No book is ever completed without contributions from others, and I found that the library just couldn’t provide the real-life experience I gleaned from professionals. To that end, I’d like to thank attorney Chuck Holloway and physician Jack Lipps for plowing through the manuscript, Dr. Barry Leber for allowing me to buttonhole him in the church gymnasium, and nurse Gaynel Wilt, who never failed to find an answer to my bizarre queries.
I owe these folks a debt of gratitude for letting me pepper them with questions at odd hours. Any errors of legal or medical procedure are mine, not theirs.
I would also like to express my appreciation to Lind and Pam Krenzke, who freely shared the story of their dear sons, Bobby and Eric. Without their help, I would never have heard of dystonia.
Blessings to you, my friends.
1. Angela Hunt originally wrote this book in 1998 and updated it in 2005. Are the issues as timely today as they were in the late nineties? What, if anything, has changed?
2. Given the story of the “Lying Baptists” and the “Truthful Baptists,” which camp would you belong to? Do you think there is a proper time and/or place for lying?
3. Can you think of a famous lie that has changed or influenced history? (Consider politicians, religious leaders, and examples from your own history.) How would things be different if truth had prevailed?
4. Devin Sloane held a theory of “devolution,” i.e., that mankind is regressing, not progressing. Do you agree with his theory? What might be the cause of this regression?
5. Do you think the characters of Lara, Connor, Eva, Hunter, and Devin were believable? How could you relate (or not relate) to them? Who was your favorite character?
6. Even though Lara loves Connor, after they are married she finds it difficult to completely trust him with Hunter. Have you seen this attitude in other blended families or remarriages? How does it help or hinder the new family?
7. What themes do you think Hunt meant to stress through the story? What will you remember most about it?
8. Hunt has also dealt with the clash between science and ethics in her book The Pearl. If you have read that book, how is it similar to The Truth Teller? How do the stories and themes differ?
9. Often a reader will be impressed by passages or snatches of dialogue that come to mean more than the author intended. Did any particular passages mean something special to you?