The Photographer's Wife Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, What is it Like to Live in Jerusalem? and our BookBrowse Review of The Photographer's Wife.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

These discussion questions are designed to enhance your group's discussion about The Photographer's Wife, a novel about an artist who is forced to confront her past, including family secrets and the political turmoil they caused, when one of her father's former employees tracks her down in the late 1930s.


For Discussion

1. The novel's main protagonist is Prue, yet the title refers to Eleanora. Why do you think Joinson made this choice?
2. Compare and contrast the way Prue is treated by her father, Eleanor, Ihsan, and the other adults in her life when she is a child. What impact do you think this has on her as she becomes an adult?
3. Why do you think Willie lets the canary go in the opening scene?

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