The Favorite Child

[Michele]

From the author’s Questions for Discussion

Why do you think Baby Viola is Althea’s favored child? How does this affect Baby Vi, and what does it mean for Kim, who is so at odds with her mother?

[Michele]

Additional discussion:

Viola mentions remembering Althea saying she was “leaving Lillian to Daddy,”since he favored her so much. Then she later stated that she didn’t challenge Althea because she favored her.

How did the idea of having or being the “favored child” affect the relationship between the adult siblings?

[Terry]

I think this point made the book a bit more relatable.
Anytime a child feels as though their parent(s) loves a sibling more than they do them, it causes a bit of a divide. And that divide could last forever, if the parent doesn’t do something to end it. In Viola, Althea, & Lillians case. This was never handled. Now all grown up living their adult lives, it’s still an underlying factor as we can see because Althea brings it up. Their parents saw one child who had capabilities the other didn’t, so they tried to nurture that other child. Which appeared to be favoritism.

[Kimberly]

I think Baby Vi reminds her of her sister and her mother, both whom she loved and cared for. Kim reminds her of herself and unfortunately I don't think Althea loves herself very much. That critical eye really affected Kim. She overlooked Baby Vi and the issues she may be having and just devoted all her attention to Kim.