Bookmarks and Autographed Bookplates (Available for a limited time)

If you would like to receive a free bookmark or an autographed bookplate please let me know through the ‘contact me’ button on my site. I would be happy to mail you one of each.

Thank you for your interest in my work!

Anita Higman

FOR ALL THOSE AMAZING BOOK CLUBS!

If your book club of ten or more members chooses to read A Marriage in Middlebury, I would be happy to join your group via telephone for a chat about the book.

Here are ten (10) study questions for you. Download a printable PDF document of the questions. (Link opens a new browser window. Close it to return to this page.)

1. At the young and vulnerable age of eighteen, Charlotte Rose Hill found herself embroiled in a moral dilemma. Have you ever been caught inside an ethical impasse—one that made you feel like there was no escape? How did you react, and how did the problem get resolved?
2. Meredith Steinberg believed that the people she cared about were going to make a tragic mistake in their lives because they weren’t communicating well with each other. She chose a unique and comical way to get their attention. Would you have chosen a different way to handle the situation?
3. Have you ever had spiritual doubts like Mr. LaGrange? Did someone show up in your life like Charlotte as an encourager?
4. What were some of the ways that Justin Yule and Audrey Anderson grew as characters through the story? Do you think they still had a long way to go in their emotional and spiritually journeys?
5. Sam Wilder was also caught in a moral dilemma, since he struggled with his love for Charlotte while wanting to protect Audrey from rejection and abandonment. Do you think some of the impetus behind Sam’s compassion came from his own feelings of abandonment from his father?
6. Because of what Audrey suffered growing up, sometimes she felt like she was just pretending at life, and these feelings of inadequacy made her become bitter and at times petty. How do you think God would want us to handle painful events from our past?
7. Did Justin think that the unhappy life he’d created for himself could somehow atone for the accident—an accident that he’d mistaken for an unforgivable sin? Do you think he was trying to play God by redeeming himself from the past?
8. Nelly Washington endured Percy Wilder’s cruelty for many years. Have you known people who harbor this same kind of racial bigotry in their hearts? Why do you think people continue to cling to these prejudices concerning the color of a person’s skin?
9. Do you think the story portrayed small-town life accurately? What are some of the upsides and downsides to living in a small town? To living in the city? Which place do you love the most and why?
10. Charlotte had a prayer closet. Have you ever had a special place like this where you could shut out the world and meet with God?

If your book club of ten or more members chooses to read Winter in Full Bloom, I would be happy to join your group via telephone for a chat about the book.

Here are seventeen (17) study questions for you. Download a printable PDF document of the questions. (Link opens a new browser window. Close it to return to this page.)

1. Lily was almost incapacitated by her phobia of flying. Have you ever been paralyzed by your fears? Did you overcome them? How?
2. Lily was struggling with empty nest. Have you ever been through this difficult life-passage? Was your experience similar to Lily’s?
3. Why do you think Lily’s mother, Iris Gray, hired a friend rather than be a friend to her daughter?
4. Do you think Lily handled the situation well when she confronted the “other” woman? What would you have done differently?
5. Do you think that Iris Gray wanted Camille to be found?
6. Why do you think Lily was so desperate to bring her family together?
7. Does this story inspire you enough to consider reconciling with someone you’ve been estranged from? What would be your first step in meeting that goal?
8. Do you think God brought Lily and Marcus together for more reasons than to fall in love? What were they?
9. What are the qualities that drew Marcus to Lily?
10. Which character in the story was your favorite? Why?
11. What do you think were the main themes in the story?
12. Do you think the two settings of Melbourne, Australia and Houston, Texas complemented each other? Did you get a good feel for both places?
13. What literary devices did the author use to bring depth to the story? Do you think they were effective?
14. Do you think the title and the cover reflected the story well?
15. Why was Lily was so intent on bringing her family together?
16. Lily and Camille—identical twins—were similar in their personalities. How were the two women different?
17. Have you ever reconciled with a family member? Was it difficult? How did the experience make you feel?

If your book club of ten or more members chooses to read A Merry Little Christmas, I would be happy to join your group via telephone for a chat about the book.

Here are ten (10) study questions for you. Download a printable PDF document of the questions. (Link opens a new browser window. Close it to return to this page.)

1. What were the differences between the way Franny described her family when they were alive and the way Charlie’s family functioned?
2. What can we learn about how to better deal with our own families after watching what happened inside the Landau family?
3. Which character was your favorite and why?
4. Charlie had a tug-of-war going on in his heart concerning his father. What could he have done differently as he confronted his father? Specifically, what do you think Charlie should have done when his father threatened to put his brother in a mental institution?
5. Do you think Franny’s buoyant personality was good for Charlie’s more laid-back approach to life? How did they help each other? Or hold each other back?
6. Do you think Franny got so excited about life that she became impulsive to a fault?
7. The 1960s was a time of turmoil and transition in America. Do you think the author did a good job portraying this unique time period?
8. The Jim Crow Laws were a great burden to Noma Jefferson. In the Oklahoma City café scene, do you think Franny and Noma handled the racial confrontation well? What would you have done differently of you had been Frannie or Noma?
9. Did you find the ending to be satisfying? Why or why not?
10. Did you glean any new insights into your Christian faith when you read this novel?

If your book club of ten or more members chooses to read Love Finds You in Humble, Texas, I would be happy to join your group via telephone for a chat about the book.

Here are twelve (12) study questions that might be fun. Download a printable PDF document of the questions. (Link opens a new browser window. Close it to return to this page.)

1. Even though Trudie and Lane get along well, unresolved events from their youth have them both trapped in a less than honest relationship. Have you ever known that kind of dishonesty—when you pretend with someone you care about that all is well when it isn’t? Outside forces brought the issues to a head and a resolution. If Mason had never come along, how should they have handled the past?
2. Trudie said nothing to her father after he spent her college money for the jewels in his wife’s crown. What could Trudie have said to stop her father? What was missing in the family? What could they have said or done to rectify the situation? Was there merely a communication problem or was there a deeper issue to resolve?
3. Trudie was used to giving things up—her college money and her career—and she did so again with Mason. Should she have said more or done more to fight for the feelings she was already having for Mason? Or was it courageous and gracious for Trudie to step aside?
4. Do you think Lane was really in love with Mason, or do you think there was something else going on? Jealousy? Was Lane merely in love with the idea of being in love? Or do you think there was something else going on?
5. Why didn’t Trudie fall in love with Wiley, especially since they had so much in common and they got along so well?
6. Who was your favorite character and why?
7. Humble, Texas is a town near Houston. Did the setting come to life and seem real to you?
8. What is the theme that stands out to you the most?
9. In Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility the temperaments of two of the sisters are changed at the end of the book. Elinor is able to show her emotions more easily, and Marianne matures enough to temper her passions. Do you think something similar happens to Trudie and Lane through the course of the story? How did Trudie and Lane change?
10. Do you think Trudie and Mason are well suited to each other? Why?
11. Have you ever struggled with any of the conflicts that the characters dealt with in the book? Do you think reading fiction helps people to work through real-life conflicts? If so, how?
12. What was your favorite scene in the novel and why?

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