One of my weekly tasks as moderator for the Historical Fiction Heart Book Club is to create questions that keep the discussion of our book moving.
Each week these questions are posted in the Historical Fiction Heart Facebook group and members type their answers and respond to each other in the comments. Finally, in week four we meet and discuss questions online in a live Zoom session.
For any other book clubs out there, I'm happy to share the questions we've discussed in regards to Kate Morton's book, Homecoming.
Pease note that our book club reads a quarter of the book each week and these questions are paced in the same way.
Book Club Questions - Week One
I loved the scene of the dilapidated house through the tress. Has anyone ever had the chance to explore an abandoned property?
The title Homecoming has an obvious link to Jess returning home to care for Nora. Do you predict it will have meaning for other characters also?
And now the ultimate question...who did it? Give me your best guess for how the Turner Family died.
Book Club Questions - Week Two
The author explores the concept of 'home'. Do you think home is a place or a feeling?
If you had the opportunity to ask any character in the novel a questions who would it be and what would you ask?
Do you think the author uses the dual timelines well to create tension?
Book Club Questions - Week Three
Do you think Nora was right to convince Polly to leave her American fiancé? Why?
Motherhood forms a theme with examples from Isabel, Meg, Nora and Polly. Polly is often painted as a 'good' mother and Isabel a 'bad' mother. Do you think this is true?
Did you like the use of the book As If They Were Asleep as a means to provide flashbacks throughout the story?
Book Club Questions - Week Four
Were there any elements of the author's style that leapt out at you for good or bad reasons?
The book discusses the power of reading. Do you think reading can impact a person's identity?
Percy notices Polly is shy and believes it stems from the tragic beginning of her life. Do you think this can happen in real life? Do you think a person who was too young to remember the traumatic event can still be affected?
Do you think Isobel or Polly truly ever endangered their babies?
On the longer side, this book club read will likely take the full four weeks for members to read. I actually gave our readers an extra week in the middle after checking in and finding they felt like they needed more time.
But once you've finished reading, Homecoming by Kate Morton offers book clubs plenty of themes, characters, setting and elements of writing style to discuss.
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