Two were infants, dear God.īut Bridget has one hope, a fellow nurse to share the load - until that nurse, who claims also to be named Bridget Kelly, doesn’t seem to know the first thing about children, the human body, or caring for anyone else’s needs.
Those who were carried by their mums kicked to be let down. They wore caps or hats or bonnets and flung them to the ground in a tantrum. They had tags affixed to their coats and child-sized gas masks in paper cases and straps around their necks. The children were tots, baby fat in their knees below shorts and skirts, socks pulled up or sliding, shoes scuffed or untied. When she first sets eyes on her charges-to-be at the train station, her heart sinks, because she has imagined older children, easier to care for: Meanwhile, she’s reeling from the deaths of her mother and younger siblings from a German bomb, so the sight of any child can be dangerous for her.
Rather, she’s wondering how to manage ten children, a chore that scares her, and for which she thinks she has no aptitude. Scaldwell opines at one point: “Times like this, things went slippery.” What do the multiple habitants of Greenway think of identity and who one might become during slippery times? How does Bridey use this to her own advantage-and why?ĭeath at Greenway uses historical detail researched by the author but also threads fictional story throughout.Agatha Christie, Dame of the British Empire, in 1958 photo of a plaque (courtesy Torre Abbey.jpg: Violetriga, via Wikimedia Commons) Discuss the estate through its contradictions as a place of leisure and retreat and also of battle.ĭeath at Greenway’s mystery revolves and resolves around issues of identity. Greenway is a beautiful, gentle holiday home and a playground for the children, but also a site of war and conflict. Beyond the fact that she can’t allow herself to feel much at all, why might the two young women have differing reactions to this turn of events? How would you feel to find out you were staying in the Queen of Crime’s house? Did you find yourself wanting to hear more from Agatha? Why or why not?īridget Kelly says early on in the book that she “doesn’t have the Blitz spirit.” How does this manifest itself for her? Can you relate, given recent real worldwide events? What kind of Blitz survivor might you have been?Īt Greenway, Gigi is taken with the idea of staying in Agatha Christie’s home but Bridey isn’t moved. Book club questions for Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-DayĪgatha Christie kicks off the novel by showing us the formal announcement of war against Germany from Greenway’s kitchen, and then becomes just another character-a cameo, rather-in a novel told by many points of view.
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