Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for The Untold by Courtney Collins

1. Who is the narrator of The Untold? Do you feel the narrator is reliable or unreliable? Does the novel represent the narrator's experience of Jessie, or Jessie's life as seen (or not seen) by the narrator?
2. What is the author's purpose in beginning the narration with the question "If the dirt could speak, whose story would it tell?"
3. What is the importance of Andrew Barlow's asking Jack Brown, "Are you black enough to be my tracker?"
4. What is the significance of Jack Brown's relationship with Lay Ping and the Seven Sisters?
5. In the "Prelude to Death" section at the beginning of the book, the author writes about Harry Houdini, the famous escape artist. Why did she choose to begin the book this way? Why is it significant that Jesse's horse Houdini shares the name with this world-class stunt performer?
6. What does The Untold say about colonial Australia in terms of racism and sexism? How does the landscape reveal the characters? To what extent is it oppressive and to what extent is it redemptive?
7. Consider the motivation for Andrew Barlow's final actions. Why did he make the decision he made?
8. Discuss the relationship between Andrew Barlow and Jessie. How does it connect with Jessie's relationship with the boy, Joe, Bill, and the other riders in the gang?
9. Think about Jessie's role as an escape artist. In what ways does she reveal herself as one?
10. Why does the author divert the narrative in one section to a man who has been buried for forty years? What is his relationship with the other characters, in particular the old woman and the old man who find Jessie by the river?
11. Consider the following quotation: "That is all I know: death is a magic hall of mirrors and within it there is a door and the door opens both ways." How does The Untold challenge the finite notion of death?
12. What do you make of the ending: "And then, as I felt in my own heart a wish for her freedom, in one single and shimmering note I heard her. She said: I am here"? What do you think this means?

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