1. Bottomland takes place during and in the aftermath of World War I. What are the similarities between the political and cultural climate described in the novel and in America today?
2. We’re introduced to the Hess family through the older sister Nan. What kind of character does she initially reveal herself to be? What crucial information do we learn about the Hess family through her narration?
3. Nan says that her father told her, “Never make too much of something. Lest that something make a fool of you instead” (p. 7). “Never make too much” is also the title for Part 1. What other meanings does this phrase have? How does it resound in the opening scenes?
4. When Nan discovers that both of her youngest sisters aren’t in their locked bedroom, what clues does she offer as to what she thinks caused their disappearance?
5. During Nan’s initial search for the girls, we learn that the Hess’s neighbors are aware that the family is German. We also see, on the Elliott’s property, an American flag “hung curled around the porch post, stripped and bleeding its colors” (p. 11). Later, we learn the elder Elliott hung a sign in the town market that read, “Shouldn’t we be concerned about the enemy living among us?” (p. 12). How does xenophobia impact Nan’s first attempts to find her sisters? What deeper resonance does “the enemy living among us” have within a family like the Elliots? Or within the Hess’s own family?
6. When a police deputy is called to investigate Esther and Myrle’s disappearance, he concludes the two missing sisters are runaways. “They’re nearly grown, those girls. Remember that” (p. 31). Discuss the ways that each member of the Hess family considers this particular observation throughout the novel.
7. Nan feels that it’s “a strange thing to be a family of the missing” (p. 39). What “strange” events do the Hesses have to reconcile both at home and with their neighbors in the weeks following the sisters’ disappearance?
8. Jon Julius, the family’s patriarch, begins his story by disclosing that he stole an old German woman’s ticket who died waiting to board a boat to America. “God forgive the young their desperateness. Now nearly as old, I would pay for such unhappy luck” (p. 77). Talk about what he means by this statement.
9. Many of Jon Julius’s early conversations with his wife Margrit occured in German. Later, Margrit speaks English but Jon Julius still uses German at specific points in the narrative. Why does he use German instead of English?
10. When Lee tells his father about his decision to enlist, Jon Julius says, “All this time we had made what we considered right. We had worked the land. We kept our troubles to ourselves” (p. 116). How does Jon Julius associate what’s “right” with his livelihood as a farmer?
11. Numerous descriptions of the landscape appear throughout the book. Discuss how these descriptions lead to better understanding of the Hess family and their lifestyle.
12. Why is Lee’s section entitled “motherland”? What are the multiple meanings of this word in Lee’s experiences during this part of the book?
13. Lee’s story is told out of sequence, starting after he’s been injured and ending with a scene of the injury itself. Did you find this technique effective in helping us understand how his brain damage has impacted his identity?
14. Lee’s trip to Chicago has an almost surreal quality, as if he’s not only drifting between memories and the present moment but also between dreaming and being awake. How reliable is Lee’s narration?
15. When Lee’s company finds a German father and his young daughter cooking rabbits, Stan says he “hasn’t seen a girl in months” and offers her some mints (p. 171). Lee jerks Stan away. Why is Lee protective of this girl while the rest of his company remains silent?
16. Esther opens her chapter by declaring, “We had to get away” (p. 187). Does Esther ever provide a definitive answer as to why she and Myrle left home? Discuss why you think the sisters had to “get away.”
17. Esther takes a job at a grueling garment factory to support herself and Myrle. How does this life compare with the life she would have had living at the Hess farm? Does Esther enjoy her newfound freedom? Or has she merely assumed Nan’s role as Myrle’s caretaker?
18. Why does Esther return to the farm? Do you think Myrle’s life will be better living in a small room in a Chicago boarding house than in a small room on the Hess farm?
19. Esther dutifully takes Myrle’s letters and then throws them away instead of sending them home. Later, when Esther returns to the farm, she saves Myrle’s letters. Why? Debate whether or not Esther was a “good” sister to Myrle.
20. While Myrle tells us that it was her, not Esther, who insisted on escaping the farm, once they arrive in Chicago Myrle seems content not to venture beyond the boarding house and the surrounding neighborhood. Was this the life of freedom and adventure she envisioned when she left the Hess farm? Talk about why you think she behaved this way.
21. Jon Julius has a pivotal encounter with a washer woman in a boarding house, and he eventually proposes marriage to her. Years later, Myrle meets her life partner in a boarding house. Discuss the importance of the boarding house for these characters. What other opportunities does it present?
22. The second half of the novel takes place in Chicago. How does the dynamic between rural living and urban living impact Esther, Myrle, and Lee?
23. How significant is the role of a small town community in determining the fate of each Hess family member?
24. The novel is narrated by five different members of the Hess family. Consider the reasons why Nan is the first to tell her story. Why is Myrle the last? 25.) The word “bottomland” is defined as “a flat low land along a river or stream.” What other definitions does this word have for the Hess family?
Suggested Further Reading:
The Quickening by Michelle Hoover; One of Ours by Willa Cather; Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser; Gilead by Marilynne Robinson; Postcards by Annie Proulx; My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Black Cat
