Kept Animals Read online

  Mama, these are the things I thought I would say to him, that I would be the first to speak. But standing here now, I see that he has already found the answer to who I am, and each of us is asking, without having to say a single word, that we be allowed to begin again.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I am indebted to Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, my friend and agent, for her unfaltering belief and for always knowing exactly what I need to hear.

  Thank you to Nan Graham for championing this book from day one. I am grateful to the entire team at Scribner, especially Roz Lippel, Colin Harrison, Katherine Monaghan, Zoey Cole, Kara Watson, Ashley Gilliam, Sally Howe, Laura Wise, Jaya Miceli, Alexis Minieri, and Emily Mahon. And to my editor, Valerie Steiker, who saw potential in a big, sprawling draft and with profound insight and good humor taught me to trust my voice.

  To Louise Jarvis Flynn, for our pact to press on. To the writers who nurtured this book in its earliest days: Olga Zilberbourg, Charles Smith, Cass Pursell, Mari Coates, and Scott Landers, with special thanks to Peg Alford Pursell for all those hours writing side by side. My gratitude to the Tin House Summer Writer’s Workshop, the Tomales Bay Workshop, and PAMFA, for time spent in talented company. To Pam Houston—who taught me not to say the same thing twice—thank you, thank you. To Joy Williams, for reading the first rough forty pages and insisting I tell her the rest. To my teachers at the Bennington Writing Seminars, whose wisdom is threaded throughout; thank you, Amy Hempel, Shelia Kohler, Martha Cooley, and Elizabeth Searle. To Julie Orringer, thank you.

  To Edan Lepucki, Kara Levy, Lydia Kiesling, and Yael Goldstein Love, here is my chance to hug you for all eternity!

  To the legacy of Francesca Woodman, whose images provided the first spark of this novel. To the authors whose worked informed mine here: Mike Davis, Luis Alberto Urrea, Peter Orner, Francisco Cantu, Darin Strauss, and to Kate Brooks, Deborah Copaken Kogan, and Lynsey Addario, photojournalists and authors of whose work I am in awe. Thank you to the Topanga Historical Society. And to my equestrian family, especially Ayshe Anderson, Gracie Benson, Steph Busley, Heather DeCaluwe, Devin Dunsay, Jennifer Marder Fadoul, Amy DiNoble Farley, Lola Elfman Greene, Carlos Gomez, Kara Kask, Stephanie Middler, Mario Trejo, Emily Kanter Zalewski, and to Corey Walkey, who taught me as much about how to live as she did horses. Thank you to Robert “Shell” Evans for answering my questions about Thoroughbred breeding. To Kimberly Coats and Jonathan “Jock” Boyer of the Boyer YL Ranch in Savery, Wyoming, for their hospitality. To Melissa Cistaro, who is a dream.

  To the friends who welcomed me into their spare spaces to write: the Samson-Cowans, the Zink family, and Linda Michel-Cassidy. Thank you to Cathy Garvey Simon—for sustenance and shelter in every form—and Steve Simon, you complete our village.

  To Grace McKeaney, for telling me to get back on the horse. To Mark Milliken, for making California his new home. To John Getz, for bringing out the best in me. To Lynne Benner and Grace Simmons, the missing puzzle pieces found. To Clare Milliken and Hannah Getz, my heart is whole because of each of you. To Emily Meier, my sister in words.

  Writing this novel was—in part—an act of figuring out who I might have been if not for various forks in the road and it is because of the love and support of Adam Karsten that I could go back and steer my way out again.

  Unfortunately, as I write this, I am sitting in the smoke-thick air of yet another wind-driven fire, because these disasters have and will continue to proliferate. I want to thank the journalists and the advocates who amplify the voices of those who are most profoundly impacted by our rapidly changing climate, and the first responders who risk everything to save lives.

  This book is for my family, by any and all definitions of the word, but especially Alida and Markus.

  A Scribner Reading Group Guide

  Kept Animals

  Kate Milliken

  This reading group guide for Kept Animals includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

  Introduction

  It’s 1993, and Rory Ramos works as a ranch hand at the stable her stepfather manages in Topanga Canyon, California, a dry, dusty place reliant on horses and hierarchies. There she rides for the rich clientele, including twins June and Wade Fisk. While Rory draws the interest of out-and-proud June, she’s more intrigued by Vivian Price, the beautiful girl with the movie-star father who lives down the hill. Rory keeps largely separate from the likes of the Prices—but, perched on her bedroom windowsill, Rory steals glimpses of Vivian swimming in her pool nearly every night.

