A Reading Group Guide to

The Warmest December

Bernice L. McFadden

About the Book

Now and then I forget things, small things that would not otherwise alter my life. Things like milk in my coffee, setting my alarm clock, or Oprah at four. Tiny things. One day last week I forgot that I hated my father, forgot that I had even thought of him as a monster, and woke up early one cold winter morning, boarded two buses traveling over an hour to sit by his bedside in Kings County Hospital . . .

So begins The Warmest December, Bernice L. McFadden's poignant second novel.

Childhood can be rough. But for Kenzie, growing up in the Lowe home means opening the bottom drawer of her father's dresser to choose which of the three belts, coiled, waiting like snakes, she will get whipped with; trips to Beehive Liquors for her father's vodka; and dreaming of the day she can escape Apartment A5. Eventually, Kenzie does grow up and leave A5. She goes to school, she holds odd jobs, and develops her own craving for the bottle. Twenty years have passed—it's now the nineties—but not everything has changed for Kenzie. She is still haunted by her childhood, and learning that her father is dying she is shocked by her own desire to be with him during his final hours. Returning to his bedside day after day in search of a way to heal her pain, she comes to discover in her visits that some of us, like her father, have stories that "started out bad, curdled and soured in the middle, and ended up worse," but for many, there is still hope for change.

About the Author

Bernice L. McFadden is the author of the national bestseller Sugar. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she was born and raised.

Discussion Questions

1.     How important are race and gender to the story in The Warmest December?
 

2.     While Hy-Lo is directly responsible for the failure of Kenzie's first romance (with Mousy at camp), can he be blamed for the demise of her other relationships in the novel--with Jonas and with William?

3.     Is the author's extensive description of the changes that take place to Sam and Mable's Fochs Boulevard neighborhood symbolic to Kenzie's own transformation from girl to young woman?  Why or why not?

4.     At Gwenyth's funeral, only her ex-daughter in law, Evelyn, speaks when all present are asked if they have anything to say about Gwenyth. Was Evelyn's speech appropriate? Was it fair?

5.     In attempting to explain the reasons for Hy-Lo's actions to Kenzie, Dianne cites alcoholism as a cause. "You have to understand though, Kenzie, that Gwenyth was like you and me. Like Hy-Lo and his brothers. . . I mean she was an alcoholic, and all of her actions stemmed from her disease … just like ours … just like your dad's." Do you agree with Dianne's assessment? Can Kenzie's actions be fairly compared to Hy-Lo's? To Gwenyth's?  Why or why not?
 

6.     When Kenzie goes to visit her grandmother Gweneth's old apartment, she notes that "The superintendents just kept repainting the walls, coating the memory of the previous tenants away forever, reinventing the space for the new people and the memories they brought. That's the way life was. Ongoing, ever changing, with a fresh coat of paint." How does this assessment relate to the story?  Do you agree with Kenzie?

7.     When Kenzie at last questions why Della stayed with Hy-Lo all those years, Della explains that it was so her children would have the things in her upbringing that she did not. In your opinion, did Della make the right choice or would Kenzie and Malcolm have been better off had Della left Hy-Lo.

8.     Della identifies Hy-Lo's reaction to the death of Malcolm as selfishness. Do you agree or disagree with her assessment?

9.     Near the end of the novel, Kenzie tells her father that "I know why you were who you were. It's the same reason why I am who I am." Do you agree with this statement?  Why or why not?

10.     As the novel closes, while Kenzie is able to forgive Hy-Lo, Della is not.  Is Kenzie doing the right thing? Is Della? Can both of them be correct?