Unwritten (Martin)

Unwritten
Charles Martin, 2013
Center Street
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781455503957


Summary
An actress running from her past finds escape with a man hiding from his future.

When someone wants to be lost, a home tucked among the Ten Thousand Islands off the Florida coast is a good place to live. A couple decent boats, and a deep knowledge of fishing and a man can get by without ever having to talk to another soul. It's a nice enough existence, until the one person who ties him to the world of the living, the reason he's still among them even if only on the fringes, asks him for help.

Father Steady Capri knows quite a bit about helping others. But he is afraid Katie Quinn's problems may be beyond his abilities. Katie is a world-famous actress with an all too familiar story. Fame seems to have driven her to self-destruct. Steady knows the true cause of her desire to end her life is buried too deeply for him to reach. But there is one person who still may be able to save her from herself.

He will show her an alternate escape, a way to write a new life. But Katie still must confront her past before she can find peace. Ultimately, he will need to leave his secluded home and sacrifice the serenity he's found to help her. From the Florida coast, they will travel to the French countryside where they will discover the unwritten story of both their pasts and their future. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—November 3, 1969
• Education—B.A., Florida State University; M.A., Ph.D.,
   Regent University
• Currently—Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Charles Martin is the author of Where the River Ends, Chasing Fireflies, Maggie, When Crickets Cry, Wrapped in Rain, The Dead Don't Dance, and The Mountain Between Us.

He earned his B.A. in English from Florida State University, and his M.A. in Journalism and Ph.D. in Communication from Regent University. He served one year at Hampton University as an adjunct professor in the English department and as a doctoral fellow at Regent. In 1999, he left a career in business to pursue his writing.

He and his wife, Christy, live a stone's throw from the St. John's River in Jacksonville, Florida, with their three boys: Charlie, John T. and Rives. (From the author's website.)

Book Reviews
Martin has an incredible gift for characterization and writing that tugs at the emotions without being overly melodramatic. This is the type of novel you will want to read quickly, because it is so engrossing, yet want to savor because the prose is meaningful and poignant.
RT Book Reviews

A kind-hearted priest brings together two celebrities who have faked their own deaths in Martin's ninth novel (after Thunder and Rain).... The novel reads as much like a mystery as a romance since neither main character reveals their past until the final third of the book. Unfortunately, this lack of back story, as well as the fact that they both have achieved a degree of wealth and fame...can leave the reader feeling like they've stumbled upon a modern day romantic allegory instead of a character-driven work of fiction.... [B]ut for those who like their romances on the fantastical side there's more than enough of the lives of the rich and famous to keep one engaged.
Publishers Weekly

Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think the title of the book is Unwritten? In what ways is that theme conveyed in the book?

2. Shortly after meeting Peter, Katie confesses to Steady, “I don't like the way I treat people.” Why do you think she behaves the way she does? Is her behavior justified?

3. Why would Steady believe that Peter and Katie are more capable of helping each other than he is of helping either of them?

4. Do you think Peter did the right thing in helping Katie through Door #3?

5. Were Katie’s fans truly mourning her after her death? Is the act of mourning about the person lost, or the person who is mourning?

6. In what ways are Peter and Katie similar? How does it impact their relationship?

7. Why do you think Katie had so many disguises? Were they a help to her or a hindrance?

8. In what ways is Katie influenced by the opinion of society throughout her life? How has it shaped who she is?

9. Peter stops writing after he loses Jodie, even though there are many children who love his stories. Why is that? Was it really about Jodie?

10. Discuss the theme of forgiveness in the novel.

11. In what way does Katie help Peter?

12. What do you think would have happened to Katie and Peter if Steady had not pushed them together? Could they have healed on their own?
(Questions issued by publisher.)

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