Owl and Moon Cafe (Mapson)

The Owl and Moon Cafe
Jo-Ann Mapson, 2006
Simon & Schuster, Inc.
356 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780743266413 


Summary
After losing her teaching position at the local university, Mariah Moon will do anything to keep her gifted twelve-year-old daughter, Lindsay, in a prestigious private school—which means moving in with her mother and grandmother in an apartment above The Owl & Moon Cafe.

When her mother, Allegra, is diagnosed with leukemia, Mariah rises to the challenge of running the cafe: mastering her mother's famous fudge and chatting up customers—including a man who might just reawaken her heart. Meanwhile, Lindsay's controversial entry in a major national science contest creates a minor maelstrom in the cosseted Monterey Bay community. And Allegra, with one last great love affair in her, will revisit a man she loved so many years ago, and disclose the biggest secret of the Moon family: the identity of Mariah's father.

Will the Moon women recognize this as the moment to do away with their family history of dubiously fathered children, and learn to forgive others and themselves in order to move forward? In her poignant new novel, bestselling author Jo-Ann Mapson explores the complexities of love and family with the keen eye and stylistic grace that have made her books perennial favoritese. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Fullerton, California, USA
• Education—B.A., California State University,
   Long Beach; M.F.A., Vermont College
• Currently—lives in Sante Fe, New Mexico

Jo-Ann Mapson is the author of ten works of fiction, set mainly in the American Southwest. She was born and raised in Southern California, and now lives in Anchorage, Alaska.

Jo-Ann Mapson’s novels include series books—Hank & Chloe; Loving Chloe; Bad Girl Creek; Along Came Mary; Goodbye, Earl, as well as stand-alone novels. Their subject matter concerns women, friendship, love and child rearing and their families. An example of this is the 1996 novel, Shadow Ranch, which focuses on the women of the "Carpenter Clan" and the so-called curse which effects all members of the family over several generations. It shows the women overcoming the problems by love, dedication and a focus on the Carpenter Clan.

Her second novel, Blue Rodeo, was made into a CBS movie for television starring Ann-Margret and Kris Kristofferson. The Owl & Moon Cafe was published in 2006, and Solomon's Oak in 2010.

Mapson attended Johnston College at the University of Redlands, graduated with a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from California State University Long Beach, and received her M.F.A. in both Poetry and Prose from Vermont College in 1992.

She has taught English and Creative Writing at Orange Coast College, University of California Irvine extension, California State University Fullerton extension, Matanuska-Susitna College and now teaches in the M.F.A. Program in Writing at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She is also a graduate advisor for Prescott College’s MAP Program.

Her former writing students (now published) include: Christina Adams, Judy Alexander, Earlene Fowler, Judi Hendricks, Joyce Weatherford.
Her papers are being collected in Boston University’s Twentieth Century Authors Archive in “The Jo-Ann Mapson Collection.” (From Wikipedia.)

Book Reviews
Mapson takes a break from her Bad Girl Creek series with this touching novel that chronicles the lives of four generations of women living under one roof. When sociology professor Mariah Moon loses her job, she and her Carl Sagan–loving genius 12-year-old daughter, Lindsay, move into the apartment shared by Mariah's hippie mom, Allegra, and staunchly Catholic grandmother, Bess. All four pitch in to run the family restaurant downstairs, where Mariah locks eyes with the charming Fergus Applecross, who's set to leave their California town of Pacific Grove and return to Scotland in a few months. Mariah takes a chance on him, to Allegra's delight and Lindsay's consternation. Allegra, meanwhile, is diagnosed with leukemia, but rediscovers the long-lost love of her life at the doctor's office. Lindsay, watching her grandmother struggle with both her illness and trying to cover the cost of medication, concocts a science project that involves growing marijuana (for medicinal applications, of course). Initially, the characters are pulled straight from central casting, but after a slow start, they become as complex and fascinating as the situations they find themselves in.
Publishers Weekly


With her trademark style of combining humor with heartache, Mapson again excels at building a community of strong, empathic women. —Carol Haggas
Booklist


Four generations of strong-minded women battle each other, their individual insecurities and life's many ups and downs in this overstuffed latest from Mapson (Goodbye, Earl, 2004, etc.). The author gives her characters plenty of obstacles to overcome before the mostly happy ending.... What saves the story is the characters: broadly drawn, but utterly human, full of querulous life and irritatingly believable. The author loves the people she creates and draws in readers to share her affection. Profound it ain't, but immensely readable and very charming in its own messy, undisciplined way.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
1. Which female character did you most identify with and why?

2. What role does Theodora the dog play in the story?

3. Do you think the Moon women's lives would have turned out differently if Gammy Bess had told them the truth about her pregnancy earlier, or are they bound to repeat family history?

4. Mariah is in a love/hate relationship with her mom, Allegra. How does this affect Mariah's relationship with Lindsay?

5. Suppose your child was gifted and the school wanted her to skip grades. What are some reasons to do that, and what are some reasons not to? How does a mom know when to take risks like that?

6. Pacific Grove is a real place. Have you visited it? Does the story make you want to see it, or move there? Where does someone over the age of forty find the courage to move to a totally new town?

7. What is the one pastry that you cannot turn down? Mine is almond filled croissants.
(Questions courtesy of the author.)

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