Ann Joslin Williams

Discussion Questions from the Publisher:

1. Discuss the prologue of Down from Cascom Mountain. What was Mary Hall like as a teenager? What kinds of formative experiences did she have while working at the lodge? How do her first brushes with love and death influence her later in life?
2. Consider the landscape of Leah, New Hampshire and Cascom Mountain. What dangers lurk in the landscape’s trails, forests, and cliffs? What solace do Mary, Callie, Ben, and Tobin find within this landscape?
3. Describe Tobin’s complicated relationships with the women of the novel: his mother, Mary, and Callie. Why does Tobin appoint himself Mary’s protector? Why doesn’t his father protect him from his mother? Why does Callie, too, need Tobin’s protection?
4. Discuss the brief marriage of Mary and Michael, who only knew each other for nine months before Michael’s fatal accident. What attracted Mary and Michael to each other initially? How did they fall in love so quickly?
5. Discuss Mary’s mourning process. What helps her cope during the painful first months of her life without Michael? How does her appearance and demeanor change during mourning, and when does she start to look and feel more like her former self?… (meer)

This is a novel about grief and about moving on after a loss. Mary and Michael Walker arrive on Cascom Mountain in New Hampshire to spend the summer at Mary's childhood home. Mary has deep roots attaching her to the mountain, Michael is a newcomer. Just days into their summer Michael falls off one of the mountain's cliffs. Mary is left widowed. When Michael's estranged father arrives he and Mary, along with several alienated teenagers working on the mountain for the summer, start to forge connections and work out their problems.

This was a perfectly acceptable book, but nothing really stood out about it. I was never especially invested in Mary or Callie, Mary's teenage friend. The most interesting character in the book is Tobin, a bright but shy teenager, recovering from years of abuse at the hands of his mentally ill mother. Sadly he is a fringe character. Williams writes very believably about grief, I just wish that the book had more plot to add to the emotion.… (meer)

Down from Cascom Mountain opens with the main character, Mary, searching through the forest for a lost girl. Seventeen, Mary is the only female crew member at the local lodge. Earlier that day, a young man died in the woods of Cascom Mountain, and Mary, after carrying him down to the lodge, tries in vain to find his girlfriend. Years later, Mary returns to the mountain with her new husband, Michael. Here, history repeats itself - Michael falls while hiking and dies, and Callie, a crew member at the lodge, helps to carry his body out of the forest. Stricken with grief, Mary remains in her parents' house on Cascom; slowly, she begins to deal with her pain and live again, befriending Callie, Tobin (a neighbour boy with troubles of his own), and Ben (the forest ranger).

Williams does a good job fleshing out the personalities of the secondary characters, particularly Callie, who I quite enjoyed. The narration flips between characters, and Callie's voice was the most authentic. Her boy-troubles and adventures with her fellow crew members formed the most interesting sub-plot; in contrast, Mary's dealings with her father-in-law were rather boring, and Tobin's difficult family life needed more detail. Ultimately, the ending fell flat - it was too neat, and moved in leaps and bounds, where the rest of the novel was more of a stroll. Suddenly it was over, and I wasn't really sure what had happened. More attention to this section of the novel would have helped a great deal with my overall impressions - a bad ending can ruin what would otherwise be a perfectly good novel.

Not that this wasn't enjoyable - Williams can write, and every time I started a chapter narrated by Callie, I was sucked in. All-in-all, an OK book, but one that I won't be reading again.… (meer)