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  • Fathermothergod by Lucia Greenhouse - Reader's Guide

    Written by

    Lucia Greenhouse
    371 views4 pages
    Lucia Ewing had what looked like an all-American childhood. She lived with her mother, father, sister, and brother in an affluent suburb of Minneapolis, where they enjoyed private schools, sleep-away camps, a country club membership, and skiing vacations. Surrounded by a tight-knit extended family, and doted upon by her parents, Lucia had no doubt she was loved and cared for. But when it came to accidents and illnesses, Lucia’s parents didn't take their kids to the doctor's office--they prayed, and called a Christian Science practitioner. fathermothergod is Lucia Greenhouse's story about growing up in Christian Science, in a house where you could not be sick, because you were perfect; where no medicine, even aspirin, was allowed. As a teenager, her visit to an ophthalmologist created a family crisis. She was a sophomore in college before she had her first annual physical. And in December 1985, when Lucia and her siblings, by then young adults, discovered that their mother was sick, they came face-to-face with the reality that they had few--if any--options to save her. Powerless as they watched their mother’s agonizing suffering, Lucia and her siblings struggled with their own grief, anger, and confusion, facing scrutiny from the doctors to whom their parents finally allowed them to turn, and stinging rebuke from relatives who didn’t share their parents’ religious values. In this haunting, beautifully written book, Lucia pulls back the curtain on the Christian Science faith and chronicles its complicated legacy for her family. At once an essentially American coming-of-age story and a glimpse into the practices of a religion few really understand, fathermothergod is an unflinching exploration of personal loss and the boundaries of family and faith. To read more about Fathermothergod by Lucia Greenhouse please visit Crown Publishing Group at www.crownpublishing.com.

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    Lucia Ewing had what looked like an all-American childhood. She lived with her mother, father, sister, and brother in an affluent suburb of Minneapolis, where they enjoyed private schools, sleep-away camps, a country club membership, and skiing vacations. Surrounded by a tight-knit extended family, and doted upon by her parents, Lucia had no doubt she was loved and cared for. But when it came to accidents and illnesses, Lucia’s parents didn't take their kids to the doctor's office--they prayed, and called a Christian Science practitioner. fathermothergod is Lucia Greenhouse's story about growing up in Christian Science, in a house where you could not be sick, because you were perfect; where no medicine, even aspirin, was allowed. As a teenager, her visit to an ophthalmologist created a family crisis. She was a sophomore in college before she had her first annual physical. And in December 1985, when Lucia and her siblings, by then young adults, discovered that their mother was sick, they came face-to-face with the reality that they had few--if any--options to save her. Powerless as they watched their mother’s agonizing suffering, Lucia and her siblings struggled with their own grief, anger, and confusion, facing scrutiny from the doctors to whom their parents finally allowed them to turn, and stinging rebuke from relatives who didn’t share their parents’ religious values. In this haunting, beautifully written book, Lucia pulls back the curtain on the Christian Science faith and chronicles its complicated legacy for her family. At once an essentially American coming-of-age story and a glimpse into the practices of a religion few really understand, fathermothergod is an unflinching exploration of personal loss and the boundaries of family and faith. To read more about Fathermothergod by Lucia Greenhouse please visit Crown Publishing Group at www.crownpublishing.com.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    371 views4 pages

