A Future Arrived (53 page)

The final installment of the saga of the Grevilles of Abingdon begins in the early 1930s, as the dizzy gaiety of the Jazz Age comes to a shattering end. What follows is a decade of change and uncertainty, as the younger generation, born during or just after “the war to end all wars,” comes of age: the beautiful Wood-Lacy twins, Jennifer and Victoria, and their passionate younger sister, Kate; Derek Ramsey, born only weeks after his father fell in France; and the American writer Martin Rilke, who will overcome his questionable heritage with the worldwide fame that will soon come to him. In their heady youth and bittersweet growth to adulthood, they are the future—but the shadows that touched the lives of the generation before are destined to reach out to their own, as German bombers course toward England.

Discussion Questions

1. At the beginning of the novel, the earl suffers from a spell of severe chest pain. What stress seems to bring on this health scare?

2. “It's going to be a lousy decade,” says Martin Rilke on air when civil war breaks out in Austria, giving hint to the arrived “future” of the book's title. First Martin, then Albert, witnessed the rise of the Nazi party and the chaos breaking loose in Europe. Do you think they have any idea of what is to come?

3. Charles Greville's path has not run as smoothly or to such noble heights as his parents once imagined, and the same applies to Alexandra's and William's occupations. Do you think the parents are disappointed with their children's choices?

4. Why do you think Albert Thaxton wants to pursue journalism when his way is paved to attend university?

5. In the novel, while some war-weary citizens would rather be distracted than think about another impending war, people like Martin and Albert gravitate toward the center of the action. Which reaction do you sympathize with more?

6. 
All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque is a novel about the experiences of ordinary German soldiers during World War I. Published in 1928, it was instantly an international success and is still known for its realistic portrayal of a soldier's experience. But in Berlin, in 1930, Albert Thaxton witnesses a riot caused by the release of the film version. Why are this antiwar book and film so unpopular in Germany?

7. Through Dulcie's activism we see a side of English society that the Grevilles are not privy to—unwed mothers, closed factories, lines of the unemployed, and protest marches. How does Colin's perspective change as a result of working with Dulcie?

8. Does Dulcie support the war? Why or why not? What insights do Jennifer Wood-Lacy's and Dulcie's efforts give into British society at this time?

9. After Neville Chamberlain signs the Munich Agreement, permitting Germany to annex Sudetenland in an attempt to avoid going to war, Albert Thaxton witnesses celebration in the streets of London. Demonstrating the appreciation of the peace movement, a woman sings the American antiwar song “I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier,” printed on the following page. Why does this political agreement inspire Jennifer to resign from the peace movement, while many of the activists are ecstatic?

10. What do you think compels some of the characters, like Colin and Derek, to enlist? What compels others, like Jennifer Wood-Lacy or Dulcie, to work for peace or social progress?

11. Why does Jennifer refuse Albert's proposal of marriage at first? Did you agree with her decision? How do the young couples in the novel—Jennifer and Albert, Derek and Valerie, Colin and Kate—find ways to reconcile the demands of a country at war with their personal lives?

12. How does Rock portray the technological and military innovations of the war, from Martin's radio broadcasts to the planes flown by Colin and Derek? How do those innovations affect the lives of the characters?

13. In what ways does the Passing Bells trilogy support or discredit romantic notions of war, honor, and patriotism?

The Wartime World of
A Future Arrived

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HAPTER
9 of
A Future Arrived
, Albert Thaxton witnesses celebration in the streets of London after Neville Chamberlain signs the Munich Agreement. A woman at a piano plays “I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier,” an American antiwar song that helped to strengthen the pacifist movement before the U.S. entered World War I.

“I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier”

    
Ten million soldiers to the war have gone,

    
Who may never return again.

    
Ten million mothers' hearts must break,

    
For the ones who died in vain.

    
Head bowed down in sorrow in her lonely years,

    
I heard a mother murmur thro' her tears:

    
Chorus:

    
I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier,

    
I brought him up to be my pride and joy,

    
Who dares to put a musket on his shoulder,

    
To shoot some other mother's darling boy?

    
Let nations arbitrate their future troubles,

    
It's time to lay the sword and gun away,

    
There'd be no war today,

    
If mothers all would say,

    
I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier.

    
What victory can cheer a mother's heart,

    
When she looks at her blighted home?

    
What victory can bring her back,

    
All she cared to call her own?

    
Let each mother answer in the year to be,

    
Remember that my boy belongs to me!