Authors: Susan Palwick
About Tor Books
The richly imagined worlds of science fiction and fantasy novels encourage readers to hold a mirror up to their own realities, exploring them in a way that is secure yet challenging and demanding. While some fantasy novels take readers to wildly different and exotic new worlds, others are more subtle in their juxtaposition of the real and the imagined: populating ordinary communities with aliens, introducing unique technologies to our everyday world, or simply yet significantly positing the subtle presence of another plane of existence for individual human beings. Whether surviving in a complex new universe or navigating life on an alternate Earth, the characters in these works help readers realize, through comparison and contrast, what it truly means to be a human being.
About
Flying in Place
In the opening pages of Susan Palwick’s gripping novel, adult Emma admits to her husband that she writes letters to the sister who died before her own birth. Though they never met in life, Emma feels she knows Ginny. The child Emma was a prisoner of her abusive father and barely sane mother; the only companion who took her away from the pain was Ginny, the ghost who taught her how to “fly in place.” And as they whirled together through Emma’s mind, Ginny also offered Emma the keys to her real liberation.
It could be argued that
Flying in Place
is a survival story and not a fantasy novel. It is certainly the case that it is neither a tale of mystical islands and magical objects, nor populated by priestesses and hobbits. However, the novel turns on a central premise of fantasy: That the world as we see it—the world we can share with others outside ourselves—is not the only true world. And that the worlds some call fantasy worlds are more than simple products of individual imaginations; they are also critical places where the mind can go for inspiration, solace, and even survival.
About This Guide
The information, activities and discussion questions that follow are intended to enhance your reading of
Flying in Place
. Please feel free to adapt these materials to suit your needs and interests.
About the Author
Susan Palwick was born in New York City in 1960, and grew up both in Manhattan and in northern New Jersey. She has always loved science fiction and fantasy, sometimes to the dismay of her English teachers. She holds an undergraduate degree in English and Creative Writing from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in English Literature from Yale University, and is currently an Associate Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Reno. Now that she’s an English teacher herself, she encourages as many of her students as possible both to read and to write science fiction and fantasy. Her publications include over twenty short stories, a handful of poems—her poem “The Neighbor’s Wife” won the Rhysling Award for Best Short Science Fiction Poem—and
Flying in Place
, which won the Crawford Award for Best First Fantasy Novel. Her second and third novels,
The Necessary Beggar
and
Shelter
, are forthcoming from Tor. Susan and her husband live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains with three cats and too many books.
Writing And Research Activities
I. Places in Time
A. While the opening and closing pages of
Flying in Place
occur in the present, the body of the novel recounts past events. Make a list of key events or points of the novel and the time frames in which they occur. Using this chart for reference, write a brief essay on time as both plot device and thematic element in
Flying in Place
.
B. Think of an important or memorable event from your past. Make a list of ways you might write about this event. Then write a short, fictionalized version of this memory incorporating more than one tense or otherwise utilizing the element of time to add depth to your story.
C. Where does Emma go when she “flies” with Ginny? Through drawing, painting, sculpture, music, or poetry, create an artistic piece representing Emma “flying in place.”
II. Power, Control, Reality
A.
Flying in Place
can be read as a study in the exercise and abuse of power. First, on a sheet of paper, write the names of the characters you believe to be the most and least powerful. Now create a chart of the powers used or manipulated by Stewart, Pam, Donna, Myrna, Jane, Ginny, Tom, and Emma. Divide power into physical, intellectual, creative, and emotional categories. Cite specific examples for each applicable character and category. Which character or characters seem the strongest and weakest on your completed chart? Are the results different from the names you first noted? Why or why not? Using the chart as the starting point, discuss the nature and role of power in the novel, and in life, with friends or classmates.
B. Ginny finds control over her treacherous and unhappy life through food. Emma seems to allow herself to be manipulated by food. Go to the library or online to learn more about anorexia nervosa and its onset in abuse situations. Create a flyer or poster to raise awareness about the dangers of the disease, its warning signals, and/or situations in which young people are particularly vulnerable to anorexia and other eating disorders.
C. Stewart attempts to justify his criminal actions. Write a paragraph describing Stewart’s life and how he might attempt to explain his horrific treatment of his wife and daughters. Or, in the character of Tom Halloran, write a paragraph describing your thoughts about Stewart in the moments after you rescued Emma from Ginny’s room.
D. As her father’s abuse intensifies, Emma wants more and more to go to the otherworldly place where she finds Ginny. Pam retreats into domestic tasks and her literary world. In the character of Emma or Pam, write a paragraph describing your “real world.” Can you control this world? Where can you go to exercise control? How do you feel in this place?
III. Ginny
A. Was Ginny truly the perfect child of her mother’s memory and Emma’s jealousy? In the character of school nurse Myrna Halloran, write a description of the “real” preteen Ginny as you may have seen her around the school.
B. In
Flying in Place
, Emma recounts the story of her childhood abuse, its aftermath, and her accomplishment of sharing Ginny’s story with her husband. Imagine you are adapting the novel into a play or television movie. Write an additional scene where you explain to your husband what made you able to tell him about your sister; a monologue explaining why you continue to write to Ginny; a scene in which Emma and Jane meet as adults and discuss the events of their past; or another scenario based on your understanding of the story.
C. What does it mean to write letters that will never be read? How are Emma’s letters different from an ordinary journal? Write a letter to someone from your past, knowing that you will never mail it. Afterward, reflect on or discuss this exercise. Was it creatively liberating, useful, or frustrating? What will you do with your letter? Is this piece of writing, in fact, a letter at all?
D. Is Ginny a ghost? How might you define the term
ghost?
