ICE Breakers
DREAM COUNT
BOOK OF THE MOMENT
Why do you think Chai and Omelogor’s stories are told in the first person and the other two aren’t?
What does Zikora's story tell you about being lost in time and how biological pressure affects women?
What does Kaditou’s story tell you about America? Is it the free and progressive country it proclaims to be? How do previous mistakes and lies affect justice?
Do you think Omelogor is happy with her successful, single life? How did her philosophy of being a modern day "Robyn Hood" resonate with you?
A question which impacts all these women seems to be “What is the cost of resisting” Do you think these women accept situations and traditions because the cost of doing otherwise is too much to bear?
What do you think are the main differences in the women’s dreams and view of love?
As a woman, how much could you relate to in this book?
Who in the quartet could you relate to the most and why?
This is a very different book from ‘Americanah’ and ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’. How did it compare for your book club?
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
MISSED OPPORTUNITY
The original title for this novel was 'First Impressions'? Do you think 'Pride and Prejudice' is a better title? And how does it relate to Elizabeth and Darcy?
Jane Austen claimed this novel, her second, to be ‘rather too light & bright & sparkling’. Do you and your book group agree? Have you read other Austen novels and how does it compare to her other heroines such as Anne Elliot of 'Persuasion', Emma Woodhouse of 'Emma' and Marianne Dashwood of 'Sense and Sensibility'?
Why is Mr Darcy such an iconic hero and why do readers keep coming back to this novel, even after the
original suspense is gone and they know how it ends?
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in the possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife". Did your reading of 'Pride and Prejudice' feel dated and were you still able to admire Elizabeth's outspokeness and her ability to push back at the confines of social convention?
Who do you think might play Mr Darcy in the new proposed film? And what would a modern Elizabeth look like?
KILLING TIME
Bennett is typically preoccupied with sex, class and isolation. Does the pandemic change this in any way for his characters? How did this look or feel different for the reader compared to other works by Bennett?
Described as a mini masterpiece, did you find yourself wanting to discover more about this group of residents?
How does this story compare to other novels in which residential homes play a role, such as 'The Thursday Murder Club' series?
Do you think Bennett's own age has affected his writing style and characterisation of the elderly? Is he kinder and does his age affect the poignancy of his words?
Writers have naturally not shied away from writing about pandemic experiences? Given the heartache associated with the elderly was this a difficult read or one that Bennett enables us as readers to reflect and provide talking points for discussion?
THE WILD CARD