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About the The Moonshine Women by Michelle Collins Anderson category
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0
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14
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January 14, 2026
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Hiram worships the memory of his dead wife Alta and grieves her; a put-upon Lidy resents her. Rebecca and Elsie crave her softness and stories, while Shine has no memories of her at all. How do you feel about this complicated voiceless character?
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20
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48
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April 20, 2026
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Of Lidy, Elsie says, "Right or wrong, but never indifferent. She was a Strong through and through." Did you agree with the steely matriarch's decisions to do what she thought best—whether keeping a painful secret or ending a life prematurely?'
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12
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35
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April 20, 2026
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Overall, what did you think of The Moonshine Women? For what audience would you recommend the book? (no spoilers in this topic, please!)
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30
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100
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April 20, 2026
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Making moonshine requires careful identification of the different parts of the distillate. Shine becomes an expert at this at an early age, but is far less adept at handling matters of her own heart. Are you glad she gets a second chance with John?
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19
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45
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April 20, 2026
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Have you read Michelle Collins Anderson’s first novel, The Flower Sisters? If so, how do the two books compare?
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26
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110
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April 20, 2026
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Jed longs to be a part of the Strong family and the moonshine business. When he finally gets the chance, how does he handle it? Do you feel sorry for him? Are his feelings of being used and discarded valid? Are the women better off without him?
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16
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45
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April 20, 2026
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There are many motherless daughters in The Moonshine Women. How do the women mother each other? How do sisterhood and female friendship become even more important when our mother figures are unavailable or gone?
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9
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38
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April 19, 2026
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Hiram calls Shine his "daughter of the spirit." What does he mean? How does Hiram's love and acceptance play a part in Shine's later decision to form and embrace her own unconventional family bonds? In the end, who do you think is the "strongest Strong?"?
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8
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26
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April 19, 2026
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Lidy Strong knows what people in the Ozark hills call "granny cures." Which one did you find the most interesting or surprising? Can you share one from your own culture or upbringing?
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11
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47
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April 19, 2026
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Two crashes happen almost simultaneously: Jed and Rebecca's car accident & the stock market crash. How does the aftermath of the wreck affect the Strong family? How does it mirror what happens to their community and the country at large?
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9
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25
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April 18, 2026
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Both Hiram and his abusive father were alcoholics; Jed's drinking dramatically changes his personality for the worse. Yet it becomes their livelihood. How do they deal with this contradiction? What do you suppose none of the Strong daughters drink?
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8
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23
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April 18, 2026
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In the prologue, the premature baby is supposed be a boy. When a disappointed Hiram Strong holds his third daughter in his hands instead, he names her "Jace," which means "the Lord is salvation" and declares that she will save the family. Does she?
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12
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35
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April 18, 2026
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How does Rebecca's reluctance to speak up about Jed cause trouble? And later, with Eulalie? Discuss some of the complicating factors in her romantic relationship. What finally pushes her to risk giving voice to her own wants and desires?
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6
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19
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April 17, 2026
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Lidy believes "the lot of women isn't right"—specifically that undesired pregnancies disproportionately affects females. This situation plays out repeatedly over the course of the novel. Do you agree? Or is hers a sentiment and symptom of the era?
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16
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41
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April 17, 2026
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Shine is both starry-eyed and fearful of her first famous customer at the bar, Al Capone. She believes they are both "willing to do whatever it took to survive and keep their families safe." Do you agree? Does Shine discover a line she won't cross?
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8
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24
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April 17, 2026
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Elsie craves a "happily ever after." How does this impact her choices about motherhood and marriage? Eventually she comes to understand that she is stronger than she knew. Do you agree that sometimes we just need to "rescue [our] own damn self"?
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12
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37
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April 17, 2026
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Shine is bent on revenge but is continually thwarted. But when she finally has a chance to exact some justice she balks. Later, she muses that mercy & forgiveness are more complicated. How does this shift allow her to move forward?
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6
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17
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April 17, 2026
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John Flanagan is an idealist whose experiences reflect the arc of Prohibition. How does this "rule follower" fare with a rogue partner, mountain moonshiners and criminals? What finally jolts him out of his passivity to pursue what he really wants?
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4
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13
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April 17, 2026
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The "cow shoes" that Shine wore to cover her tracks were just one creative way that moonshiners and bootleggers kept their operations clandestine during Prohibition. Have you heard of others that you found particularly clever?
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9
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35
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April 17, 2026
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Shine decides to "make a family like she and her daddy had made moonshine, putting together a bunch of unlikely ingredients, things that didn't come from the same place...Stir it all up and see what happened." What do you think of this metaphor?
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14
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44
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April 17, 2026
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