Reader's Group Guide
Winter Passing, by Cindy McCormick Martinusen

ISBN 0-7394-1408-9 w Tyndale House Publishers w 365 pages w historical novel

John 15:12-13 "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."  --Jesus (NIV).

1. Discuss the symbolism in the title of this novel in terms of the passage on page 265:  "And only through a winter passing could life be brought to its knees in surrender and prepared for rebirth."

2. What were some of the signs that God was working in Darby's life?  How did God work in some of the other characters' lives, especially Brant's, Darby's mother, and her grandmother? Discuss this in terms of Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (NIV)

3. The Holocaust was one of the most horrific displays of mankind's potential for evil, and it resulted in many people losing their faith because they could not believe in a God who would let man suffer so much! Brant had apparently talked to Gunther about this, and was remembering Gunther's reply: "Everyone asks how God could allow such a terrible thing. Why does man blame God? For I want to know how man could allow such a terrible thing. God gave man dominion over the earth. If we simply can't care for one another or stop evil from breeding and growing--" (p. 180). Discuss both this and Gunther's next comment: "I must believe in God because I've known both evil and love. Evil is easy. Love is hard" (p. 181). What parts of this do you agree or disagree with?

4. When Darby is back in California, she has lunch with her ex fiancée, Derek. She was telling him about Mauthausen, and the interchangeable faces of the SS officers and their victims (see p. 189). Darby tells Derek that she believes "every person on earth is capable of incredible hatred or incredible love. We choose what degree we'll live at" (p. 215). "When we dabble in hatred, selfish pursuits, pride, and contempt for others, our minds can descend without us totally aware, until our actions mirror our mind."  Do you agree with her theory? If not, how else would you explain the involvement by so many in the evils of the Holocaust? Also, read Romans 1: 18-32 where Paul writes about God's wrath against mankind because of man's wickedness. Many people want to argue that man is not innately evil. What would be your response?

5. Did this story help you to better understand the human weaknesses that caused many to be "converted" by the Nazis? Discuss this especially in terms of the story Bruno Weiler tells Darby, (pages 287-295). He asks Darby for forgiveness. What would be your response? Or, would you rather see them all burn in hell, as was Darby's initial reaction when she was walking through Mauthausen (p. 189)? How many victims do you think were (or are) able to forgive their tormentors? Do you think there is any evil so great that God can't turn it around for good?

6. Tatianna sacrificed her very life to save her friend's and her friend's unborn child. Do you think that you could have done what she did? Can you imagine ever having to be in that circumstance where you would give up your life for someone not in your immediate family? Do you think it was an effective way to begin the novel with Tatianna's death scene, even though we wouldn't appreciate it until far later in the story, or do you think that scene would have been more powerful coming later?

7. When Darby is in Hallstatt, she meets Grandma Gerringer, an elderly woman who is angry at all Americans  because of what she perceives as their arrogant attitude about what happened in Germany and Austria during WWII. She says that they "come to foreign soil and demand answers when they not understand what they asking" (p. 161). She says this after she sees Darby reading Hitler's Austria. Discuss what she says, and then what Brant tells her on pages 172-173 about the effects of American culture on Old European culture.

8. One of the lessons that Darby and Brant both learn has to do with living in today, and not in the past, even though you need to learn the truth about the past. What was the biggest lesson you learned from reading this story?

© 2001 Connie Wineland