This month we have guides for:

• Burial, by Neil Cross
• The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory
• The Longshot, by Katie Kitamura
• Still Alice, by Lisa Genova
• Animal’s People, by Indra Sinha

Burial, by Neil Cross

Can your guiltiest secret ever be buried? Nathan has never been able to forget the worst night of his life: the party that led to the sudden, shocking death of a young woman. Only he and Bob, an untrustworthy old acquaintance, know what really happened and they have resolved to keep it that way. But one rainy night, years later, Bob appears at Nathan’s door with terrifying news, and old wounds are suddenly reopened, threatenening to tear Nathan’s whole world apart. Because Nathan has his own secrets now. Secrets that could destroy everything he has fought to build. And maybe Bob doesn’t realise just how far Nathan will go to protect them…

Watch an interview with the author and Read an extract here. Some questions to discuss with your Reading Group:

• Guilt is a central theme of Burial. In what way does guilt manifest itself in the novel? What is the author saying about the nature of guilt and what it does to a person? How is guilt overcome?
• Another prominent theme is the question of the existence of ghosts – metaphorically and spiritually. What types of ghost haunt the novel? How do the characters seek to ‘exorcise’ them?
• There stood Bob; hunched over, grinning in the darkness and rain. Saying: “Hello, mate.”’ (p1)From the beginning, we are introduced to Bob as an untrustworthy character. How does Nathan and Bob’s relationship change over the course of the novel?In what ways do Bob’s actions lead to Nathan getting the life he has always wanted?
• The middle section of the story deals with Nathan’s return to the ‘real world’ and specifically the world of work. Is his occupation symbolic? What about his relationships with his colleagues (particularly Justin and Amarita)?
• In what ways is the Nathan that meets Elise different to the Nathan that meets Holly? Why do you think he decides to find Holly?
• ‘He said, “Holly, you don’t have to feel guilty for laughing.” Her long silence intensified.“Why do you say that?”“I don’t know.”She kept looking at him, as if suspecting they knew each other from way back, from long ago.’ (p116)Does the knowledge Nathan holds about Elise’s death change your perception of him? How moral a character is he? Is Burial a book with a strong moral viewpoint?
• In the final act, external forces compromise Nathan’s new life. He risks everything to stop them. In what ways has Nathan changed over the course of the entire book? Would you agree that he moves from a passive character (for example, in his relationship with Sara) to an active one (in his final confrontation with Bob)?
• In Chapter 39, the conversation between Jacki and Nathan is deceptively multi-layered. What is Jacki actually saying to Nathan? How much does she know? Would you agree that she is covering for him? Why?
• At the end of the novel, how does the truth about Bob’s motivations alter your perception of him?
• Should Holly have forgiven Nathan?

The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory

The first in a stunning new series, The Cousins War, is set amid the tumult and intrigue of The War of the Roses. Internationally bestselling author Philippa Gregory brings this family drama to colourful life through its women, beginning with the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen. The White Queen tells the story of a common woman who ascends to royalty by virtue of her beauty, a woman who rises to the demands of her position and fights tenaciously for the success of her family, a woman whose two sons become the central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the Princes in the Tower whose fate remains unknown to this day.

Read an extract here, and there follow some questions for discussion:

