- The story is told through many voices, but John Stephens’ narration ties it all together. Do you feel you got to know John Stephens the best? What would have been gained or lost if the story had been told only from one perspective?
- Does each character have a distinctive personality? If so, how does the author achieve this, for instance, with Louisa’s early entries?
- The novel includes famous literary figures as characters, such as Louisa May Alcott and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Did you learn anything about these authors that relates to their works?
- How does the author use animal imagery to enhance the characterizations?
- What do the colors of Louisa’s various journals reflect in the plot points within the entries?
- If the story had been set in the present time, would Louisa and John’s romance be accepted by their families and society? How have reactions to divorce, differences in age, or extra-marital affairs changed over time?
- Should the reader forgive Priscilla for her cruelty because she experienced a traumatic sexual encounter at a young age? Can a single traumatic experience alter the course of a person’s life?
- Did it seem necessary and important to you that there was a trial to establish the guilt of a murderer when both the killer and the victim had been dead for a long time? How did the verdict help the family?
