This week we are discussing The Parting Glass by Gina Marie Guadagnino , Page 100-216.
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for The Parting Glass by Gina Marie Guadagnino.
Trigger/Content Warning!!! Sexual content, adult language, and racism
Discussion #2:
Michaela: Hello friends! Welcome to discussion #2 of The Parting Glass. I would not hesitate to say that the book picked up a little in this second part. A sibling fight, a secret political activist party, a pregnancy, a proposal. There’s honestly so much that happened that I think I’ll forget to talk about some things.
Jacilyn: I was really expecting the pregnancy to be what gave Charlotte and Johnny (and Mary by extension) away, honestly. I was not expecting the medicine to work. I was definitely not expecting the twist of fate that was the night that Mary and Libbie met. I was, however, expecting Johnny to be a part of the Irish rebellion they have going on. That one didn’t surprise me.
Michaela: I was really not expecting them to terminate the pregnancy. I really thought that the pregnancy would happen and that would be what exposed them all. I was ready for it. Then I definitely got thrown off course. I was not surprised Johnny was a part of this rebellion but I am surprised that he seems to be a highly important person, so much so that people are scared of him. That really threw me. But let me tell you I do not approve of how horrible he seems to be to people, which includes Libbie. At first I thought the coin thing was a nice gesture but then demanding money from her without discussing it first and then threatening her if she doesn’t pay. SIR, no. Absolutely not. THEN his reaction to Mary and Charlotte. No. Throw the whole man away.
Jacilyn: I was expecting Johnny to be a fledgling joinee, trying to prove that he’s as strong as Mary. Instead, he’s sending his men to take money from the woman who took him in and saved him. I don’t know if he knew his man was raping her, but he definitely expected that Libbie would “service” them. Now that Johnny has disappeared, I wonder where he is and what trouble he’s going to get into. I would imagine that him and Mary will cross paths again at some point.
I am really interested in the political side of this story. I took an Irish history class in college and we spent a lot of time on the Irish immigrant experience, including the rebellions for their rights. Fun fact, the Emmet that was referenced is the namesake of Emmetsburg here in Iowa - the settlers of the town were predominantly Irish immigrants, and revered the Irish patriot.
Michaela: I feel so bad for Libbie with that whole situation. I hope that that gets resolved in the last part of the book. I no longer trust Johnny at all. He completely betrayed my trust as a reader and his character would have to have a really big revelation or something for me to entertain him again. I can only imagine what he’s up to but I’m sure it's not safe at the very least.
I remember learning about the Irish immigration and their experiences in the United States a long, long time ago. But I know I’ve forgotten a lot of it. I think I might do a little research on my own after reading this book or maybe before starting the last section of the book. It would be nice to know the significance of whatever Johnny is going to be involved in.
Leaving Johnny to the side for a second, what did you think of Dermot’s confession to Mary about his part in all this? I really respected how forthcoming he was with Mary and how he didn’t try to push the blame on anyone. I don’t think he should think himself so responsible for how Johnny is acting but I appreciate how Dermot accepts his part in the beginning of it. Also, his little love backstory. Absolutely heartbreaking.
Jacilyn: I don’t trust him either. He is an absolutely selfish fool for thinking Charlotte could have went on and had his child. And for hating Mary for her role in it? She SAVED the both of them. Between that and the way he’s treating Libbie, he’s lost my sympathy. Not to mention the fact that he was too caught up in his own life to take two whole seconds to figure out why Mary was upset with him. It was clear. But he was too selfish to see it.
Dermot and Mary’s friendship… I can’t. It’s so sweet. He not only cares for Mary, he respects her as more of an equal than many other men in this story do. I’m grateful that he was honest with her, and I’m hoping he’ll help protect her now that Johnny has left. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Johnny did something that got Mary hurt, and I don’t think he’d realize how grave a mistake he made until too late.
I will say that I’m glad that Mary is finally letting Charlotte go. I’m heartbroken for Charlotte and the life she has to live, but Mary loved her the same way Johnny did. She loved her like they could have had a chance, and that simply wasn’t possible. Plus, I ship her and Libbie. I think they would make a formidable pair.
Michaela: It was such a selfish thing of him to think she could just have gone through with it. The absolute misogyny and audacity of it. And yes I realize its *the time period*. I do not care, frankly. No matter the year, I have no time for it. Her body, her choice. He literally had no concern for how this would affect Charlotte physically or mentally. Nor did he think of how it would affect the safety of himself and his sister. He is ridiculously selfish. Speaking of him not noticing that Mary was upset, can we mention how he basically just let Mary drink herself to sleep every week and he never stepped in to ask if she was okay. Johnny = Trash
Dermot and Mary are so sweet together. Dermot clearly cares for her immensely. He takes care of her so much and even kicked Johnny out so that Mary still had a place to go. I think he realizes how selfish Johnny has become and he wants Mary to be safe. I completely agree about Johnny making a mistake. I can’t totally see Mary getting hurt because of him by the end of this book.
I’m so happy that Mary is starting to move on. Libbie and Mary would be so good together. And if Mary joined in Libbie’s career plan, though not in the “stargazing” profession (either the best term I’ve ever heard or the strangest). I think Mary would be good at helping run the business and handling customers who aren’t polite.
I’m also glad that Mary seems to be realizing that just because she’s making money and has a place to live at her work, doesn’t mean she's happy or that it's worth it. I’m going to predict that she’ll leave this job by the end of the story. Especially since she’s taking the first steps to move past Charlotte. I do feel horribly for Charlotte though. Mr. Dawson feels so smarmy to me, I think he’s going to be abusive. I feel it coming. He is so controlling and he does that thing that high society people do where they’re completely rude and then follow it up with a half compliment or something. Like how he kept telling Charlotte she doesn’t look good in certain colors.
THEN he got her a horse as a proposal presents. Which at first thought you’d think “oh that’s cute and so generous”. NO. Mary is 100% correct in her assumption that it's how he views his wife’s role in a marriage. Absolutely deplorable person.
Jacilyn: You’re totally right. He’s a coward, honestly. And I think he knows it. He doesn’t deserve Mary as a sister, and he doesn’t deserve Dermot as a friend either. Dermot seems to be the only person besides Libbie who has Mary’s best interests at heart. Those two are true friends.
I love the “stargazing” term. It sounds romantic and lovely, and reminds me of how Libbie is “reaching towards the stars” with her dreams of owning her own brothel. It sounds like Mary would be miserable at Dawson’s estate, especially watching the woman she loves get married and become steadily more miserable. Dawson is an awful man, and made it clear that he considers a wife someone that should be “broken” if she’s too high spirited, much like a horse. I also think Mary is slowly letting hints out that she’s not who she says she is, and I can see that getting her in trouble soon.
You’ll probably notice this week that our discussion is a lot less in-depth than usual, especially considering the length of this section. We are big advocates for destigmatizing mental health talk here at Shelf Explored Book Club, so we’re going to be very honest and admit that times are tough right now. Quite frankly, Michaela and I are running on rather limited energy right now, but it was still important to us to do this discussion. We hope you’ll forgive our brevity this week, and we want to remind everyone out there that it’s important to give yourself grace and allow yourself the time to just feel. See you next week!
What did you think of what happened in this second section? What do you think of Johnny's actions? Do you ship Mary and Libbie as hard as we do? Let us know in the comments below!
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