The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn: A Novel

by Janis Hallowell

Overview

A remarkable debut novel that 'dares us to imagine mystery in our lives, in our time㿠book that sends us away refreshed, with the potential to see the sacramental in the everyday' – Boston Globe

Told from the viewpoints of four unforgettable characters, The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn is the story of an ordinary girl who is believed to be a modern–day Holy Virgin. At the heart of the story is Francesca: a shy and moody teenager hungry for her absent father's love, she is frightened and intoxicated by her sudden elevation to the rank of divine. Chester is a visionary homeless man who first 'discovers' Francesca and makes himself her protector. Anne is Francesca's no–nonsense mother, whose religion is Darwin and biology. Sid is Francesca's troubled friend, who keeps a few secrets of her own.

Tender and tragic, their intersecting stories probe the need to believe, and the relationship between divinity and madness. Beautifully crafted, here is a compelling first novel that heralds the arrival of a powerful new talent.

Customer Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061982859
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	10/06/2009
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	737 KB

About the Author

Janis Hallowell, author of The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn, is a MacDowell Fellow, and her short fiction has been published in Ploughshares. She lives in Colorado with her husband and daughter.

Reading Group Guide

Reading Group Guide Introduction

In her evocative and imaginative debut, Janis Hallowell offers an intriguing premise: what if an ordinary community became convinced that one of its teenage girls had extraordinary healing powers? In Hallowell's inventive hands, the everyday and the divine become equally mysterious as young Francesca Dunn attempts to decipher the events of one startling chapter in her life.

Told from four points of view, The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn introduces us to a perceptive adolescent and the dynamic figures who shape her world. Through a series of ambiguous events, Francesca finds herself lauded as a modern-day Holy Virgin. Depending on whose perspective you accept, the evidence is either troubling or cause for elation. Francesca's mother, a scientist, is concerned about her daughter's safety (and sanity). Francesca's best friend wavers between faith, envy, and opportunism. To Chester, a visionary homeless man, protecting Francesca also means protecting his own need to believe in the possibility of healing and recovery. And for Francesca herself, the transformation brings a mixed blessing of fear and empowerment.

Just as Francesca's story unfolds through several attitudes, the novel itself inspires a variety of meanings. With each of her gentle revelations, Janis Hallowell stirs compelling questions about the tenuous road to adulthood, the contemporary role of religion, and the trustworthiness of humanity. We hope that the following topics will enhance your discussion of this beautifully crafted novel.

Discussion Topics

1. How would you have responded to Francesca's situation had she lived inyour community?
   
   
2. What were the most convincing indications of Francesca's saintliness? What does her story indicate about society's varying capacities for faith?
   
   
3. The media provide us with hundreds of contemporary 'annunciators.' What does it take for them to earn our trust? Who serves as Francesca's annunciator?
   
   
4. In what ways does Francesca seek emotional and physical healing? Which men and women are most successful in easing the pain of her father's absence? Did the possibility of her divinity give her more or less power over the circumstances of her life?
   
   
5. When Anne meets with Carol Markowitz, she observes that the attorney 'was religious, or at least spiritual, which didn't always match my picture of a good lawyer. To me, religion had always meant dogma, and spirituality had always meant wishful thinking.' Do Anne's subsequent experiences, particularly with Father Gervais, change or reinforce those assertions?
   
   
6. Which of the novel's characters do you consider to be rational? Which ones are the most faithful? Are these two traits mutually exclusive?
   
   
7. At the beginning of the novel, Chester poetically characterizes those around him in terms of his olfactory senses. What might be some of the noteworthy elements if he were to describe you in this way?
   
   
8. Janis Hallowell strikes an ingenious balance of possibility throughout the novel; the gynecologist discovers that Francesca is partially virginal, for example, and Francesca's first encounters with healing are both absolute and imprecise. What could this indicate about the nature of myth and miracle?
   
   
9. Discuss the religious parallels presented in the novel, such as Rae's foot washing rituals (which reflects a Biblical account of the eve of Christ's crucifixion). Are all of the book's religious symbols Christian ones?
   
   
10. Sid and Jonah experience a kind of parenting that has little in common with Francesca's household. What does the spectrum of mothering look like in this community? Who are Ronnie's 'children'?
    
    
11. What do the novel's male characters (including the boy from Francesca's beach trip) have in common? In what ways are they distinct?
    
    
12. What is the effect of the novel's four points of view? Which one was most aligned with your outlook and life experiences?
    
    
13. Though the novel closes with Francesca, the opening paragraphs are Chester's. What makes this an effective storytelling device?
    
    
14. How do you define 'miracle'? Based on your definition, does Francesca instigate any miraculous events? In what ways does Sid's recollection of the restored rose serve as an appropriate benediction?

About the Author

Janis Hallowell was awarded an associateship by the Rocky Mountain Women's Institute to write The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn. A former potter's apprentice, world traveler, and graphic designer, she lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her husband and their daughter.

Editorial Reviews

Every Saturday morning, 14-year-old Francesca Dunn works at a restaurant whose owner provides free meals to the homeless. Chester, one of the Saturday regulars, can smell what is inside a person-fear, cancer, purity. He likes Francesca because she smells like roses, which he experiences as a pure-almost holy-smell. When a homeless man at the restaurant begins to feel chest pains, Francesca touches him on the arm and the pain subsides. Chester is quick to associate his friend's "healing" with Francesca's divine smell and assumes that she can perform miracles. After the second incident-where an ear infection disappears at her touch-Francesca becomes a celebrity. She acquires a following, spurred on by family associates who see dollar signs when they look at the situation. A tragedy at the end frees Francesca but leaves open the question, "Did she ever have the power to heal?" First novelist Hallowell creates convincing characters in circumstances that are never totally black and white. Though examined from all angles, the dilemma is left unresolved, allowing readers to come to their own conclusions about the protagonist's divine powers. Recommended for most collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/03.]-Joanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island, Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., New Providence Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Ambitious first novel examines the power of faith-and its dangers. Chester, a former English Lit Ph.D. with mental problems, is a homeless person in a town that's probably Boulder. One morning, he has a vision that Francesca, a 14-year-old girl who helps serve the homeless free meals at her neighbor Ronnie's cafe, is the Holy Virgin. Chester decides that he is to be her protector. Francesca, beautiful but going through a troubled patch of adolescence since her parents' divorce, is in fact afraid she might be pregnant, although the sexual encounter she had remains ambiguous. After an incident at the cafe, word spreads among the homeless that Francesca has holy healing powers. Her distracted mother Anne, a paleobotanist with no use for the leap of faith required for religious belief, conveniently leaves town for a dig while Francesca, staying with Ronnie, becomes increasingly known as a miracle worker. By the time Anne returns, the cult around Francesca has become a media event, inflamed by Ronnie's sister Rae, a professional seeker (we all know the type), and Francesca's friend Sid, who is secretly selling Francesca-relics. Anne is slow to realize that Francesca has in fact begun to believe in her own powers, to enjoy the role of Virgin thrust upon her, and to act as a pretty credible miracle worker. People believe they are changed after contact with her. By setting up the possibility of miracles occurring while also leaving a trail of rational explanation, Hallowell challenges the reader to think in new ways about how belief evolves and how it affects actions. In the end, Francesca is not pregnant and, at a crucial moment, is unable to heal. But the question lingers whether her temporarydivinity was real to those who believed. Though her story and characters are both sometimes labored and her writing stilted, there's a lot to admire in the complexity of the issues Hallowell raises-and in her lack of easy answers. Agent: Kathleen Anderson/Anderson Grinberg

Kirkus Reviews