• Discuss Elizabeth’s first few encounters with Edward and her motives for seeking him out. Do they marry for love? Did you find it surprising that Edward defied his mentor Warwick and upheld his secret marriage to Elizabeth? Why or why not?
• How does Elizabeth and Edward’s clandestine marriage change England’s political landscape?
• Anthony tells Elizabeth that she and Edward are creating enemies by distributing wealth to their “favorites, not the deserving” (page 204). What are your thoughts on Edward and Elizabeth as monarchs? How adept is Elizabeth at playing the political game, both before and after Edward’s death?
• What is your view of Elizabeth as a daughter, a sister, and a mother? Her daughter Elizabeth says to her, “You love the crown more than your children” (page 312). Does Elizabeth, in fact, place her ambition ahead of her children’s well-being? How does she regard her daughters versus her sons?
• Compare the Plantagenets and the House of York with the Woodvilles. What are the most apparent differences between the two families? What similarities do they share?
• Elizabeth makes some questionable moral choices, such as standing silently by while her husband and his brothers murder Henry IV and knowingly putting a page boy in harm’s way by sending him to the Tower in place of her son. Are her actions justifiable or not? How does she feel about the choices she made?
• What is the significance of the legend of Melusina? Anthony dismisses Elizabeth’s belief in Melusina and in her own mystical abilities as “part fairy tale and part Bible and all nonsense” (page 239). Is he right, or are she and Jacquetta really able to perform magic? With the penalty for witchcraft being death, why do they take the risk? What unintended consequences are there of some of their actions?
• In what ways are women especially vulnerable during this tumultuous time? What power do women have? How do Elizabeth, Jacquetta, Cecily, and other female characters in the novel use their intelligence and influence?
• Elizabeth is aware of and even tolerates the king’s adultery. Why then does she take exception to his association with Elizabeth Shore? Why does Edward’s former mistress later come to the queen’s aid while she is in living in sanctuary?
• When the younger Elizabeth pleads with her mother to come to an agreement with Duke Richard, why does she refuse to even consider the idea? How does the relationship between mother and daughter change while they are in sanctuary for the second time?
• “Despite my own caution, despite my own fears, I start to hope,” muses Elizabeth. “I start to think that if King Richard marries Elizabeth and makes her his queen I will be welcomed at court again, I will take up my place as My Lady, the Queen’s Mother” (page 392). After all the bloodshed, why is she willing to risk putting her daughter on the throne?
• The fate of the two princes in the Tower is a mystery historians have been trying to solve for centuries. What is your opinion of the way Philippa Gregory presents this aspect of the story? Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is suspected of being responsible for their deaths. Why is Elizabeth inclined to believe him when he says he did not order her sons to be killed?
• Elizabeth paid a high price for the throne, losing her father, brothers, and two of her sons. What, if anything, do you think she would do differently if given the chance? What would you have done in her situation?
• When Edward is overthrown and flees to France, Elizabeth says, “It is as he warned me: he could not spread out the wealth quickly enough, fairly enough, to enough people” (page 130). What does The White Queen reveal about human nature?
• How does The White Queen compare to other works of historical fiction you have read, including books by Philippa Gregory? The novel has somewhat of a cliffhanger ending. Are you interested in reading the next book in the series? Why or why not?

The Longshot, by Katie Kitamura

In The Longshot, Katie Kitamura tells the story of mixed martial arts fighter Cal and his trainer, Riley. Cal is on his way to a rematch with Rivera, a now legendary MMA fighter with whom Cal had a disastrous fight a few years earlier; a fight that doused the flame of passion Cal had for MMA fighting. Three years later, Cal and Riley respond to Rivera’s request for a rematch. For Cal, it presents an opportunity to get back in the ring with the person who made him question his love for fighting. For Riley, it gives Cal the chance to become the fighter he once was — a powerful, fast champion who could easily become the best in the MMA circuit.

Kitamura focuses on the electrifying days before the fight which find Cal and Riley traveling, training and traversing a number of obstacles, both physical and psychological. In a unique narrative form, Kitamura gives insight into both the minds of Riley and Cal, leaving us alone with each of them for a few minutes at a time. In doing so, readers feel like they are really there and share the anxiety and excitement of stepping back into the ring with Rivera for the fight.

Questions for Discussion:

• A number of times over the course of the story, a certain question comes up: What went wrong in that fateful fight between Cal and Rivera four years ago? Discuss Cal and Riley’s conflicting opinions on what actually happened. Who do you think is right?
• Riley comments that in the beginning of Cal’s career, Cal got so used to winning that he just thought it was “the way it was.”(p. 16) How did that make losing to Rivera that much harder for him? Why has it taken him so long to get back into serious fighting?
• What was the result of Murray and Rivera’s fight? Do you think Cal would rather follow in Murray’s footsteps than risk another defeat by Rivera? Why do you think he chooses to fight him again?
• Cal and Riley each experience a fight-or-flight impulse during the twenty-four hours leading up to the fight. Why does each of them decide to stay? How do you think the novel would have turned out if one of them had fled? What would it have meant to the one who got left behind?
• Discuss the dwindling of Riley’s optimism over the course of the book. What makes him realize that Cal should not go into the fight? Why does Riley shut his eyes and say, “Things would have to play out. There was no other way” (p. 150)? In your opinion, was there, in fact, another way?
• What is Riley’s game plan for Cal’s fight with Rivera? Why do trainers create a game plan, and why does he think it will work? Does the strategy actually come into play during the real fight?
• Discuss this statement: “The kid had everything a fighter needed and if he didn’t become champion then Riley would have no one to blame but himself” (p. 15). Why does Riley put so much pressure on himself to turn Cal into a champion? Do you think this blindly leads him into believing that Cal can win the rematch?
• Even though he has never been knocked out, why do you think Cal “guessed he knew the feeling” (p. 23)? Why is it so important to Cal to remain standing in the final fight?
• Having read Kitamura’s work, do you agree with her statement that “there was nothing simple about a fight” (p. 27)? Did The Longshot change your perspective on the world of mixed martial arts fighting, on the people involved in it, and on the fighting itself? Why or why not?
• Do you agree with Kitamura’s assertion that “a fight was just a series of logical conclusions” (p.111)? If so, how do you feel about Cal’s claim that habit overrides fear, logic and need (p. 139)?
• Do you think Cal dies at the end of the book? Why or why not?
• The Longshot could have been a much longer story. Why do you think Kitamura chose to keep it short in length and free of much description? How does this choice affect the story’s impact? Does it make it more or less powerful? How so?

