Sunday, January 1, 2023

*Discussion Questions* Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese *SPOILERS*

I have spent a few years in a couple of different book clubs now, and I've led my fair share of discussions (so every time it was my turn in the rotation to pick a book basically, although I've been slacking a little in my current book club). I can't tell you how many times I've finished a book that I'd chosen for our meeting, only to realize that I couldn't think of a single question to ask (and I'd forgotten to consider that while reading). In those instances I would run to the interwebs to search for discussion questions, just hoping that someone else had been kind enough to think of questions and share them with the world. I had about a 50% success rate with that. 


1) Do you think Isobel was happy her husband was leaving again so soon after they arrived in America? 

2) How would you feel about your husband sailing off on another voyage so soon after arriving in the New World? 

3) If you were Isobel, do you think you would have corrected Nat when he assumed that Edward was her father rather than her husband? 

4) What did you think of the scenes of the past spread throughout the book? Did they give you a better understanding of any of the characters actions?

5) What would you have done if you discovered your husband stole all the money you had to your name from you before leaving?

6) Why do you think Isobel didn't tell Nat of the baby on their day at the shore?

7) Do you think Isobel's mother overreacted when she saw Isobel stitching the letters in colors? 

8) Did you know what synesthesia was before reading this book? 

9) If you'd read The Scarlet Letter before this book, do you think it felt like a plausible chain of events to inspire that story? 

And that's all the questions I jotted down while reading this book. If you choose to read it with your book club, I hope they'll help you out at least a little bit to get the conversation flowing. And if you've read the book, are there any other questions you would ask (and do you mind if I add them to the list if you share any)? - Katie

No comments:

Post a Comment