Featured Reading Guide
Hillary Jordan
When Henry McAllan moves his city-bred wife, Laura, to a cotton farm in the Mississippi Delta in 1946, she finds herself in a place both foreign and frightening. Henry s love of rural life is not shared by Laura, who struggles to raise their two young children in an isolated shotgun shack under the eye of her hateful, racist father-in-law. When it rains, the waters rise up and swallow the bridge to town, stranding the family in a sea of mud. As the Second World War shudders to an end, two young men return from Europe to help work the farm. Jamie McAllan is everything his older brother Henry is…
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Hillary Jordan grew up in Texas and Oklahoma and received her MFA in fiction from Columbia University. Mudbound is her first novel.
topAbout the Book
When Henry McAllan moves his city-bred wife, Laura, to a cotton farm in the Mississippi Delta in 1946, she finds herself in a place both foreign and frightening. Henry s love of rural life is not shared by Laura, who struggles to raise their two young children in an isolated shotgun shack under the eye of her hateful, racist father-in-law. When it rains, the waters rise up and swallow the bridge to town, stranding the family in a sea of mud. As the Second World War shudders to an end, two young men return from Europe to help work the farm. Jamie McAllan is everything his older brother Henry is not and is sensitive to Laura s plight, but also haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the farm, comes home from war with the shine of a hero, only to face far more dangerous battles against the ingrained bigotry of his own countrymen. These two unlikely friends become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale.
topHillary Jordan interview/review
None available but click here for an article by the author on her inspiration and family history.
topStarting Points for Discussion
- Inequality is a major theme affecting each character in the novel. What are the main forms it takes?
- Henry buys the farm without consulting Laura. What does Mudbound tell us about the ways that the relationships between husbands and wives have changed?
- Henry is devoted to the land and farming. Discuss other examples of ownership in the novel.
- How did Ronsel and Jamie’s experience of war differ?
- Jamie suggests that what happens to Ronsel is his fault. Do you think this is fair? Should someone be blamed even though their actions were well intentioned?
- ‘You got to go along to go along’ p. 42. Is it ever excusable to accept racism in order to survive?
- Compare Laura and Florence. In what ways do their experiences of motherhood differ?
- Which character do you find most likable/do you think you are most like?
- How would you have behaved if you were Florenece? Hap?
- Do you think the ending is hopeful?
Other Books by Hillary Jordan
Mudbound
When Henry McAllan moves his city-bred wife, Laura, to a cotton farm in the …
Suggested Further Reading
- The Colour Purple ~ Alice Walker
- Beloved ~ Toni Morrison
- Redemption Falls ~ Joseph O’Connor