The Children Act Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, A History of Child Welfare Policy and our BookBrowse Review of The Children Act.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. How did The Children Act affect your perception of family courts? What makes it so challenging for parents and the courts alike to follow the deceptively simple mandate that "the child's welfare shall be the . . . paramount consideration"?
   


2. How would you react if your spouse made a proposal like Jack's? Is Jack's interest in Melanie purely sexual? When he asserts that couples in long marriages lose passion, is he right?
   


3. How would you have ruled in the first case described in The Children Act, regarding the education of Rachel and Nora Bernstein? Does Fiona approach religious freedom the same way in her ruling for Adam's case?
   

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.