House of the Deaf Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The ETA and Basque separatists and our BookBrowse Review of House of the Deaf.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

About the Book
Ben Williamson, a divorced father of two, is "slightly overweight, somewhat shambling, not quite mysterious" and seemingly ineffectual.

But we soon learn he is also capable of a serious act.

The serious act in Lamar Herrin's elegant novel, House of the Deaf, is a quest to avenge the accidental death of Ben's older daughter by Basque separatists in Spain. Michelle Williamson was killed while on her junior year abroad, caught in a bombing on her morning run. Ben is bewildered by the loss and angered, especially by the way life moves on in the very place Michelle died—a public park in the heart of Madrid. Ben travels to Spain in search of answers, in search of the person or people responsible, and finally into Basque country for a final act of revenge.

Like her father, younger daughter Annie also seeks closure. Annie wasn't close with Michelle, and now her father seems inaccessible, indeed to have disappeared. Through alternating chapters, the book presents the story of Ben and his quest for revenge in Spain and the story of Annie and her quest to locate her father both physically and emotionally. Their quests converge in the northern Basque country where the inevitable confrontation unfolds.

The author presents a rich portrait of Spanish history and traditions that is coupled with the very contemporary issue of how we live in these violent times.



Questions for Discussion

1. The author has chosen to name the novel House of the Deaf, after Goya's painting, House of the Deaf Man. What significance do you think the title of this book has for the story that unfolds? Why did the author choose to elevate the House of the Deaf Man to the title, rather than Goya's Duelo a Garrotazos, which Paula felt she needed to show Ben at the Prado?
2. Ben is looking for a face; "he'd need a face to make a fair exchange" for Michelle's death. Why does Ben choose Armando Ordoki over all the other faces he sees on the streets, on television and in the newspapers he reads?
3. Ben's ex-wife Gail tells Annie that "the kind of love your father believes in doesn't exist – it never did." What does Gail mean by this and how has it colored Ben's relationship with his ex-wife, his children, and with Paula?

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