The House Guests Page 47
While many ministers’ partners are expected to be unpaid and unheralded assistants, I am thankful that the churches my husband served understood that I had a career of my own and made few demands on me. I am grateful for their friendship and loyalty, and grateful for being an intimate part of the lives of so many wonderful role models.
Our neighbors at Chautauqua Institution, far too many who passed away this year, have taught me so much about friendship and grace. They will truly live on in my memory.
I’ve been blessed with wonderful editors from the beginning. Leslie Wainger, editor extraordinaire, edited most of my romances and later my women’s fiction until she retired. Leslie valued imagination, creativity and the individual author’s voice. When she edited, she left all of them intact. My present editor, Emily Ohanjanians, is a delight to work with, a worrier in all the best of ways, and meticulous about details. I feel so fortunate to have worked with both of them, and in other houses with the talented Ellen Edwards and Cindy Hwang.
Dianne Moggy who brought me on board at MIRA Books, knew what to say and how to say it when I was worried or determined to have my way. I’ll always be grateful to Dianne for her tact and enthusiasm.
Copy editors often go unnamed, but I’ve had many that found and corrected mistakes and improved my manuscript enormously. I am so glad they were there when needed, along with the proofreaders who caught mistakes everyone else missed, no matter how carefully we had combed through my paragraphs.
Covers have sometimes been a thorn in my side, but I’m so glad that Gigi Lau, art director, understands so well what my books are about and the art that best represents them.
Thank you to everyone else at MIRA who champions my books and brings them to readers: Loriana Sacilotto, Rachel Bressler, Margaret Marbury, Nicole Brebner, Heather Foy, Amy Jones, Randy Chan, Ashley MacDonald, Justine Sha, and the rest of the sales, marketing, publicity, art and production teams.
I’ve had two excellent agents, first Donald MacCampbell with Maureen Moran, and then and now, Steve Axelrod. They’ve been responsive, smart about when to give advice and when to keep silent. All are honest to the core. I know how lucky I’ve been and I’m thankful.
I’m thankful to the good folks at Authorbytes who created and maintain my website.
Finally I’m thankful for my readers, the ones who write me letters or emails, and the ones who simply read. The ones who give suggestions and the ones who give praise. The ones who wish I’d write this or that but keep reading me anyway. I’ve gotten to know some of you through Facebook, my newsletter and my website. I am so glad I have because you’re the reason—at least one of the biggest—I write.
I’ve been so lucky, and best of all, I know it. I’m glad I can thank each and every one of you.
The
House
Guests
Emilie Richards
Reader’s Guide
Questions for Discussion
Cassie goes home to Tarpon Springs, Florida, after her husband’s sudden death to restart her life with her stepdaughter, Savannah. Returning to a childhood home is a popular thread in today’s fiction. What does the place we grew up represent for us? Why do you think it’s a focus of so many stories?
Savannah, Cassie’s stepdaughter, is in turmoil and she acts out in ways that would infuriate and disturb most parents. Were you angry at her, as well, or could you see the child in pain under her behavior? Were you rooting for Savannah to make needed changes? Did you believe they were possible?
When Cassie learns what Savannah has done, she invites Amber and Will to become her house guests until they can straighten out their financial situation. Why do you think she did this? To punish Savannah? To teach her a lesson? Because it was the right thing to do, even if it would make her life and Savannah’s more difficult?
Trying to recover from her husband’s sudden death, Cassie finds it difficult at first to summon the needed energy to delve into the large sums of money missing from Mark’s estate. Eventually she begins the search with Amber’s help. What do you think galvanized her to move forward?
Amber and Will have moved from place to place, never staying anywhere for long. Amber has been silent about the identity of Will’s father. Why do you think Will finally decided to find out the truth, even though it meant telling the mother he loved lies? Was this change inevitable?
The best-laid plans often go astray. Amber has done everything she can to save money so she can help Will attend college when the time comes. Then she contracts Hepatitis A at her restaurant job. Can you remember a time in your own life when you did everything right, and events that were out of your control occurred to change everything? Do you know someone who lost a job or a home, even though they worked hard and paid their bills as long as they could?
This novel is set the year before the Covid-19 pandemic began. How do you think the story would have changed if it had been set a year later?
How important were Yiayia and Roxanne in Cassie’s life? How important was her Greek heritage? Do you think she was at least partly the woman she was because of family and roots?
Was Amber incredibly brave or incredibly foolish in the way she handled her life after the death of Will’s father, Billy? Could you live with the stress that she did?
Traditional Greek dishes were often mentioned in the novel since the restaurant Yiayia’s Kouzina (Grandmother’s Kitchen) was important in the story. Do you have favorite Greek dishes you make or order at restaurants whenever you can? (The author makes pastitsio, moussaka, and horiatiki salad at home as often as possible!)
ISBN-13: 9780369701053
The House Guests
Copyright © 2021 by Emilie Richards McGee
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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