    Fathermothergod by Lucia Greenhouse - Reader's Guide

    Written by

    Lucia Greenhouse
    Lucia Ewing had what looked like an all-American childhood. She lived with her mother, father, sister, and brother in an affluent suburb of Minneapolis, where they enjoyed private schools, sleep-away camps, a country club membership, and skiing vacations. Surrounded by a tight-knit extended family, and doted upon by her parents, Lucia had no doubt she was loved and cared for. But when it came to accidents and illnesses, Lucia’s parents didn't take their kids to the doctor's office--they prayed, and called a Christian Science practitioner. fathermothergod is Lucia Greenhouse's story about growing up in Christian Science, in a house where you could not be sick, because you were perfect; where no medicine, even aspirin, was allowed. As a teenager, her visit to an ophthalmologist created a family crisis. She was a sophomore in college before she had her first annual physical. And in December 1985, when Lucia and her siblings, by then young adults, discovered that their mother was sick, they came face-to-face with the reality that they had few--if any--options to save her. Powerless as they watched their mother’s agonizing suffering, Lucia and her siblings struggled with their own grief, anger, and confusion, facing scrutiny from the doctors to whom their parents finally allowed them to turn, and stinging rebuke from relatives who didn’t share their parents’ religious values. In this haunting, beautifully written book, Lucia pulls back the curtain on the Christian Science faith and chronicles its complicated legacy for her family. At once an essentially American coming-of-age story and a glimpse into the practices of a religion few really understand, fathermothergod is an unflinching exploration of personal loss and the boundaries of family and faith. To read more about Fathermothergod by Lucia Greenhouse please visit Crown Publishing Group at www.crownpublishing.com.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 4

    fathermothergod

    My Journey Out of Christian Science


    Lucia Greenhouse
    READING GROUP GUIDE

    DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

    1. How successful would you say the author was in 6. Freedom of religion is a fundamental principal of
    conveying the doctrine of the Christian Science American democracy. Are there limits to the free
    Church, (starting from the point of view of a child)? exercise of religion? Should there be?

    2. As a young girl Lucia thinks about the dichotomy 7. Lucia and her siblings had been raised in the Church,
    between Christian Science and the real world as being and indoctrinated from a young age. Even though
    like the Venn diagrams in math class, wondering if they never fully embraced Christian Science, its grip
    the two circles overlap at all. Does this metaphor on them remained tight, even paralyzing. But the
    apply to your own religion or that of others? Does it same cannot be said about some of Lucia’s other fam-
    apply to other conflicting aspects of a child’s life? ily members who remained silent after they learned
    about Joanne’s illness. What kept them from acting?
    3. What were Lucia’s parents’ motivations in Filial loyalty? Religious tolerance? Fear?
    embracing Christian Science? Lucia’s grandfather
    and uncle were prominent physicians. What are 8. What would you have done, had you been in Lucia’s
    possible explainations for her mother’s rejection of shoes?
    medicine?
    9. Where should the line between personal choice and
    4. Is there a time in your own life when you’ve had to legal interest be drawn (like assisted suicide) ?
    make an extremely difficult choice between
    adhering to your own beliefs and respecting those of 10. At one point Lucia says that her grandmother may
    close friends or family members? How have you dealt be the only person capable of forgiving her father,
    with that conflict? and only because her own faith dictates it. What role
    has forgiveness played in Lucia’s life and that of her
    5. The Christian Science church has often been viewed family since the events of 1986?
    as a more or less mainstream--if small--Protestant
    religion. What was your understanding of the church, 11. Do you think Lucia loves her parents?
    and how has that understanding changed?
    fathermothergod
    READING GROUP GUIDE

    12. What is the lowest point in the story?

    13. Regardless of one’s feelings about Mary Baker


    Eddy’s theology, it could be argued that she was
    an early feminist, who founded a religion and
    started The Christian Science Monitor. What will
    her legacy be?

    14. What do you think attracts people to Christian


    Science?

    15. What is the difference between a religion and a


    cult?

    16. Lucia’s sister, Olivia, said to Lucia near the end


    of the book, “I just want you to know, you,
    Sherman and I: we had three very different sets of
    parents. Your story is not mine.” Is Olivia’s
    comment a universal truth?

    17. Sibling dynamics around family secrets are always


    complicated. How is what happened in father
    mothergod similar or dissimilar to the way families
    handle other secrets, such as alcoholism and other
    addictions?

    18. Which character in fathermothergod do you most


    identify with and why?

    For more information visit, LuciaGreenhouse.com, facebook.com/LuciaGreenhouse and twitter.com/LuciaGreenhouse.

    Reading group guide for fathermothergod by Lucia Greenhouse. Copyright © 2011 by the Crown Publishing Group. Distributed by permission of the
    Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this reading group guide may be reproduced or reprinted with-
    out permission in writing from the publisher.

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