A Better Book Club - Mrs. Rochester's Ghost

Mrs. Rochester's Ghost

By Lindsay Marcott

Amazon / B&N / IndieBound

This spooky thriller is jam-packed with richly detailed mentions of foods, drinks, and atmospheric details. For this modern retelling of Jane Eyre, I've planned three separate character-focused parties with contrasting vibes. Feel free to mix, match, or combine. -Abby

Book Club Discussion Questions

The Jane: Hearty & Comforting

"My eyes are a lucid shade of gray that tend to blab everything I'm feeling. And I rarely wear black. I think it washes me out."

Menus:

Brunchy: Frappuccinos or home-brewed coffee, cranberry muffins, apples, peaches, and OJ

"In the kitchenette, I found a bag of freshly ground Jamaican beans. OJ. Homemade cranberry muffins."

Lunchy: Cobb or macaroni salad, sandwiches or wraps, gelato, margaritas

"Two Fraps, a turkey wrap, and a margarita later, my flight was called.""Twenty-two minutes to the turnoff to Carmel-by-the-Sea. ... Pedestrians spilled from sidewalks, snapping pictures, licking gelato. I...[s]helled out twenty-seven bucks for a Cobb salad at a sidewalk cafe.""I'd bought some provisions at a deli on a street charmingly named Casanova. Turkey and swiss club. Tubs of assorted salads. Apples, peaches.""'Always start with macaroni. And then you can throw in just about anything else, and it will always turn out good.'""For dessert, a fresh-made mascarpone fig tart."

Dinner: Burgers, sweet potato fries, fig tart, a gin martini

"I ordered a bison burger, sweet potato fries, a glass of the house zinfandel.""'An extra dry Bombay martini with a twist. Stirred, of course.'"

International: Cioppino, clove tea, rosewater cookies, red wines (international but inexpensive)

"Otis set a tureen on the table: cioppino, chunky with fresh seafood and fragrant with anise and oregano.""[Ella] brewed clove tea in an Iranian samovar. Set out a plate of lacy cookies. 'Rose water. I made them myself.'""An Argentinian Malbec from a bargain bin.""I poured another glass of wine, a South Australian Shiraz."

Color Scheme: Bright with naturals (lemon yellow or wine red paired with linen or burlap)

"A large standing lamp illuminated one large room [of the cabin], simply furnished with rough, rustic-looking pieces painted in faded primary colors."

Activities: Play a duet on the piano, learn a few French words, have a dance party, paint your nails, pet some dogs

Ambiance: Pick a wildflower bouquet, light floral candles, listen to some David Bowie, Prince, Aretha Franklin, and/or top 40s songs

"My eyes seized on a rough arrangement of wildflowers in a glass on the bed table. 'Pretty bouquet.'""Okay, David Bowie, then. Or Prince. Or wait, Aretha. Definitely Aretha.""I lit Annunciata's votive candle, and that sweet churchy scent spiraled into the air."

The Beatrice: Glam, Yet Edgy

"I prowled up and down the aisle called a catwalk, my hips swinging wide, my face a little fierce."

Menus:

Light Tea: Crab salad on a bed of spinach, chai tea, powdered donuts (in honor of "snow white")

"There's no knife or real fork on it. Just a plastic fork. There's a can of my Dr. Brown. The white plate has a very small amount of pink-and-white crab salad on baby spinach leaves.""I badly needed some snow white. I kept it in a shiny brown canister that used to contain tea. CHAI DIARIES, the tea canister said. ORGANIC CLASSIC BREAKFAST."

Cocktails and Candy: Green and yellow Jello shots (bonus if they're in plastic syringes), Lemonhead candies, M&Ms, or Skittles "pills"

"The poison comes sometimes in green and sometimes in yellow, and sometimes it's the color of dust in a grave. At the dungeon, it came in an injection machine to squirt down my throat.""The dungeon keeper...came to me with her tube of poison. She called it a medicinal oral syringe.""He shakes a poison pill from the vial into the palm of his hand... It's yellow today, the color of a corpse. The extrastrong kind."

Color Scheme: Cool ocean tones (blues and greens)

Activities: Take a dip in the jacuzzi, color some iconography of the Virgin Mary

Ambiance: Put out a bouquet of lilies, play an ocean background video, and, if you have color-changing lights, set them to blues and greens

"So many words are whispering in my mind, like prayers in church at Easter when all the pews are full and people stand in the aisles and there are lilies on the altar.""'This is the Ocean Room.' ... An undulating sea-green light flooded in from floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides."

The Mr. Rochester: Rugged & Rich

"I cried for madder music and stronger wine."

Menus:

Meaty Charcuterie: Ribs, salamis, sausages, deli meats and cheeses, champagne

"He made a 'gimme' motion with his fingers. I handed him the Cristal.""Rather, he was planted firmly on both feet beside a coffee table spread with a lavish buffet, and if he was brooding over anything, it was whether to choose a slab of baby back ribs or a slice of lacy cheese."

Dark Delights: Espresso, rolled wafer cookies (to resemble cigars), fig tart

"Mr. Rochester poured two cups of espresso, pushed one across the table to me, then selected a richly colored cigar from the box.""Rochester reached for the tart, excavated a fig, and popped it into his mouth."

Color Scheme: Black, gray, dark earth tones

Activities: Apply temporary tattoos, smoke cigars (if you're feeling adventurous!)

Ambiance: Turn down the lights and turn up some jazzy cocktail lounge ladies

"The mellow strains of Lauryn Hill, 'Killing Me Softly,' drifted to me.""Amy Winehouse now drenched the air: 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?' Low and a bit ominous, the bass drum like a heartbeat."

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