Foster

How old do you think the narrator is?

When is the story set, and is that time period clear throughout the book?

Why do you think the name of the narrator is never given?

When her father brings her to the Kinsellas’ house and Edna Kinsella cuts some rhubarb for the narrator’s mother, neither Edna nor the father will pick up the dropped stalks, leaving them on the floor until John Kinsella picks them up. What does this scene say about the three of them?

Why does the trip to Gorey seem so hard for Edna and John Kinsella? Why does Edna react with such strong feelings when an acquaintance says of the narrator, ‘Ah, isn’t she company for you all the same, God help you’? Would you say Edna’s behavior seems reasonable, either to the narrator or to the reader?

Why do you think Mildred is so curious and critical of the Kinsellas after the wake? Why does John Kinsella take the narrator down to the sea straight afterwards, and what is the significance of their discussion about the lights out on the water?

When she is recovering after having fallen in the well, the narrator says, ‘I lie there with the hot-water bottle, listening to the rain and reading my books, following what happens more closely and making up something different to happen at the end of each, each time.’ Do you think she has ever felt safe and cared for before?

How different are the narrator’s feelings when her father first leaves her, compared to when the Kinsellas leave? What do you imagine will happen after the events of the book?

What were your feelings at the close of the book? Would you have wanted to read more? Or were you satisfied with the ending?