  After Rory’s stepfather is involved in a tragic car accident, the lives of Rory, June, and Vivian become inextricably bound together. Rory discovers photography, begins riding more competitively, and grows closer to gorgeous, mercurial Vivian, but despite her newfound sense of self, disaster lurks all around her: in the parched landscape, in her unruly desires, in her stepfather’s wrecked body and guilty conscience. One night, as the relationships among these teenagers come to a head, a forest fire tears through the canyon, and Rory’s life is changed forever.

  Kept Animals is narrated by Rory’s daughter, Charlie, in 2015, more than twenty years after that fateful fire. Realizing that the key to her own existence lies in the secret of what really happened that unseasonably warm fall, Charlie is finally ready to ask questions about her mother’s past. But with Rory away on assignment, Charlie knows she must unravel the truth for herself.

  Topics & Questions for Discussion

  1. What’s the symbolism behind the fox Rory and Gus find in the road? What does the fox come to represent? Why do you think Gus stops to pick it up?

  2. When Gus arrives as Sonja and Jorge’s house, why is Sonja upset? Do you think this is a familiar scene for her?

  3. Sarah struggled with parenting a small child, even as she loves him deeply. Describe Sarah’s feelings about Charlie, before and after the accident. Who does she blame, initially? Who does she blame at the end?

  4. June and Rory are from very different families and class backgrounds, which is evident in their experiences at the stables and at home. What do you think draws them together? How does June feel about her?

  5. Left to her own devices, Vivian begins to reflect on her childhood, before her father’s fame. What was it like? How does it compare to her adolescence, in terms of money, comfort, success, and intimacy?

  6. Why is Charlie drawn to the view outside her bedroom window? Why does she tell June about it?

  7. What happens to Journey in Fresno? Who do you believe is responsible, and what are the consequences?

  8. Vivian has a confusing and inappropriate relationship with her former high school teacher. Why does Vivian call McLeod? Why does he answer?

  9. What causes the shift in Charlie’s relationship with June and Wade? Do they respect her, resent her, or something else entirely? How do differences in class and race come to play in these relationships?

  10.Why is Rory drawn to photography? Why does she choose to photograph Vivian?

  11. Describe the relationships between animals and humans in this novel: Rory and Chap, June and Wade and their horses, Gus and the animals he taxidermies.

  12. To whom does Sarah send her letters, and why? How would you describe the tone of these letters?

  13. What do you think of Mona, as a wife, mother, and individual? What are her motivations?

  14. Describe the dream Rory has about Mona. What do you think it means?

  15. Why does Rory agree to breeding Chaparral? What are the consequences, practical, emotional, and symbolic, of the interaction between the two horses?

  16. Why does Sonja tell Rory about Tomás’s father? What does that story mean to Rory, then and later?

  17. What happens the night of the fire? Do you know what caus
ed it? Who shares the responsibility?

  18. At the end of the novel, Charlie makes a decision. Do you understand what she’s looking for, and why? Do you think she’ll find it?

  Enhance Your Book Club

  1. Research the Topanga Canyon fire, and other, more recent California fires.

  2. Read Kate Milliken’s book of short stories, If I’d Known You Were Coming.

  3. For more information about Kate Milliken, visit https://www.katemilliken.com/.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  © ADAM KARSTEN

  KATE MILLIKEN is the author of the 2013 Iowa Short Fiction Award–winning collection of stories, If I’d Known You Were Coming. A graduate of the Bennington College Writing Seminars, she has received fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center and the Tin House Summer Workshop. She lives in Northern California with her family. Kept Animals is her first novel.

  SimonandSchuster.com

  www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Kate-Milliken

  @ScribnerBooks

  We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook.

  Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions.

  CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

  Already a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox.

  SCRIBNER

  An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  1230 Avenue of the Americas

  New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2020 by Kate Milliken

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Scribner Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

  First Scribner hardcover edition April 2020

  SCRIBNER and design are registered trademarks of The Gale Group, Inc., used under license by Simon & Schuster, Inc., the publisher of this work.

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.

  For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Interior design by Alexis Minieri

  Jacket design by Emily Mahon

  Jacket photographs: Girl and Horse by Richard Schultz /Gallery Stock; Sky by Dmitrii Pridannikov/Shutterstock

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2019025251

  ISBN 978-1-5011-8858-9

  ISBN 978-1-5011-8860-2 (ebook)