Book Club Discussion Questions for Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of Beneath a Marble Sky.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. The original title for the book was Souls In Stone. Which title do you prefer, and why?
   
   
2. Did you like the scenes with Jahanara and her granddaughters, or would the book have been complete without them?
   
   
3. Jahanara’s character is greatly influenced by her need to please her parents. Are such needs any less important today?
   
   
4. The author uses foreshadowing at various places in the novel. Does he use it too much?
   
   
5. If you were Jahanara, would you have let the cobra kill Aurangzeb?
   
   
6. Isa and Nizam both experienced tragedies at a young age. Are their positive dispositions believable?
   
   
7. Did the author misstep with any emotions that a female author might have conveyed better?
   
   
8. What is the most memorable scene in the novel?
   
   
9. Did the book provide you with any insight into Islam? Anything that might offer you answers regarding issues at hand today?
   
   
10. What did Beneath A Marble Sky say to you? That is, what was the most important message that you gained from it? How is that message relevant to your own journey?

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