Go to the library or online to research topics related to the supernatural, such as telepathy, the possibility of contacting people who have died, or altered mental states and awareness. Using your research, write a short report describing how you understand or interpret the character of Ginny.
IV. Flying in Place
A. Emma has found a way to put herself into an alternate mindset while she endures her father’s abuse. Without being in danger, travel in your mind as Emma does. Sit or lie down in a comfortable place. Dim the lights and play quiet music if desired. Close your eyes, take slow, deep breaths, and relax. Allow thoughts and images to flow through your mind uncensored. Spend as much time in this state as you desire. Afterward, write a journal entry describing your thoughts, sensations, and your opinion of this experience. Discuss the experience with friends or classmates. Do you think you could employ this technique to help you endure a frightening situation? Why or why not?
B. Go to the library or online to learn more about child sexual abuse. Write a short report based on your findings, including statistics on the estimated number of children who are victims of abuse, types of abusers, and ways to identify and stop abuse. If possible, also include information on victims’ employment of fantasy or altered mental states as a survival technique.
C. Despite neglect and abuse, Emma is able to hold on to certain good things from her childhood and to understand the potential goodness of sensations and experiences that were very negative in her childhood. Find passages from the novel that show how Emma realizes both the negative and the positive elements of breathing, water, and locks. How do Emma’s realizations help you to better understand the nature of abuse and survival? How do the paradoxical elements of the novel’s title—“flying” and “in place”—relate to your understanding?
Questions for Discussion
1. The opening pages of
Flying in Place
contain many references to locking doors. How is this image central to the novel?
2. What sound does Emma dread? What does the sound represent? After reading how many pages of the novel do you realize the meaning of this sound? What effect does the pace of the realization have upon your understanding of Emma’s situation and the novel’s presentation of abuse?
3. How does Emma describe herself at the beginning of the story? How does she contrast herself with Ginny? How does she feel about Ginny early in the novel?
4. How old are Emma and Ginny when they “meet”? Why does Ginny appear to Emma? What do Emma and Ginny do together? As the story progresses, what do readers come to realize are the limits of their activities? Are these limits ever transgressed? If so, what do these transgressions suggest about the nature of Ginny?
5. What is Emma’s relationship to her mother, Pam? Do you think Pam loves Emma? Does Emma love Pam? What sorts of stories did her mother read to young Emma? What stories did she read to Ginny? What do these differing stories reveal about Pam’s changing mindset? In what other ways does literature inform your understanding of Pam?
6. What does Emma think will happen to her mother if she resists her father? Beyond this large threat, what subtle slights and insults does Stewart also use to control Emma? What is Stewart’s profession? Does his prestigious job help him camouflage his true nature? Does Stewart make any effort to hide his proclivities from Pam when the family is at home? Why or why not?
7. What role does Emma’s weight play in the actions and relationships between herself and her parents? Why is Pam always feeding Emma? In what ways are food and control interrelated in the novel?
8. Who are the Hallorans? What makes Myrna Halloran suspicious of Emma’s home situation? What language does Pam use to describe the Hallorans? Why does Emma’s mother really disapprove of the Halloran family?
9. What happens when Jane and Emma go to the lake? Why does Emma disapprove of Jane’s outfit? What happens to Jane after Emma leaves her with the boys? How does Emma betray Jane? Is her betrayal intentional? Does this incident in any way help Emma to ultimately reveal and resist her father’s abuse? Explain.
10. Who are Aunt Diane and Aunt Donna? Why isn’t Emma aware of Donna until midway through the story? How does Donna help Emma begin to realize the terrible actions of both of her parents?
11. What secret about Donna has Stewart kept from his wife? Why does he keep this secret? Why do you think Pam allows Stewart to control her? Why doesn’t Pam believe Donna?
12. What is the poem that Ginny tells Emma? What was Ginny attempting to reveal to her mother through her deathbed poetry selection? What is Emma willing to understand through the poem?
13. What killed Ginny? What happens when Emma confronts her mother with the truth she has assembled from her conversations with Ginny and things she learns from Aunt Donna? Do you think Emma’s recounting of past events is accurate? Is this important?
14. How does Stewart try to regain control of his household after taking Donna back to her hotel? How does Pam finally try to help her daughter? Is Pam also guilty of abuse, or is she also a victim?
15. What does Emma find in Ginny’s room? Who follows her there? How does he try to manipulate Emma? How does Emma react? Why doesn’t Emma go to the “same place Ginny went”?
16. How is Emma rescued? When Myrna brings Emma to Pam, from whom does Pam beg forgiveness? Why do you think she does this?
17. Where does Emma go to live after her father’s crime is discovered? What happens to Stewart? What happens to Pam?
18. Why does Emma tell Myrna about Ginny? What does Myrna say about ghosts? How does Myrna help Emma resolve her feelings about her sister? At the end of the story, does Emma consider Ginny to be a hero, a failure, or both? Explain.
19. Near the end of the story, Emma observes that her mother “was learning how to live with things that weren’t beautiful.” To what things do you think Emma is referring? In what way might Emma also be talking about herself?
20. What does Emma reveal to the therapist as her future dream? How is Ginny included in Emma’s future? Describe Emma’s adult life.
21. How does Aunt Diane try to explain Stewart’s actions when she meets with Emma? How does Emma feel about her father fifteen years after the abuse has ended?
22. Although Emma still writes to Ginny, how has this relationship changed over time? In what way does Ginny remain “as real as” Emma? How does this “realness” inform your understanding of what Myrna calls ghosts? How might you interpret Emma’s observation in terms of her identity as an abuse victim?