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova

Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. A Harvard professor, she has a successful husband and three grown children. When she begins to grow forgetful, she dismisses it for as long as she can, but when she gets lost in her own neighbourhood she knows that something has gone terribly wrong. She finds herself in the rapidly downward spiral of Alzheimer’s Disease. She is fifty years old. Suddenly she has no classes to teach, no new research to conduct, no invited lectures to give. Ever again. Unable to work, read and, increasingly, take care of herself, Alice struggles to find meaning and purpose in her everyday life as her concept of self gradually slips away. But Alice is a remarkable woman, and her family, yoked by history and DNA and love, discover more about her and about each other, in their quest to keep the Alice they know for as long as possible. Losing her yesterdays, her short-term memory hanging on by a couple of frayed threads, she is living in the moment, living for each day. But she is still Alice.

Questions for discussion:

• When Alice becomes disoriented in Harvard Square, a place she’s visited daily for twenty-five years, why doesn’t she tell John? Is she too afraid to face a possible illness, worried about his possible reaction, or some other reason?
• After first learning she has Alzheimer’s disease, “the sound of her name penetrated her every cell and seemed to scatter her molecules beyond the boundaries of her own skin. She watched herself from the far corner of the room” (pg. 70). What do you think of Alice’s reaction to the diagnosis? Why does she disassociate herself to the extent that she feels she’s having an out-of-body experience?
• Do you find irony in the fact that Alice, a Harvard professor and researcher, suffers from a disease that causes her brain to atrophy? Why do you think the author, Lisa Genova, chose this profession? How does her past academic success affect Alice’s ability, and her family’s, to cope with Alzheimer’s?
• “He refused to watch her take her medication. He could be mid-sentence, mid-conversation, but if she got out her plastic, days-of-the-week pill container, he left the room” (pg. 89). Is John’s reaction understandable? What might be the significance of him frequently fiddling with his wedding ring when Alice’s health is discussed?
• When Alice’s three children, Anna, Tom and Lydia, find out they can be tested for the genetic mutation that causes Alzheimer’s, only Lydia decides she doesn’t want to know. Why does she decline? Would you want to know if you had the gene?
• Why is her mother’s butterfly necklace so important to Alice? Is it only because she misses her mother? Does Alice feel a connection to butterflies beyond the necklace?
• Alice decides she wants to spend her remaining time with her family and her books. Considering her devotion and passion for her work, why doesn’t her research make the list of priorities? Does Alice most identify herself as a mother, wife, or scholar?
• Were you surprised at Alice’s plan to overdose on sleeping pills once her disease progressed to an advanced stage? Is this decision in character? Why does she make this difficult choice? If they found out, would her family approve?
• As the symptoms worsen, Alice begins to feel like she’s living in one of Lydia’s plays: “(Interior of Doctor’s Office. The neurologist left the room. The husband spun his ring. The woman hoped for a cure.)” (pg. 141). Is this thought process a sign of the disease, or does pretending it’s not happening to her make it easier for Alice to deal with reality?
• Do Alice’s relationships with her children differ? Why does she read Lydia’s diary? And does Lydia decide to attend college only to honor her mother?
• Alice’s mother and sister died when she was only a freshman in college, and yet Alice has to keep reminding herself they’re not about to walk through the door. As the symptoms worsen, why does Alice think more about her mother and sister? Is it because her older memories are more accessible, is she thinking of happier times, or is she worried about her own mortality?
• Alice and the members of her support group, Mary, Cathy, and Dan, all discuss how their reputations suffered prior to their diagnoses because people thought they were being difficult or possibly had substance abuse problems. Is preserving their legacies one of the biggest obstacles to people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease? What examples are there of people still respecting Alice’s wishes, and at what times is she ignored?
• “One last sabbatical year together. She wouldn’t trade that in for anything. Apparently, he would” (pg. 223). Why does John decide to keep working? Is it fair for him to seek the job in New York considering Alice probably won’t know her whereabouts by the time they move? Is he correct when he tells the children she would not want him to sacrifice his work?
• Why does Lisa Genova choose to end the novel with John reading that Amylix, the medicine that Alice was taking, failed to stabilize Alzheimer’s patients? Why does this news cause John to cry?
• Alice’s doctor tells her, “You may not be the most reliable source of what’s been going on” (pg. 54). Yet, Lisa Genova chose to tell the story from Alice’s point of view. As Alice’s disease worsens, her perceptions indeed get less reliable. Why would the author choose to stay in Alice’s perspective? What do we gain, and what do we lose?

