Years That Followed (Dunne)

The Years That Followed 
Catherine Dunne, 2016
Simon & Schuster
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781501135668


Summary
Revenge is sweeter than regret…

Dublin. Calista is young, beautiful, and headstrong. When she falls in love with the charming, older Alexandros and moves to his native Cyprus, she could never imagine that her whirlwind courtship would lead to a dark and violent marriage. But Calista learns to survive. She knows she will find peace when she can finally seek retribution.

Madrid. Pilar grew up with very little means in rural Spain and finally escaped to a new life. Determined to leave poverty behind her, she plunges into a life of working hard and saving money. Enchanted by an older man, Pilar revels in their romance, her freedom, and accruing success. She’s on the road to achieving her dreams. Yet there is one thing that she is still searching for, the one thing she knows will make her truly happy.

Sweeping across the lush European backdrops of Spain, Greece, and Ireland, The Years That Followed is a gripping, modern telling of a classic story. As two wronged women plot for revenge, their intricately crafted schemes send shockwaves through their families that will echo for many generations to come. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—1954
• Where—Dublin, Ireland
• Education—B.A., Trinity College
• Awards—Giovanni Boccaccio International Prize (Italy)
• Currently—lives in Dublin, Ireland


Catherine Dunne is the Irish author of ten novels including, most recently, The Years That Followed (2016). Her novel 2013, The Things We Know Now, won the Giovanni Boccaccio International Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. In 2015, Dunne was recently long-listed for the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction Award. Her work has been translated into several languages.

She studied English and Spanish at Trinity College in Dublin and went on to teach, publishing her first novel, In the Beginning, in 1977. The Years that Followed is her U.S. debut. Dunne lives in Dublin. (Adapted from the publisher.)

Book Reviews
[T]he parallel lives of two women.... Though the two women never meet, their lives are intertwined in ways they could never guess, culminating in a surprising, grisly discovery.... [B]oth women are nuanced, sympathetic characters whose lives and loves are well developed throughout this darkly compelling story.
Publishers Weekly


In this page-turner that’s both poignant and satisfying, Dunne knows how to write the woman scorned, betrayed, and eventually reborn.
Booklist


[An] intricate saga.... Calista and Pilar are wonderful characters to watch develop...as they work to define and enrich themselves against steep, cruel odds. Lived-in, hard-earned feminism swirled with a noir tone and dark turns makes for a great read.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
1. Calista and Pilar come from very different backgrounds. The former has grown up with all the comforts of affluence; the latter with all the particular challenges of poverty. In what ways might Calista’s wealth have influenced the choices she makes as a young woman? And how has poverty helped to shape Pilar’s view of the world?

2. The novel takes the ancient story of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra as its inspiration. Clytemnestra lived in an age when women’s voices were rarely heard in the public sphere. Their individual and collective stories were regarded as unimportant. Her modern counterpart, Calista, imposes a similar kind of silence on herself, regarding the difficulties she has in her relationship with Alexandros, particularly when he turns violent. How is this tradition of female silence dealt with in the novel? Calista begins to find her voice eventually, through her own independent work. How significant is the notion of work and economic independence for both Calista and Pilar?

3. Calista hears, at a distance, about the new movement in California for women’s liberation in the 1970s. In what ways is her life different from the life of a twenty-something young woman in 2016?

4. Pilar, on the other hand, knows nothing about the movement for women’s liberation. In the novel, she strikes out for her own freedom in many different ways. How does she achieve her goals, and what makes her life so different from Calista’s?

5. Maroulla and Petros are both products of their upper-class, privileged existence. In what ways do their behavior help to perpetuate the values of their social class?

6. Alexandros is a violent man and Calista suffers extreme domestic abuse at his hands. What do you understand about the dynamic of domestic violence, as illustrated by their relationship within the novel? Why does Calista feel that she is somehow to blame? What is it that often traps women in such relationships, making them stay much longer than they should?

7. Motherhood is a central theme in the novel: the joy of having children and the grief of losing them. How powerful a motivating force is motherhood in Calista’s search for revenge? And what is your view of the other mothers in the novel—specifically María-Luisa and Maroulla?

8. The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius said that if one is bent on seeking revenge, then one “must dig two graves.” How do you view this in relation to what becomes of Calista by the end of the novel?

9. Pilar performs the function of the Greek Chorus in this novel. In what ways does the trajectory of her life shed light on the choices made by Calista? In what ways might her life be seen as a commentary on the fate of Calista?

10. Childhood is a formative time, psychologically and emotionally. How would you describe the childhood influences on the characters in the novel, and in what ways are these influences visible in the adults they later become? And what, in your view, will be the fate of Omiros as he steps across the threshold into adulthood?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)

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