I’d Rather Be Reading — Sugar Queen Questions #1

Each week, I’ll be posting answers to discussions questions for the “I’d Rather Be Reading” Book Club. This month, the club is reading Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. If you’d like to join the book club, please leave a comment and I’ll give you more information (Best part? It’s free!).

1.    What are your initial thoughts of the book so far?
I’ve heard from others that it was a little slow, but I latched on to the book right away. I really connected with Josey and her bad relationship with food. I also felt so awful for her that she was “stuck” taking care of her mother just because she felt guilty for acting up as a child. I really enjoy the book so far.

2.    Discuss and compare Josey’s relationship with her mother and her father. Why do you think Josey decided to stay and take care of her mother? Do you think it was because of the fits she threw or do you think that there are other reasons?Josey was extremely close with her father and yearned for his attention. I think he was sort of a novelty to her since she didn’t see him very often. On the other side, her mother and Josey didn’t get along growing up. Josey’s mother didn’t give her the attention she deserved because she was caught up in her own life; therefore, Josey threw fits to catch her attention. I think that Josey stayed to take care of her mother because of the guilt she felt from treating her mother so poorly growing up. I also think that Josey thought that the residents of Bald Slope perceived her a certain way, so she was embarrassed to create her own life outside of her mother’s house.

3.    Discuss Josey’s relationship with food. Why does she hide this candy in her closet?
Josey is clearly living in misery. Everything she does, she does for her mother. She has no life of her own. I think the candy bars and her closet allow her to escape into a world where she has some sort of control. I think it’s no coincidence that once her closet becomes occupied, she weans herself off of the candy bars and the closet little by little and starts finding another way to escape.

4.    Why do you think Josey’s mom doesn’t want Josey to feel pretty? For example, taking the red sweater off when it looks pretty on her.
Josey’s mom clearly thrives on attention. She doesn’t want people to see Josey as pretty because then the attention would be taken off of her. I think she also fears that Josey’s beauty may attract a suitor, which would cause Josey to leave the house and start her own life.

5.    Why do you suppose Josey was such a difficult child? What caused her to be that way?
I think the absence of her father caused her to be such a difficult child. Her mother was not giving her the attention she wanted and her father wasn’t around, so Josey acted up to get attention, albeit negative attention, but still attention.