.Which contrasts and comparatives did you note, if any?

25. Did it add anything to the story for you that in addition to being an attorney Karidja Soro was also a specialist in conflict resolution, was from Côte D’Ivoire, and was an avid soccer/football fan? 

Being that you were on a journey as the book was actually being written and posted every month, would you share your views on the following matters on future creations:

26. What do you think lies in the future for the personalities you met in Custody?

Can you suggest some things for: The Lowry family . . . Dr. Oulette and April over in France . . . Karidja Soro in Côte D’Ivoire . . . Gabriella Costa and Mama Costa . . . Danny Hart . . . Dominic Corredor . . . Mike Riley . . . Angie Flynn . . . Detective Howe 

27. If you had a choice, which few personalities (characters) would you single out to be in a new 

and unrelated  book/story set a year or so later in the 1990s? What would you want them to be doing in that story? 

28. Could you see a personality from Custody becoming a recurring protagonist in an on-going series of (shorter) novels -- sequels not related to the story or themes of Custody? Which one?

29. Are there any personalities (characters) in Custody whose backstory you would like to see getting additional treatment, for example, in a collection of unconnected short stories that were prequels to their appearance in Custody, not related to the story or themes of Custody? Which one(s)?