- Though this fiction story is set in 1906, current research (https://ifstudies.org/blog/how-dads-affect-their-daughters-into-adulthood) tells us that the role of a dad in a girl’s life helps her develop confidence and resilience. How do you see this play out in Fiona’s case? What does she accomplish as a result of the presence of a strong father and supportive uncle early on in her life? How have you seen this play out (or not) in your family or extended family?
- India is a country of paradoxes. If you have been to India, what contradictions did you experience? Share
with the group. What incongruities did you see in the India that Fiona experienced in 1906? What’s the importance of examining two sides of a coin—in other words, two sides of an idea, a belief system, or cultural norm? Reread the scene (pp. 244-250) where Fiona is at her friends’ family home with three generations discussing how they see the role of the British and especially the Indian-led movement of Partition in their lives. - To be held back from the very thing Fiona wanted, an adventure to learn from everything she could not in Iowa, was a great loss. Can you imagine being alone on a ship with a bunch of men? Would you have found the same kind of comfort and support from Jacob as Fiona did? Could you have survived the forced confinement for weeks? What happened in the story that illuminated loss to you?
- What kind of traveler are you? Armchair traveler, who wants to see the world through a character’s eyes like Fiona? The kind who will spin the globe and take off? Or the kind who will choose and plan a trip with great detail? Do you enjoy luxury or budget travel? What is your main motivation for traveling or not traveling? What do you gain from travel, regardless what kind of traveler you are?
- Religions around the world all differ and all have some elements in common. What do you see in Jacob’s
Native American heritage that is common or different to your religious traditions and beliefs? In David’s Quakerism or Religious Society of Friends? In Ameera’s Hinduism? How does she explain being Hindu and Christian Quaker simultaneously? Can you accept this dichotomy? Why or why not? - Relationships between men and women are fraught with romance, conflict, and the pleasures ofcompanionship. Though older by our standards today, Fiona’s story was a coming-of-age tale, or as the author thinks of it, a coming-of-agency narrative. How did you view Fiona navigating her relationship with David and with Jacob? What she being two-faced or simply experimenting with a latent sexuality? What did she gain and what did she lose in the final confrontation with each man?
- Do you imagine the story could be true? Do you find the narrative unbelievable? If you were to rewrite the book, how would you want it to end? The same or differently? What would have to change earlier in the story, to create a different ending?
