In All Good Faith

In the summer of 1932, Americans are coming to realize that the financial crash of 1929 was only the beginning of hard times. May Marshall has returned from Paris to settle at her family home in rural Keswick, Virginia.

She struggles to keep her Virginia family farm and market afloat through the economic downturn. May finds herself juggling her marriage with a tempting opportunity to revamp the family business to adapt to changing times.

In a cold-water West End Boston tenement, the fractured Sykes family scrapes by on an itinerant mechanic’s wages and home sewing. Having recently lost her mother, sixteen-year-old Dorrit Sykes questions the religious doctrine she was raised in. Dorrit is reclusive, held back by the anxiety attacks that have plagued her since childhood. Attempting to understand what limits her, she seeks inspiration in Nancy Drew mysteries and finds solace at the Boston Public Library, writing fairy stories for children. The library holds answers to both Dorrit’s exploration of faith and her quest to understand and manage her anxiety.

When Dorrit accompanies her father to Washington, DC, in the summer of 1932 to camp out and march with twenty thousand veterans intending to petition President Hoover for early payment of war bonuses, she begins an odyssey that will both traumatize and strengthen her. Along the way she redefines her faith, learning both self-sufficiency and how to accept help.

Dorrit and May’s lives intersect, and their fates will intertwine in ways that neither could have imagined or expected. Set against a backdrop of true historical events, In All Good Faith tells a story of two women’s unlikely success during the Great Depression.

This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Authorbuzz.

Book club questions for In All Good Faith by Liza Nash Taylor

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

The Depression era is timely, with the pandemic, lockdowns, and shutdowns across the country, not to mention shortages. What similarities do you see between present times and the Great Depression?

Anxiety plays a large role in Dorrit Sykes’s journey, but she's struggling with it at a time when mental health - especially for women - wasn't a subject that could be talked about, let alone treated. How does Dorrit cope with her situation, and how have things changed?

The strength and perseverance of women is a theme in this story. How did men’s and women’s experiences of this era differ?

Do you know anyone who grew up during The Great Depression? Do they speak of it, and if so, what have you heard?

Dorrit struggles with the religion she was raised in and her mother is something of a zealot. How does she resolve her questions, and what resources might be available to her today that weren’t in 1932?

In 1932 it was plausible that a sixteen-year-old girl might ride the rails alone. What comparable experiences might Dorrit encounter in the present day?

As a working mother, May struggles to maintain her identity as a businesswoman when society expects her to stay home. Is this still relevant to women today?

In All Good Faith Book Club Questions PDF

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