The Lieutenant Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Australian Penal Colonies and our BookBrowse Review of The Lieutenant.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

Reading Group Guide for The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville

1. The novel begins with Daniel Rooke's childhood during which he is keenly aware of the "misery of being out of step with the world" (p. 5). Talk about your impressions of Rooke as a young boy, finding instances of his experiences as an outsider, and consider how his childhood prepares him for the life ahead of him.
   
   
2. Author Kate Grenville writes with a poet's sensibility, especially apparent in her evocative descriptions of setting throughout the novel.  How does the ocean town of Portsmouth, England, with its shingle shore and soft rain shape the young Rooke?  Is it a place that symbolizes for him a certain time and mind-set?  Why do you think he rarely returns there?
   
   
3. "Rooke had his own sacred text in which his God made Himself plain: mathematics ... because to think mathematically was to feel the action of God in oneself" (p. 14). Why does the young Rooke feel so secure in this worldview?  Consider again his early years up until his first experiences as a soldier and find evidence that supports his theory, as well as evidence against it.
   
   

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.