This reading group guide for We Are the Light includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Matthew Quick. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book . Introduction From Matthew Quick, the New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook , comes a poignant and hopeful novel about a widower who takes in a grieving teenager and inspires a magical revival in their small town. Lucas Goodgame lives in Majestic, Pennsylvania, a quaint suburb that has been torn apart by a recent tragedy. Everyone in Majestic sees Lucas as a hero--everyone, that is, except Lucas himself. Insisting that his deceased wife, Darcy, visits him every night in the form of an angel, Lucas spends his time writing letters to his former Jungian analyst, Karl. It is only when Eli, an eighteen-year-old young man whom the community has ostracized, begins camping out in Lucas''s backyard that an unlikely alliance takes shape and the two embark on a journey to heal their neighbors and, most important, themselves.
Topics & Questions for Discussion 1. Lucas writes that Karl, his analyst, was the first person besides his wife to ever say to him "I love you" and mean it. Karl loved him in the way that "the best part of my soul loves the best part of your soul," a phrase which becomes a refrain throughout the book. What is the power of this type of love as seen in the book, and how is it distinct from romantic or familial love? How is it different from the love that is earned through one''s actions? 2. In the aftermath of the movie theater tragedy, Lucas is consoled by his vision of the victims turning into angels, and takes comfort from the following visitations of his wife in the form of an angel. He believes that it would "be cathartic for everyone to understand that their loved ones did not suffer and were not afraid, but were instantly transformed into higher beings who were far more beautiful and enlightened than humans could ever be." In which ways is this angelic secret constructive to Lucas, and in which ways is it detrimental? 3. "I wish there was something we could do, other than be angry," the survivors say to Lucas in the months after the tragedy.
How is anger treated in the book? Can it ever be a force for good? 4. Lucas can''t bring himself to return to his work at the high school, so Eli seeks him out at home. Lucas writes that Eli''s anguish "made me feel guilty about abandoning him and all of the students who relied on me the way I relied on you, Karl. The irony is not lost on me." How does the help that Eli needs from Lucas compare to the help that Lucas needs from the absent Karl? How did you feel about Karl as you read the book, and how did your feelings change by the end? 5. Sandra Coyle urges Lucas to give up helping Eli make his amateur film project and come work for her anti-gun political crusade instead. She tells Lucas, "If you want to be part of a real solution, if you want to really honor Darcy, you''ve got to put childish things aside and be a man." How does her idea of "being a man" differ from the ideas expressed by Lucas, Karl, Isaiah, and others? 6.
Lucas goes to great lengths to help Eli carry out his monster movie project, guiding and partnering with him to make the whole thing possible. But before they hatch a plan of action, Lucas helps lift Eli''s pain by simply keeping him company without saying a word: "We sat in silence for a long time, quietly looking at each other. As I sat in the tent with young Eli, I could feel his pain and frustration and loneliness leaving his body." What does this book teach us about the different ways of helping someone to heal? How does the rest of the town later pitch in to help Lucas? 7. Lucas insists that "No one in our movie is good or bad. Just true depictions of whole people, each with both a shadow and a light side." The fictional scripted movie doesn''t match the messiness of reality, or does it? In real life, Lucas still refuses to vilify Jacob Hansen, because he doesn''t believe that anyone, even Jacob, is entirely bad. Do the other characters in the novel agree with him? Why do you agree or disagree? 8.
In the eyes of many of the townspeople, Lucas is Jacob''s opposite, Majestic''s savior and white knight. How does this hero worship affect Lucas, who is struggling with his complicated feelings about what he did to stop the massacre? Lucas himself holds a worshipful view of Karl, believing that he holds all the answers that Lucas needs in his wounded state. What do you think are the downsides of idolizing people who are all too human? 9. Other characters draw a hard distinction between Jacob and his seventeen victims, but Lucas is firmly attached to the number eighteen--he compulsively walks eighteen miles in a day, he circles around Karl''s house eighteen times, and he writes eighteen letters total. He even convinces the survivors to agree to "an in-memoriam section listing the names of all eighteen people who were killed at the Majestic Theater, including Jacob Hansen." How do you think this reflects Lucas''s search for closure? Does the book suggest that all healing requires forgiveness, and do you agree? 10. Lucas is profoundly shaped by his trusting, tender relationships with the other men in his life, and the vital importance of healthy masculinity is a major theme in the book. Yet not to be overlooked are the female characters in the book, who play an equally important role in helping Lucas and the town on the journey to wholeness and healing.
Consider all the big and small ways in which the women step up: what is their part, and how is it complementary to the man-on-man healing approach? 11. In the novel, many people who are not related by blood extend unconditional love and support toward one another. Many biological relationships, such as between Lucas and his parents, Jill and her father, and Eli and his mother, are twisted and toxic rather than truly caring and nurturing. What does it mean to treat someone like family? What is special about a chosen family, and what does the book say about belonging to and taking care of a community? 12. In addition to Eli''s monster movie, the other film that holds great meaning in the book is the cinematic classic It''s a Wonderful Life , which was beloved by the town until tragedy struck. How does the story of It''s a Wonderful Life connect to the story of the monster movie and the overarching story of the novel? Enhance Your Book Club 1. Vote on a favorite classic movie to watch together. Keeping in mind what you learned from the book about how movies are created, what did you notice this time? Reflect on the art of filmmaking and the experience of watching.
2. Set aside some time for individual journaling and invite each member to write a private letter of their choice, in the spirit of Lucas''s letters to Karl. Members can choose to share their letters. How does it feel to put thoughts into words? 3. The close-knit townspeople of Majestic, PA, come together to take care of their own. Is there a way that your club can give back to the community? Sign up for a group volunteer opportunity and enjoy a meal afterward at a local diner like the Cup Of Spoons. A Conversation with Matthew Quick Q: How did you decide to write We Are the Light as an epistolary novel? A: I got 100% sober in June of 2018 and was immediately rewarded with crippling writer''s block. I''d sit at the computer all day and struggle to complete a paragraph.
And the paragraph would not be good. This went on for years. My wife, Alicia, began encouraging me to write another epistolary novel. She pointed out that I was still able to write letters. I''ve always had pen pals. I enjoy writing long letters and emails to friends. I resisted Alicia''s suggestion. But when the writer, Nickolas Butler, echoed my wife''s opinion without my having shared it with him, I finally went up to my office, typed the words "Dear Karl," and was off.
After years of not being able to write, I was suddenly writing happily for eight to twelve hours a day. A lot happened during those years of writer''s block, including my entering into Jungian analysis. I''m not suggesting that writing epistolary novels is some sort of magic cure for writer''s block. But the intimacy of letter writing helped me find my way into the heart of this story, which is perhaps my most intimate to date. Q: The loving bonds between Lucas, Eli, and the other male characters in the book are expressed loud and clear. Why do you think this is important to show? A: The loving relationship I had with my grandfather probably saved my life when I was young. I grew up at a time when--and in a community where--men were not really encouraged to be openly intimate with each other. There wasn''t a lot of male hugging going on back then.
Nor were there too many male-only heartfelt discussions. My grandfather was a WWII veteran and he wasn''t exactly warm and fuzzy either, but he held my hand every morning at the breakfast table and prayed for me with an earnestness that felt sincere. I also remember being saved by sweaty male hugs on the basketball court. These were, of course, justified by difficult baskets made and victories over our enemies, but as a boy starved for male affection, I made do with them. And during my recent depressions and.