Dark Roots Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of Dark Roots.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

About This Guide

A Grove Press Reading Guide by Barbara Putnam

We hope that these discussion questions will enhance your reading group's exploration of Cate Kennedy's Dark Roots. They are meant to stimulate discussion, offer new viewpoints, and enrich your enjoyment of the book.  More reading group guides and additional information, including summaries, author tours, and author sites for other fine Grove Press titles, may be found on our Web site, www.groveatlantic.com.


Questions for Discussion

1. "I have been told, both in approval and in accusation, that I seem to love all my characters. What I do in writing of any character is to try to enter into the mind, heart, and skin of a human being who is not myself. Whether this happens to be a man or a woman, old or young, with skin black or white, the primary challenge lies in making the jump itself. It is the act of a writer's imagination that I set most high." —Eudora Welty.
   
   Do you think Kennedy seems to love all her characters? Does she enter completely into "the mind, heart, and skin" of different people? Do you, as a reader, feel drawn to follow her there? Which characters in these stories do you understand and feel the best, whether or not you condone their actions?
   
    
2. Did you find that the stories offer a surprising range of subjects, tones, and settings? Most are focused on one relationship or a family. Yet think about the variety of human natures and conflicts. The spirit may be sly satire or grim vengeance or just endurance, but usually with ironic insights. Which stories use shock value effectively? Which ones make you smile with satisfaction, perhaps along with the narrator?
   
    
3. Violence, real or imagined, is often a place of revelation or a sharp turning point. Think of the accident in "What Thou and I Did, Till We Loved." And the near murder in "Flotsam." Recall the sustained imagery of trapping that leads to the final event in "Cold Snap." What other stories turn on a violent act?
   
    

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