- Why do you think Lillo decided to attend Jess’s wedding when it would have been easier and safer to stay home? Why was it
so important to Jess that she come?
- Are Lillo, Allie, and Diana the catalyst Jess needed to make the break that would finally let her find herself? Or was she
just using them because she wasn’t strong enough to do it on her own? Did it work? Will Jess continue to grow? What do you
think about depending on others to help you? Will she ever be able to reconcile with her family? Should she even want to?
- And what about Lillo? Do you think she would be able to straighten out her life without Jess, Allie, and Diana? Or would
the “specialness” of Lighthouse Beach alone eventually help her find her way?
- Do you think Lillo is punishing herself for what she sees as her own shortcomings? Is it guilt that prevents her from going
back? Why do you think she let her perception of what others thought about her, whether true or not, drive her away from a
profession she loves?
- What about Diana and Ian? Do they have a chance together? Why would two people apparently so different be drawn to each
other?
- Ian says he’s a broken soul who can’t be fixed. Do you believe that some people can’t be “fixed,” not because they’re violent
or greedy but because their life beliefs have been so damaged? Is Ian one of those cases of the higher they fly, the harder
they fall? Can Ian be fixed?
- Allie and Mac seem to bond in this short time. They are both bound as well as nurtured by “place”—Allie to the vineyard
and her family, Mac to the lighthouse and her way of life. Are these kinds of ties good or restrictive? What have these two
women learned from their unexpected encounter?
- Why do you think Ned Hartley (Doc) takes such an interest in Lillo? Is he just the buttinsky know-it-all she sometimes accuses
him of being? Or is it something deeper?
- What would cause someone to choose itinerant medicine over an office and hospital? Is it really as simple as freedom and
a motorcycle? What else might be the reason for this kind of life?
- Lighthouse Beach, like so many small towns, seems to be limping along, tied to the past and uncertain about its future
(like many people). Do you think the townspeople of Lighthouse Beach will survive? What are the different ways they are responding
to this situation? What about the next generation?
- The sign to Lighthouse Beach says welcome to lighthouse beach, life will never be the same. Do you think certain places and communities can actually change a person’s life? Are those places really “special” or “magical,”
or are they just ordinary places that are perceived differently by different people?