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About the Won't Be Long Now by Elizabeth Hardinger category
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1
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23
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May 7, 2026
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Do you think Billie made the right decision to stay in Hutch and take care of her mother?
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20
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119
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May 27, 2026
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Overall, what did you think of Won’t Be Long Now? (No spoilers in this topic, please.)
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29
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156
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May 22, 2026
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What did you think about Clayton's role in the novel? How would you describe his feelings for Billie? Why does he seek her out? How do you think she feels about him?
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13
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93
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May 20, 2026
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Billie refuses to attend important rituals, like her graduation ceremony or funerals. Why do you suppose this is? Her mother tells her she'll regret it later. Does she? What's your opinion about such rituals?
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13
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83
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May 20, 2026
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Do you think Billie is, as she implies, autistic? How does that affect your view of her and her story?
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15
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101
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May 20, 2026
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What did you think of the book’s conclusion, and what do you think Billie's life will look like going forward?
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22
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122
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May 20, 2026
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To what audience would you recommend Won’t Be Long Now? Is there another book or author you feel has a similar theme or style?
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18
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102
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May 17, 2026
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Billie's feelings about Joan are complicated. What aspects of Billie's life play into that relationship? What did you think about Joan's treatment of Billie?
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21
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117
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May 17, 2026
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Billie’s mother insists that she can stand pain if she makes up her mind to (“You could stand anything for a minute, an hour a day…”) What did you think of this? How did this philosophy help or hurt Billie?
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10
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41
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May 17, 2026
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After her father dies, Billie finds she has trouble remembering his face. Her mother recalls being told, when her own mother died, that reciting the best memory of her, over and over, would help. Was a good strategy? Have you ever done something similar?
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15
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51
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May 17, 2026
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What do you understand Billie to mean when she says that people's words sometimes "echo" in her mind? Have you (or someone you know) ever had an experience like this?
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8
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58
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May 17, 2026
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How do you think Billie's life would have turned out if her father had lived?
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23
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113
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May 17, 2026
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Billie often mentions the polka dot agate rock given to her by her friend Harriet. What do you think it means to Billie?
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18
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106
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May 17, 2026
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Beyond abject grief, what do you think of the reaction of the Enholm family and the Wiley community to the accident that claims the lives of their loved ones? Did anything about it surprise you?
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10
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68
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May 17, 2026
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What role do you think the woman Billie meets at the Garden of Eden plays in the story? As off-putting as she is, why do you think Billie is drawn to her?
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8
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51
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May 17, 2026
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Billie tests at the level of genius and reads a thick dictionary for pleasure, and yet she is naïve about some things— for example, she thinks that the Garden of Eden is the actual location where Adam and Eve once walked. How do you reconcile these two?
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15
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76
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May 17, 2026
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What did you think of the relationship between Billie and her mother? How do Billie's feelings about her mother change over the course of the novel? Does Dixie go through a similar change?
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9
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48
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May 17, 2026
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Beyond what Billie says, why do you think she feels that she doesn't belong in the same world as anyone else she knows?
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8
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50
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May 17, 2026
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What did you make of Billie’s awareness of a rage inside her that she first calls The Thing, later Charlotte? She wonders if there’s a Charlotte or something like a Charlotte in everyone’s life, but that people just don’t talk about it. What do you think?
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8
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46
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May 17, 2026
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Have you read Elizabeth Hardinger’s earlier novel, All the Forgiveness? If so, how does it compare to Won’t Be Long Now?
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9
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48
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May 16, 2026
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