Mia Ellis returns to her hometown after her father suffers a debilitating stroke. If it wasn't for her half-brother, TJ, she wouldn't have. She had no love for her father. A man who'd gone to Haiti as a social scientist with an American NGO, then left when he learned he'd be a father. But when Mia confronts him in his hospital bed, unable to express himself clearly, he motions clumsily to the table beside him and says what she thinks is "All There."
'All There' turns out to be a cache of his personal journals, which take Mia on an unexpected journey that unravels the complexities of love and redemption. As she delves into his private thoughts, Mia uncovers a father she never knew--a man shaped by his own secrets and regrets.
PERCEPTION is a poignant exploration of family, forgiveness, and the untold stories that bind us together.
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In case you were wondering, PERCEPTION does not pick up where SPIRIT left off. It's more like a 'meanwhile'.
Moving right along, though, the yet untitled next book in the series, will bring us all into the present day Drake.
Discussion Questions
Mia believed Ellis to be disconnected from her life. In what ways did the journals reveal this untrue? How did the journals affect your opinion of Ellis?
Luisa was Ellis’s first love. Is this why he couldn’t let go? Or was the fact that they’d had a child a part of his obsession?
Consider Billy’s role in Mia’s life, his secret affiliation with Ellis, and his friendship with Luisa. In what ways was that character necessary in telling this story?
Do you think of Mia as impulsive? Selfish? Stubborn? How about Emotionally stunted?
As a child, Ellis’s grandmother helped him fill the emotional void left by his parents. Were the caretakers, Oscar and Rosa, equally influential? In what way(s) had they influenced Mia’s life at the Ellis estate? Can you think of any other similarities between Ellis’s childhood and Mia’s at the estate? Ie. Ezra?
How could Ellis’s relationship with his parents have contributed to his emotional distance from Mia?
Did this story enhance your understanding of Haitian politics/life beyond Mia’s and Ellis’s experiences in Haiti?
In one entry, we learn that Ellis had intended to give the journals to her voluntarily. Did that revelation color your own opinion of him?
Following Mia’s young life from 5 to 15 in Haiti, can you blame her for arriving in the United States with a chip on her shoulder, as she herself put it later in the story?
Do you think Mia’s friendship with Jonas helped her grow close to her brother, TJ?
Should Mia have made a greater effort (an effort of any kind) to get to know Ellis the way she got to know TJ? She spent as much time with each of them.
How about Ellis? Was his rationale that he didn’t want to scare Mia sufficient to excuse his emotional distance from her?
We see Uncle Jean as her tormentor in her youth and later as an adult. In what way does his influence affect her relationships in her life, from Mama to Kali?
Do you agree with Mia that Uncle Jean was equally diabolical to Ellis in keeping him from her and Mama?