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1. Talk about the lives of the different women
covered in the book. Whom did you most sympathize with, admire, or
dislike?
2. What did you find most impressive regarding the level of support the
women provided one another? Is there anything in your own life that
resembles the bond that developed among the astronaut wives?
3. Discuss the various stresses the women were under: the invasion of
privacy, the absence of husbands, the not infrequent infidelity, and
the anxiety for their husbands' lives. What was most difficult? What
would you have found most difficult. Do you find any aspect of their
lives enviable? Were the lives of the astronaut spouses any more
difficult than other spouses whose husbands or wives go off to war?
4. Talk about Betty Grissom, Pat White and Martha Chaffee—the widows of
the three men who were burned alive during a pre-launch test of their
Apollo 1 mission. How did each woman handle the horrific tragedy? Pat
White was considered "the final victim of the Apollo 1 fire," writes
Lily Koppel. Is there any way in which Pat White's life might have had a
better ending?
5. Talk about the marital relationships within the couples. Which
marriages did you find solid and which were troubling...and why? Were
you surprised at the number of marriages that ultimately failed?
6. To what degree, if any, might the lives of these women be different
today given the change in society's attitudes toward women? Consider,
for instance, their reactions to the Life magazine article:
The wives were completely
shocked, worrying about how America would judge
them. They would never wear such a bold colored
lipstick. They were mothers, not vixens .
* Some questions from LitLovers
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