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Here are some helpful Book Club discussion questions, information and reviews for CLEAVED – A story of loss legs and finding family, a memoir by JANE CAFARELLA

Written with compassion and humour  CLEAVED is an illuminating story about losing and finding family and growing up “different”.

CLEAVED is

  • A sister story – of two little girls “cleaved” from each other from birth
  • An immigration story – from the tiny island of Salina, Italy, in the 1920s during the first Italian diaspora
  • A family estrangement story  – a family torn apart by an explosive discovery
  • A disability story of resilience and acceptance
  • A story about the healing power of music
  • A Melbourne story – beginning in 1950s to the present day
  • A modern tragedy and a triumph

Here’s what readers like you are saying about CLEAVED

I just finished it. I’m in bits. Such a beautiful story. Forgiveness, the connections, devoid of sentimentality, yet the humanity – the flawed humans – have touched me. Thank you for a great read!

Susie Penrice Tyrie, Singapore

I have just finished reading your book. Beautifully written… I loved the ending. It was a story of forgiveness. Of course I am crying as I write this note. My heart has been deeply touched by your story.

Eileen Dieleson, Perth, Western Australia

I practically inhaled your book – I found it such a fascinating story, beautifully written. Thank you to you and Juliana for sharing so generously and openly.

Jane Haley, Hobart, Tasmania

 I am transfixed. I think it might reach into my heart. I can’t put it down. 

Marie McNamara, Newstead

Shamefully, I’ve been lying around all day finishing it, cause I couldn’t put it down.

Suzanne Walshe, Maldon

 …an incredible story. Beautifully written, … Personally, I found it hard to put down…

Bronnie Dean, Harcourt

…a courageous search for a truth that reads like a compelling mystery.

 Angela Ryan, South Melbourne

I cried reading it today. I think it’s just beautiful writing and honesty. It was such a joy to read.

Bradley Dawson, Castlemaine

An intriguing family story – read it in two days.

Susanne Ellis, Occupational Therapist, Hand, Lymphoedema and Wound Clinics, Bendigo Health.

THE STORY

The photo Jane was once so ashamed of: aged 13 in high school. Although she is smiling, she hid the photo in a drawer, where it stayed. Until now.

CLEAVED is the story of Jane and her sister Julie, foot soldiers in the family war, each cleaved to a different parent from birth – and of the shocking betrayal that blows Jane apart from the rest of the family for decades.

It’s also a story of resilience, a unique account of growing up with Milroy’s Disease, a rare genetic form of the progressive and incurable swelling disease lymphoedema – resulting in Jane’s right leg being a perfectly proportioned bigger version of her left.

There’s no cure and no name for it, so it’s largely ignored. “Just tell them you were born that way,” Mum says, when she is taunted at school.

Jane’s leg problem is secondary to the bigger family drama of family estrangement. The situation is normal even if Jane isn’t.

The story begins in 1970s Melbourne, after the family’s emotional cleaving has become physical and Jane and her mother have moved to a small flat – leaving Dad and her rebellious sister Julie in the family home.

It’s 17-year-old Jane’s job to ferry messages between the warring households.

Alone in the flat on a wintery Saturday night, Mum is once again telling Jane how her sister hates her –  recounting how Julie severed the top of Jane’s finger when she was a baby.

But Jane isn’t listening. She knows all these stories by heart.

She takes up the story, going back to when the cleaving first begins, and how she becomes Mum’s confidant and Julie’s enemy, and the moment that cleaves Jane from the rest of the family for decades.

Over the years, Jane tries to replace her lost family with serial marriage, while undergoing pioneering surgeries to reduce her expanding leg. 

Eventually, she becomes a journalist and cartoonist and creates a perfect family of her own – so perfect she even writes a weekly column about it in Melbourne’s Age newspaper.

But the old family comes back when after 21 years, at Mum’s insistence, Jane reunites with Julie – now Juliana.

