I’m amazed by the intricate ways that Strout is able to connect these characters. I had almost forgotten about the sad and lonely Pete Barton from “The Sign” and the angsty Lila Lane from “Windmills” when, suddenly, Pete reappears as the point-of-view character for “Sister” and Lila turns out to be his niece. Pete is introduced to us by Tommy Guptill as a somewhat pathetic character. Tommy feels guilty for him, and he seems consumed by sadness. That sadness is still present in this story, but for most of it, Pete is surrounded by his family, making him seem, for a moment, less alone.

As far as plot is concerned, not much is happening in this story (until the almost-trip to Chicago). Lucy comes to visit Pete, then Vicky shows up, and then they sit and talk. But there’s nothing boring about the information shared between them. In the opening, we see Pete’s paranoia, his nervousness about the arrival of his sister. Lucy seems to have this sort of awe-inspiring effect on most of the characters; while all of them are stuck in Amgash, she has left and made something of herself, and for Pete, this is incredible, almost unthinkable. We already know the house is dirty — he’s hardly cleaned in 17 years (the time that has passed since Lucy’s last visit) — but Pete can’t escape the dust and the dirt as the story continues. He wipes his finger on the wall several times and a streak of dust comes off. Even as the sunlight comes in when Lucy opens the blinds, Pete can only focus on the dirt in the corners of the window. Along with the dust, Pete is unable to escape his childhood. He has stayed in the home he grew up in, one that causes pain and panic attacks for both of his sisters. It seems as though he hasn’t grown up at all. “The rug seemed to holler at him, You are such a dope for buying me” (164). Even his description of Vicky’s appearance seems childish and comical. He has hardly left town, has never had a relationship, and struggles to be intimate and loving even with his own siblings. He loves them, but in the way that a small child might love his guardian.

For most of the collection, I’ve wondered about the mother and the father of the Bartons. In Pete’s dramatic and cathartic moment in “The Sign,” I started to assume it might have been the mother who was most cruel. I’m interested in the way that Strout is able to write about such traumatic events, the way these children were treated like animals, and making them seem completely believable. Fear is repeated in the story — fear at Lucy’s arrival, fear at Vicky’s knock on the door and fear that seems to seep out of the walls of their childhood home.

1. What do you make of Pete’s line “Vicky, we didn’t turn out so bad, you know.”
2. Loneliness seems to be at the heart of all of the stories we’ve read. How do you see this present in this story?
3. How does Pete become a sympathetic character? Do you agree that he seems childish?
4. In what ways has their mother affected the way the Bartons have developed?
5. What do you think of the subtlety of the way the Bartons’ trauma is revealed?
6. What do you think of the way Strout links this story to others? Is it possible the links are too subtle?

A few quick thoughts on “Dottie’s Bed and Breakfast.” There’s much more humor in this story than in the last, but she still experiences the same loneliness as these other characters. She seems to enjoy her job and likes to watch the guests and sort of eavesdrop. Dottie is a very observant woman, but she also knows that at the end of the day she’ll experience that “inescapable whisper of abandonment” because “well, that was part of the business too” (186). We also learn in this story that Charlie Mcauley had wandered into this very bed and breakfast and Dottie had accompanied him in his room, watching him sob or rather “wash out his very soul” (202).

Toward the end of the story when Strout writes “Dottie cleared the dishes. Calmness had come to her quickly and quietly,” I was reminded of the hit-thumb theory. It seems a strange and surprising reaction to Dr. Small’s unpleasant comments.

1. How do you see ideas of class at work in “Dottie’s B&B?”
2. Do you think Dottie is a sympathetic character or do you find her actions petty in any way?
3. I’ve noticed a lot of timid women in Strout’s stories — Patty Nicely, Linda Peterson-Cornell. In terms of a feminist reading, do you think Strout is saying anything about a woman’s ability to speak out? Particularly because her last name is “Small.”
4. Although we don’t see much of Dr. Small, what do you think about his character?
5. What do you make of the ending?