Were you surprised that Cait moved to West Africa? What do you think her future holds?
Created: 10/19/17
Replies: 12
Join Date: 10/15/10
Posts: 3442
Join Date: 08/22/17
Posts: 16
Yes I was surprised; although she had expressed such an interest, women with little money or social position has few choices. I think she would have a future with Emile but would not be so dependent on him as she had been on her husband.
Join Date: 07/18/11
Posts: 68
Join Date: 04/21/11
Posts: 61
Join Date: 07/16/14
Posts: 405
I wasn't sure what she would do. I could not see her marrying the fellow who proposed--I don't think she would have married for convenience in a relationship where she already found the man anything but appealing. She was too independent and intelligent for that. I saw her becoming a governess or chaperone again--I imagined her having an adequate reference to find another position. While I didn't think that would be terribly fulfilling for her, it would have given her some autonomy and financial security while being socially acceptable. It meant being merely a glorified servant but it is what many widows of little means but good breeding found themselves lucky to achieve. West Africa----right out of left field--nope, didn't see that coming BUT, considering her spunk, in retrospect not surprising!
What does the future hold? Not really sure. I think she likes her life in West Africa and don't know what returning to Paris would mean for her. Certainly, she and Emile love each other and I think they would have a happy marriage and possibly children. But, she is a " modern " woman, who has not only experienced independence without a man, in the society they will rejoin, but the added excitement of truly being free, independent and free of the societal constraints still present in France. Is he strong enough to flaunt those constraints--enough so that she is still free? Is she willing to compromise and give up her new found freedom without feeling unbearably inhibited intellectually, professionally and personally? Not sure that love is enough.
Join Date: 06/17/11
Posts: 15
First of all I was not surprised. Helping others less fortunate makes you feel good about yourself. The focus of your life is on other people and not inwardly focused. Cait knew she could not change her life in the society of Italy or France. Getting away to Africa gave her a real chance at a new start. Emile had more freedom there also.
Join Date: 07/17/11
Posts: 4
I never really saw Cait as a missionary destined to work in West Africa!! She did not appear to be overly religious in the book, but this decision certainly provided her the freedom to be herself and to do something that she felt was contributing to the improvement of a poor and uneducated population. Rather than supervising and catering to a pair of rich and spoiled young adults, she must have felt much more personal fulfillment in her life in Africa. She had been "constricted" for so long, both socially and physically, that this newly found freedom must have been a welcome change for her.
Join Date: 06/13/11
Posts: 76
Indeed, having Cait move to West Africa provided an easy way for the author to end this story. Yet, it was quite unique and left the reader to speculate about Cait's future. (I would like to see a sequel written to let me know what happens with Cait and Emile! Did he build a new bridge for her community in Africa?)
Join Date: 10/30/17
Posts: 7
Not surprised at all. Like some of the other reviewers wrote, what choice did she have? Scotland had too many bad memories and I doubt she would have been satisfied to be a life long chaperone. I believe she went to Africa to escape her past as well as what her future would have been if she stayed in Scotland. However, I think she found her calling in Africa, probably even surprising herself. She fell in love with "her" kids and vice versa. I believe she became quite content in her life. If there was a sequel, it may have to be Emile who makes the sacrifice to remain with her. I'm not sure she would leave Africa.
Join Date: 08/08/17
Posts: 8
Join Date: 05/19/11
Posts: 24
Not really surprised. It was foreshadowed by a mention earlier in the book. I think she enjoyed her venture in France, and had a curiosity about other cultures. It also seemed in her personality to be a caretaker/helper to others. I think she and Emile will be a team working for good of some Africans, and perhaps start a charity to those ends.
Join Date: 10/24/17
Posts: 46
I was very surprised she moved to Africa. Throughout the novel, I felt her struggle for what she was in society vs. what she wanted to be. I didn't see her going off the charts completely to do mission work in a third world country. I knew she would bend the rules of what society held for women, to the degree she did was a little jarring.
I could picture her marrying Emile and the two of them opening an art school or something similar for children, maybe in his mother's house. That's how I saw her living out her dream - staying in Paris, marrying the man she loved & devoting her life to others (but not in the traditional societal way). I felt like Colin could have stayed true to Cait's character without resulting in such an unexpected move to Africa.
Join Date: 12/26/11
Posts: 17
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