“They got the wrong ones. You’re like Dad,” Juliana says when they finally meet.

And so begins the questioning, the unravelling and the comparing of events and stories; of tender and fraught reunions and partings between Jane and her father and sister, until Jane finally puts the pieces of the puzzle together, examining everyone’s part in the family tragedy, including her own.

Cleaved is a coming-of-age story, a story of forgiveness and compassion and the healing power of music – a family tragedy and a triumph, and one which reader’s love.

DOWNLOAD CLEAVED HERE

$1 from every $3.99 purchase goes to the  USA-based leading organisation for lymphatic diseases the Lymphatic Education and Research Network (LE&RN). Today 250 million people worldwide suffer from lymphatic disease, which is still widely misunderstood.

HAVING TROUBLE DOWNLOADING? Email me and I’ll sort it promptly! – jane.cafarella@gmail.com.

BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  • How did you feel when you finished the book?
  • Did you feel satisfied with the ending?
  • What did you think of the writing?
  • Did you relate to Jane as the main character? If so, why?
  • Discuss the dual meaning of the word Cleaved and how it fits with the book. How does Cleaved explore the theme of estrangement?
  • Why do you think family was so important to Jane?
  • Why do you think everyone ignored Jane’s “big leg”. Do you agree with Jane’s conclusion? (p.197)
  • Do you agree with Juliana when she said, “They got the wrong ones”? (p.126)
  • How would you describe Jane’s relationship with Mum?
  • Did you agree with Mum that Jane was “very well adjusted?”
  • How would you describe Juliana’s relationship with Dad?
  • Which sister was better off? Jane with Mum or Juliana with Dad?
  • What did you think about the relationship between the sisters? Did it make your reflect on your own relationships with your siblings?
  • Do you agree with Dad’s view of forgiveness? (p.188)
  • Do you agree with Dad’s view of the truth? How does this relate to, or inform, the writing of memoir? (p.182)
  • Did you know anything about lymphoedema before reading the book? How did the book inform your view of people suffering from deformity?
  • Discuss the role that music plays throughout the book, and in bringing the sisters together.
  • In the end, the Jane uncovers some family secrets and finds answers to questions that have haunted her from childhood. Did you relate to this?
  • What was your favourite scene?
  • Which part of the story moved you most?
  • What part was the most surprising?
  • Which part made you laugh?
  • Would you recommend this book? If so, to whom?

Contact Jane here (email) if you’d like her to come and speak at your Book Club in person (Melbourne) or via zoom?

NEW free audition monologues for women over 40

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Here are 11 NEW monologues for women over 40 to showcase their acting talents

These new monologues are completely FREE – as long as you let me know when, where and how you are using them, so I can keep track of my work. Photos and feedback are also appreciated.

In the past 18 months, my monologues for women over 40 have been performed in many states in the USA, including, Oregon, Wisconsin, Iowa, Virginia, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, California, Florida and New Jersey, as well as in Toronto and Ontario in Canada, and London and Newhamptonshire in the UK.

My short plays have also been produced by drama teachers and students all over the USA, and in New Zealand and Australia. My one act comedy Supersnout, is currently in production by the Lithgow Theatre Group in South Bowenfels, NSW, for a two-week season in May

Throughout history, it’s common to read about the experiences of men, as leaders and conquerors.

I like to write about the experiences of women – ordinary women  and their feelings and personal battles. It’s my way of recording women’s history.

My aim is to give older actresses in particular, material that is strong and relatable to help showcase their talents in auditions, reels, workshops and performances.

Older women’s lives are so rich with experience that it’s a joy to write about them and for them. I didn’t start writing plays until I was in my 50s, so I understand how exciting and daunting this stage of life can be.

Click on the links below to read and download the monologues.

Let me know what you think by commenting here or emailing me directly at jane.cafarella@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you!

