Red Clay

With which Red Clay character, or characters, do you most identify? Why?

Although Felix Parker is the central figure in Red Clay, the novel’s female characters are hugely consequential. Indeed, the story unfolds through the shared memories of Black and white Parker women. How do the book’s female characters influence the way you engage with the story?

Do you find Edna Mae Daniels, the prostitute, to be a sympathetic character or an object of scorn, and why? How does her backstory affect your response to her?

Why do you think Addie’s companion, Isabelle, chooses to take Addie’s child as her own?

Addie Parker’s worldview follows a remarkable arc that makes it all but inevitable that she would seek out Felix’s family when she learns of his death. How does her storyline affect the way you engage with the novel?

Would Addie have been a different person if the death of her mother had not led to her being sent north to boarding school? How so?

No other individual in Red Clay changes as much as Claude Parker. Is his transformation, his descent into madness, the result of weakness in his character or simply his inability to cope with change?

Are there similarities between the motives for John Robert Parker’s suicide and Claude Parker’s mental breakdown?

Do you detect symbolism in the fact that John Robert Parker rides a black stallion that is then inherited by his son Claude?

Felix Parker succeeds in life against overwhelming odds. What factors make it possible for him to accomplish this? Red

How critical is Felix’s banishment to the fields on his road to maturity?

How does the depiction of slavery in Red Clay strike you, and does it alter your understanding of the institution in any way?

Is your understanding of the Reconstruction era changed by reading this novel? If so, in what ways?

Do you see parallels between the backlash against Reconstruction, as presented in Red Clay, and the current political and social upheaval in America?

Can you speculate about how the course of American history might have changed if Reconstruction had not been abandoned?

Does Red Clay cause you to think differently about class distinctions within both the white and Black communities at the time the novel is set, as well as now?

What do you take away from the novel’s depiction of enslaved Black people, and later freedmen, prioritizing family ties in contrast to stereotypes often imposed on them?

What is most interesting to you about the insights into the 19th century culture of the Creoles of color?

How are observations of the natural world used to enhance emotion or advance the story?

What role does food play in telling the Red Clay story?