January 2012 Host:  Colleen

Night Road by Kristin Hannah

Summary

This is the story of the Farraday family. The mother, Jude, has devoted her life to her husband and two twin children, Zach and Mia. During the twins’ freshman year in high school, Mia meets and befriends Lexi, who is also embraced by the rest of the Farraday family. Even though there is disparity in many areas between the girls (especially financial as Lexi is from a nearly destitute family and Mia’s family is well to do), Lexi becomes best friends with Mia and is like a daughter to Jude. The complexities of their relationships and their growing bonds are explored in this novel and Lexi’s bond with the Farraday family becomes stronger over the years, until one fateful night during their senior year when everything changes.

Discussion

-Jude is self centered and controlling, a neurotic character that the reader will often hate and simply tolerate throughout the book (perhaps that was what the author intended).

-It was also hard to believe that Jude would allow her teens to attend a party where she knew there would be drinking and her teens had previously drank at other parties. If Jude was supposed to be a sympathetic character, she didn’t get any sympathy from us.

-The story doesn’t really pick up until 150 pages in to the story, but foreshadowing from the beginning gives you an idea of what is going to happen (e.g. stereotypical teen love and social behaviors give us clues).

-There was a lot to discuss in this novel: friendship, underage drinking, parenting, justice, teenage dreams, and debilitating grief.

-The father, Miles, was ‘just there’ and surprisingly, did not play a bigger role in the story line. He never seemed to react to situations that would have made a lot of men very angry.

-This was definitely a tear jerker for some of us and the grief portrayed in the novel was very believable. The author did a good job of evoking emotions throughout the story, to the point where the reader is left feeling as if they were on an emotional roller coaster.

Menu

Cheddar Dill Puffs (an American version of Gougeres)
Beef Bourguignon (Julia Child’s recipe)
Broccoli
Boiled Potatoes
Lemon Bars
Red Velvet Cupcakes

Cheddar Dill Puffs (Americanized gougeres)

Ingredientts

-1 stick butter
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-5 large eggs
-8 ounces extra-sharp finely grated Cheddar cheese
-2 tablespoons dill weed

Directions

Bring water to a boil with butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over high heat, then reduce heat to moderate. Add flour all at once and cook, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from side of pan, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly, about 3 minutes, then add 5 eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mixture should be glossy and fall softly from a spoon. Stir in cheese and dill. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment. Spoon level tablespoons 1 inch apart onto each sheet. Bake at 375 degrees in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until puffed, golden and crisp, about 30 minutes total. A lightly greased mini muffin pan may also be used for baking the gougeres. 

Beef Bourguignon

Recipe from Julia Child's cookbook

Broccoli

Boiled Potatoes

Lemon Bars

Red Velvet Cupcakes