Love and Treasure Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Hungarian Gold Train and our BookBrowse Review of Love and Treasure.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Love and Treasure is a novel that illuminates the shifting nature of identity. In the beginning of the novel, Jack Wiseman is described as a New York Jew whose father's parents are of "authentic German Jewish stock," (page 18) yet he finds it a struggle to connect with both the American soldiers under his command and the European Jews he encounters. How does Jack's definition of himself change over the course of the novel? How do Jack's fellow soldiers view him? How is he viewed by the Hungarian civilians he meets? What does this say about the how cultural heritage is assigned or interpreted?
   


2. On page 12, Jack admits that for many years the "contents of the pouch had been a kind of obsession" to him. In what ways does his granddaughter internalize this obsession and make it her own? What drives Natalie's quest? Did Jack send her on this mission out of duty to the owner or to renew the "glimmer of interest" (page 13) in his granddaughter that had been destroyed by her divorce? Both?
   


3. When Jack first meets Ilona, he declares that she is all "wire and sparks" (page 29). How does her presence help Jack to better understand his identity as a Jew? As an American? How does she challenge his views about the war or its aftermath?
   

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.