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Ghosts of Fourth Street
An open, frank rumination on a brother's death and its reverberations throughout a family
Every family has its stories and secrets. Laurie Hertzel's family had more than its share. At an early age, Laurie, the seventh of the ten Hertzel children, took on the challenge of sorting them out. Not old enough to be one of the Big Kids, yet too old to be with the Three Little Kids, she spent most of her time alone, reading, wandering, and observing her family as they moved around her in their house in Duluth. Though her parents were not warm, there were moments of closeness in those years--gifts of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books and special trips to the dairy for a sundae--but everything shattered after the sudden death of Laurie's oldest sibling, eighteen-year-old Bobby, when she was just nine years old.
Moving back and forth in time, Laurie reflects on Bobby's death and what happens to a family's story when no one can talk about a tragedy and its toll. In Ghosts of Fourth Street, readers witness how the apparition of memories, the shadow of needs unmet, and the spirit of a family once whole all linger long after the death of a child and brother. As Laurie shares her experiences, we see the emergence of her fascination with story and truth as she teaches herself to read and finds solace and inspiration in books amid the tensions and competing agendas within her big, complicated family.
With keen attention, candor, and grace, Laurie paints a vivid portrait of 1960s Duluth as she poignantly examines a family contending with grief and the fact that life steadily goes on--snow and school buses, Christmases and Thanksgivings, ice skating and tobogganing and climbing trees, with ghosts always lingering at the edges.
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These discussion questions are provided by the publisher, University of Minnesota Press.
Book club questions for Ghosts of Fourth Street by Laurie Hertzel
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
At the heart of Ghosts of Fourth Street are stories the Hertzel family told about themselves. What purpose do family stories serve, and what do they mean to a family’s identity?
The book is told through the eyes of a nine-year-old girl. How reliable is a narrator of that age, and what pitfalls are there when the narrator is a child? How would the story be different if it were told by an adult?
What are the ethics of telling a family story—whose story is it? Does one person have the right to tell it? What if the memories of others differ from the memory of the author? How is this handled (or not) in this book?
Names are important in this book, beginning on the first page. Why do you think this is, and what does it represent?
The book is structured episodically rather than in a traditional linear chronology, perhaps mimicking how memories unfold. How does this structure help or hinder the story?
The writer says that all families are haunted in one way or another. Do you agree? How is that true in your own life?
The narrator confesses to snooping, stealing, and lying. Does this add to her credibility or detract from it? Did it make you like her more or less? Why? Does this remind you of things you did as a child?
In the book, Gramma is depicted as mean and Trish as cold. What clues does the book give to the source of their disappointments in life, and how does this mesh with the lives of other women of their time?
What clues does the text give to the anger of Guv?
Silence is another theme of this book, sort of a counterpoint to storytelling. What does the sentence “Trish’s power lay in silence” mean? Is it good to keep family stories under wraps, or is it good to talk about things that happen? What does silence do to a family?
Ghosts of Fourth Street Book Club Questions PDF
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