Ancestor Stones Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, A Short History of Sierra Leone and our BookBrowse Review of Ancestor Stones.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. In speaking of her marriage, Asana states “I learned about women—how we are made into the women we become, how we shape ourselves, how we shape each other” (p. 107). Using this quote as a springboard, begin your discussion by considering the central role of women in the patriarchal society portrayed in the novel. Is their crucial role something of a paradox? What are some of the specific roles that women undertake? Throughout the novel we learn much about the complex hierarchical system of marriage. How do the women support each other and how do they undermine one another? Note that the word “Ores” means both co-wife and rival.
2. At the beginning of the novel Abie returns to her childhood home of Rofathane from London and strains to hear the voices of the past, “but the layers of years in between us were too many” (p. 10). What does she mean by this? What is Abie’s role in the novel? Do you find her to be a satisfying and fully fleshed character? Are the stories of the four sisters perhaps more accessible when filtered through Abie?
3. When Abie reads the letter she states that it is written in English, “but the words, the sensibility, was Africa” (p. 8). How far could this statement apply to the whole novel? Think about the story that Abie tells at the beginning of the novel about different ways of seeing. Consider also cultural differences between the West and the African society depicted.

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