Keeper of Lost Children

Keeper of Lost Children is based on a true story (Ethel's character is based on Mabel Grammer). Were you familiar with the "brown babies” - children of Black US servicemen and German women - before reading this book?

The novel depicts how widespread overt racism was in all aspects of Black people's lives. In what ways have we moved on from the racism of the 1940s to '60s? In what ways is our society still wrestling with prejudice and injustice?

The story is told from three points of view: Ethel, Ozzie, and Sophia. How did Johnson distinguish their voices? Whose point of view did you most enjoy? Whose story did you find most compelling?

Did you enjoy the multiple character/timeline structure? Were you able to predict how the three stories would connect?

How does Ethel deal with her infertility? How does it impact her choices?

Ethel discovers the children at the orphanage and decides to do something about it. Why did others not act on behalf of the "brown babies"? What propelled Ethel to act?

Ozzie makes choices that readers may at times disagree with. Did you find him sympathetic? How would you have acted in his shoes?

Sophia's life on the farm is hard. What gives her the will to forge a new life at school, and to take on school integration?

In their own way, each main character searches for identity, belonging, and purpose. How does this theme play out for each of them?

The book's blurb states that the novel "demonstrates that love in its myriad of forms—familial, parental, and forbidden, even love of self—can be transcendent." How did Johnson display these various types of love? How did love propel the characters forward?

Were you satisfied by the novel's resolution?