Animal’s People, by Indra Sinha

‘I used to be human once. So I’m told. I don’t remember it myself, but people who knew me when I was small say I walked on two feet just like a human being…’ Ever since he can remember, Animal has gone on all fours, the catastrophic result of what happened on That Night when, thanks to an American chemical company, the Apocalypse visited his slum. Now not quite twenty, he leads a hand-to-mouth existence with his dog Jara and a crazy old nun called Ma Franci, and spends his nights fantasising about Nisha, the daughter of a local musician, and wondering what it must be like to get laid. When a young American doctor, Elli Barber, comes to town to open a free clinic for the still suffering townsfolk – only to find herself struggling to convince them that she isn’t there to do the dirty work of the ‘Kampani’ – Animal plunges into a web of intrigues, scams and plots with the unabashed aim of turning events to his own advantage. Compellingly honest, entertaining and entirely without self-pity, Animal’s account lights our way into his dark world with flashes of pure joy – from the very first page all the way to the story’s explosive ending. Animal’s People is a stunningly humane work of storytelling that takes us right to the heart of contemporary India.

Questions for discussion:

• What does Animal mean when he says, “he used to be human once”? What does being human mean to Animal? What does Animal believe it would take for him to “become human” again? Does Animal get his wish?
• Who is Kha-in-the-Jar and what does he want from Animal? What do Kha-in-the-Jar and the others like him represent for Animal? How are readers to understand and make sense of Kha-in-the-Jar?
• What is the significance of names in the story? How do the names of individuals and things both suggest and obscure their meaning or value? What is the significance of the book’s title, Animal’s People?
• As outsiders, both Zafar and Elli attempt to help the people of Khaufpur. Compare and contrast their approaches. What are the cost and benefits of each? To whom did you find yourself most sympathetic? Why?
• What does Animal mean when he says that time does not exist for the poor? Why must all things be “now o’clock”?
• Who or what is Kampani? What does Zafar’s dream and Elli’s confessions reveal about Kampani?
• Animal, Ma Franci, and Zafar conceive of “that night” and its repercussions in unique and specific ways. Detail how each understands and makes sense of the events of “that night” and why the disaster occurred. How do each believe “that night” should be resolved for the people of Khaufpur? To whom do you find yourself in most agreement? Why?
• What happened during the night of the factory fire? What is the significance of the mysterious woman clad in burka with a broom? What parts did Animal, Ma Franci and others play in that fateful event? What did the fire mean for the community, for Animal? What role will it play for them in the future?
• To what do Elli, Animal, and Somraji’s discussion of music and its relationship to promises refer? What do the music and promises metaphors tell us? What do they tell Animal? Do these metaphors continue to resonate for Animal at the end of his tale? Why or why not?
• Animal’s People has been quoted as a book that “one that has its roots in unspeakable tragedy, but manages to stay upbeat, darkly funny and utterly devoid of self-pity.” Do you agree with this statement? Discuss some of the key elements of the story that valid/invalidate this claim.

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