VISITING HOURS (DRAMA) – SANDRA, 40+,  is visiting her father in a nursing home

LOSING IT (DRAMA/COMEDY) – LOIS, 60s+ is hunting for her car keys – while defending herself against claims by her son that she is “losing it”.

MOTHER’S DAY (DRAMA) – BRONWYN, 50 +, tells her friend about her Mother’s Day plans – but the voice in her head tells another story.

NEVER (DRAMA) – NINA, 40 +, tells her friend why she has never married

SPECIAL NEEDS (DRAMA/COMEDY) – RUTH 40s+ tells her friend how she learned to finally say ‘NO!”

SPEECHLESS (DRAMA) – ANNETTE, 40+, is talking to her mother.

THE BIRTHDAY (DRAMA) – CECILY, 40+ reminds her husband about an important birthday

THE BREAK-UP (COMEDY) – JOANNE, 40+, tells her book club why she’s leaving

THE GIFT (COMEDY) – WHITNEY, 40s, writes a postcard to her husband Doug on Mother’s Day

THE LESSON (COMEDY) – HAZEL, 40+, tells her local mother’s group about what she’s learned as a mother

THE STOIC (DRAMA) – While lunching with a friend, BEA, 60+ answers a call from her daughter — but not in the way that’s expected

FREE audition monologues for women OVER 40

Carolyn Bock performs Catherine’s monologue at the premier of e-baby at Chapel Off Chapel in Melbourne in 2015.

Here are nine monologues for women over 40 to showcase their acting talents

If you’re looking for a contemporary monologue or scene for your audition or for a performance, here are nine that showcase older women in a range of challenging roles.

Writing for older women is such a joy, as their range of life experiences is rich and inspiring. In this ageing Australian population, their stories are particularly relevant.

Yet, as more than 100 UK actors recently attested, women over 45 are poorly represented in the film and theatre, which means female actors have a “limited shelf-life”.

The Acting Your Age Campaign (AYAC) is seeking a parity pledge, with equal representation between male and female actors over 45.

Part of the problem, of course, is the lack of roles for women over 40.

As actor Juliet Stevenson said in The Guardian recently, “The perception of women of my age is so reductive, that they are considered invisible and less interesting. The reverse is true. The breach between your life experience and available parts gets wider. I’m on the up escalator – life is getting more and more interesting – but my parts are on the down escalator, getting less interesting. That’s frustrating.”

I hope to ease such frustration with roles that put women on the up escalator.

Three of these monologues are from published plays – e-baby, d-baby and Uked! – The first play-along ukulele musical, while the remainder were written as stand-alone monologues or scenes.

Click on the links in the descriptions below to read each monologue.

  1. FOR WHEN SHE COMES – CATHERINE 45, talks secretly to her unborn child. A monologue from e-baby.
  2. THE RIGHT TIME – JUNE, 60, finally tells the truth to her donor-conceived daughter. A monologue from d-baby.
  3. THE LAST MINUTE – MARY, 40s, tells her husband why she won’t be hanging around for Christmas this year
  4. SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH – SUE, 60, tells a depressed neighbour why growing old is not so bad after all.
  5. SOMETHING DIFFERENT – LINDA, 40s, pays a life-changing visit to the hairdresser.
  6. THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT (from UKED!) – KARLA, 50, buys herself a special present after being dumped on her 50th birthday.
  7. FLOWERS – SOPHIE, 50s, tells the police officer why she was picking flowers from a public garden.
  8. MAKE HIM SUFFER – ANGELINA, 40, pleads with the authorities to release her husband from a WW2 Internment camp for enemy aliens in Victoria, Australia.
  9. ADVICE TO YOUNG LOVERS ON VALENTINE’S DAY – OLIVE, 50s-60s, a flower shop owner gives advice to a customer on Valentine’s Day.

The monologues are available for free on the condition that you let me know you are using them, and in what context.

I’d also love some feedback, and any suggestions for other monologue topics featuring women over 40. Comment here, or email me at jane.cafarella@gmail.com.