Mason, Bobbie Ann: *1940

In Country, 1985 - Thematic Parallels: Grief

Mason, Bobbie Ann: In Country, 1985
The novel explores themes of grief, memory, identity, trauma, and the intergenerational impact of war.
The following books are thematically simliar. They lend themselves well to being read in groups, compared with one another, or used to teach a similar topic over an extended period with a class:
- Danticat, Edwidge: Breath, Eyes, Memory, 1994, ~230pp
  This novel centers on intergenerational trauma and grief, especially in the mother-daughter relationship, set against the backdrop of Haitian culture.
  - Both novels are coming-of-age stories where young women inherit and grapple with intergenerational trauma, memory, and national history, ultimately seeking identity and healing.
- Lessing, Doris: Ben, in the World, 2000, ~150pp
  This novel is about a character who suffers alienation and loss, with existential grief on a personal and societal level.
  - Both novels center on characters who feel like outsiders, defined by histories of trauma and searching for belonging, while society remains largely unsympathetic to their struggles.
- McCabe, Patrick: The Butcher Boy, 1992, ~210pp
  The novel explors psychological trauma and grief.
  - Both novels show how wars filter into domestic spaces, damaging families and shaping the psyches of young protagonists, producing fractured identities, silence, and the struggle to understand a damaged past
- Wiesel, Elie: Night, 1960, ~100pp
  This novel deals with Holocaust survival and grief.
  - Both novels explore the lasting effects of war, the importance of memory, the loss of innocence, and the challenge of articulating trauma across generations.
List of general discussion questions on Grief (pdf)
List of essay prompts on Grief (pdf)