Billie's Ghost
by Chad Hautmann
add to cart | U.S. $12.00
INTRODUCTION
Ever since his wife's death, Casey has done everything he can to disconnect from society. Listening to his late wife's jazz albums, he sits by his pool and drinks until sunrise, clinging to memories in a desperate attempt to keep Virginia in his life. His in-laws, having themselves moved on, try to help Casey do the same, but he's on the brink of hopelessness. Childless, he's becoming more and more reclusive, cultivating an unhealthy reputation as the neighborhood nut. And then one night, he's visited by a stranger.
She calls herself Eleanora, and she claims to have slipped in through the front door. If her entrance wasn't odd enough, Eleanora bares an uncanny resemblance to one of Virginia's favorite jazz singers—Lady Day herself—Billie Holiday. Quirky and intrusive, she visits frequently, singing poolside and raiding the liquor cabinet. Casey wonders if he's finally cracked and is in fact now drinking for two, and yet he feels oddly at ease with his new roommate, who seems to know a lot more about the blues than he does. Better still, she offers the soothing words of advice that can help lift him out of his depression. Slowly, with the assistance of his new companion, Casey begins to realize that he must find passion again, or risk squandering what's left of his life.
Billie's Ghost is a heartfelt story of redemption and of finding hope in the darkest moments of one's life. It is Casey's journey of rebirth, guided by one of jazz's most tragic heroines, as he emerges from the depths of guilt and sorrow and reconnects with the world.
ABOUT CHAD HAUTMANN
Chad Hautmann lives in Naples, Florida. Billie's Ghost is his first book.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Casey's grief is underscored by a profound sense of guilt. He believes he's responsible for his wife's death. How does Eleanora convice Casey to think otherwise? What does she teach him about the difference between guilt and sorrow?
- If Eleanora has come to teach Casey that a person should make the most of his life before it's gone, why does she recklessly pursue her own self-destructive habits -- excessive drinking, abusive boyfriends, etc.? How do her habits affect her life-affirming message?
- Why does Casey feel compelled to help the illegal immigrants he sees landing on the beach at night? What do you feel Casey gains in doing this?
- When Casey's old friend Goodman Hardin moves to Naples, how does he motivate Casey to change the direction of his life? How has Eleanora motivated Casey to reconnect with a friend like Goodman?
- When Casey returns to the Biltmore Hotel--the site of his and Virginia's honeymoon--Eleanora transforms into Virginia and then back into Eleanora. Why did the ghost not reveal herself as Virginia before then? Had she really been Virginia in another form the whole time?
- Why does Casey focus so much energy on providing a home for the owl he finds sitting on his porch swing? What might the owl symbolize?
- Whether it's Billie Holiday or Virginia, the ghost thanks Casey in the hotel room. What has Casey done to help her?
- Why does Virginia, as a ghost, forgive Casey and assuage his guilt?
- Depictions of the afterlife sometimes help us to come to terms with our own mortality. What do these ghosts teach Casey that motivates him to make the most of his life?
- At the beginning of the novel, we find Casey sitting by himself beside his pool dreaming of Virginia; by the end of the novel he is sitting alone by a fountain at the Biltmore Hotel still saying, "I love you, Gin." What do you feel Casey has learned by the time he's sitting by the fountain?
|
