Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb

1. Was Freddy wrong, given who he was and when he lived, to "help" Josephine the way he did?
2. Is Freddy a hero or a villain, and why?
3. If Josephine hadn't been Black, do you think that Freddy could have gotten away with what he did?
4. If Josephine hadn't been neurodivergent, do you think that Freddy could have gotten away with what he did?
5. In the author's note, he says that he wrote this book to be a "voice for the voiceless". What do you think he meant and have you ever felt silenced? Have you ever tried to help others who could be seen as "voiceless"? If so, how?
6. Was the Delaney Foundation inherently greedy or evil, or were they just trying to preserve their legacy?
7. How important, or unimportant, was it that most of the Board members were white, and that Bern and Eboni were Black?
8. In the 1920s, many composers would go to jazz clubs and appropriate melodies and themes from other musicians. Is this appropriation necessarily bad, or is that just what art is – to adapt someone else's vision and make it your own? How much is too much?
9. Bern struggled when he discovered that his idol, Freddy Delaney, had done some really rotten things. Have you ever had your idealism destroyed when someone you looked up to turned out to be not what you expected?
10. Do you think it's important that the present-day story line never discovered what happened to Josephine?
11. The author has said that the book is about the limits of human knowledge. How do you think the story lines and themes play into that?
12. Who's your favorite character and why?

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