At FYI Book Club, everyone is fascinated by ‘No One,’ a reimagined ‘Great Gatsby’

In one small way, the pandemic has been good for the FYI Book Club.

Discussions have moved to the online meeting platform, Zoom. Every gathering starts with readers eagerly greeting each other, laughing about social distancing via computer screen, and admitting that wearing masks gets wearisome. But the boon to moving the FYI Book Club’s randomly scheduled meetings is the chance to welcome readers from as far away as Denver.

Recently, an attendee from Topeka expressed appreciation for the virtual book discussions.

“I’ve been reading about them in the newspaper for years, but I’ve never been able to attend in person. Tonight, I can,” said Sharon Boranyak.

There are additional benefits. The lack of in person book tours and the ease of virtual gatherings have made it less complicated for authors to attend discussions and chat with readers.

At the gathering for the most recent FYI Book Club, Stephanie Powell Watts, author of “No One Is Coming to Save Us,” jumped on the Zoom call for the second half of the discussion to take reader questions.

Before Watts joined in, readers engaged in a rich discussion of her story of the Black residents of the slowly dying Southern town of Pinewood, North Carolina.

The small community is stunned at the return of prodigal son JJ Ferguson. He is now mysteriously wealthy and building a mountainside mansion in an effort to win the heart of his high school sweetheart, Ava. Ava, her mother, Sylvia, and Ava’s husband, Henry, harbor their own thwarted unspoken dreams.

Readers knew immediately that Watt’s debut novel was an alternate take on the American classic “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Boryanak even reread the Jazz Age tale.

“I wanted to compare the two books. And I liked Watts’ book better,” Boryanak said. “For all the similarities, there are big differences, especially at the end. But at the end of the day, both stories are about achieving your dreams and how that might not look like the way you planned.”

Lisa Timmons, Overland Park, said, “JJ not only wanted Ava back, he wanted to create that family he didn’t have. His own young life was so tough. Had it not been for Sylvia and Ava, JJ wouldn’t know what a family was.”

Readers noted the variety of dreams each character had. Judith Reagan, Kansas City, remarked, “It’s no secret what Ava wanted: children. She was desperate for a child of her own. But she kept the desperation hidden from everyone.”

Katherine Snow of Kansas City said, “Ava’s mother, Sylvia, just wanted to have a better life. And she wanted her children to have a better life than she had. As for Sylvia’s estranged husband, Don, his dreams were simple and closed off. He was only interested in how many women he could bed.”

Timmons thought for a moment about the dreams of Henry, Ava’s husband. “I think Henry was disappointed in himself because his dreams were dashed after high school. He didn’t seem to have any.”

Ben Furnish, Kansas City, pointed out, “JJ’s dreams were excessive. He built a mansion on the side of a mountain where no one would think of living. It had to be up high enough for him to look down on the town.”

Readers noticed that each of the male characters were fixated on a female character, but the women, not so much noticing the men.

Ruth Cain, Overland Park, noted the most important personal preoccupation in the book, when she said, “JJ was fixated on Ava. While she never forgot about him, she didn’t love him the way he loved her.”

Cain went on, turning attention to Henry, Ava’s husband. “Is it possible Henry felt he just wasn’t enough for Ava? She was so obsessed with having children he was pushed aside and he couldn’t offer her any fulfillment.”

Reagan summarized it well: “By and large the women were fixated on themselves and doing better in life. The men were fixated on the women, whom they hoped would do better, so it would reflect on them.”

Watts joined the conversation at this point, and readers had many questions about the ending of the book which will NOT be revealed here.

Reagan praised Watts’ layered, intriguing characters. “You didn’t write a Hollywood ending, but what happens next to these people? These characters are still going on in my head!”

Watts laughed and talked about how, for her, characters are what drive a story.

“Character is the story,” she said. “When I write, I think about what’s the question that each character needs to be answered? Once it’s answered, the story is over. Each of my characters has a question that directs their trajectory. I try to bring the characters to a place where they can answer their big questions. That’s the story line, the plot. And their answers don’t necessarily mean your own story is over, but this story is over.”

Cain hearkened back to the discussion about the characters’ various dreams. “If success means answering your own question, then all of these characters were successful, regardless of what they thought success might look like.”

The Kansas City Star and the Kansas City Public Library present a book-of-the-moment selection every few weeks and invite the community to read along. On Nov. 1, look for an introduction to the next book, “Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over” by Nell Painter. See Painter in conversation for an online library event at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16. To participate in a future book discussion led by the library’s Kaite Stover, email kaitestover@kclibrary.org.

Kaite Stover is the Kansas City Public Library’s director of reader’s services.