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The Lake of Dead Languages Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

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The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman

The Lake of Dead Languages

by Carol Goodman
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (19):
  • First Published:
  • Jan 1, 2002, 390 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2003, 413 pages
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Book Club Discussion Questions

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Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

  1. Given the trauma she endured there, why does Jane return to the Heart Lake School for Girls? Do you judge her options to be as limited as she does? Are there other factors at work in her decision?

  2. Jane acknowledges: "I had thought it was all right to marry someone I didn't love, but what I hadn't counted on was how it felt to share someone I loved with someone I didn't." Discuss the nature of Jane and Mitch's marriage and the impact Olivia's birth had on it.

  3. How does motherhood change Jane's life?

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  1. How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
  2. What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
  3. Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?


Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Ballantine Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.

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