The Blind Astronomer's Daughter Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, William and Caroline Herschel and our BookBrowse Review of The Blind Astronomer's Daughter.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Compare and contrast the experiences of Caroline Herschel and Siobhan Ainsworth. Both women are considered outcasts due to their gender and physical disabilities. How do they each overcome their disadvantages? Explore the many similarities in their stories and how their common experiences shape them as women and as scientists. In what ways does Caroline Herschel serve as a foil for Siobhan?
2. Pipkin delves into the struggle and invisibility of women in science by examining the true story of Caroline Herschel and the fictional accounts of Siobhan Ainsworth and the Seven Sisters. How were each of these women erased and/or celebrated by their male counterparts? Discuss the irony of the Seven Sisters' world-renowned mirror business and what it exposes about the industry of science. In your opinion, has society's attitude toward female scientists changed or continued to be exclusionary?
3. Each section of the novel is named for a stage of planetary orbit. When cautioning Arthur, McPherson notes that "The past is a mirror to the future" (78). Explore how the cyclical movement of a planet in orbit can be found metaphorically throughout the novel. How do Finn and Siobhan seem to orbit each other? Are there other characters who fall into orbit with one another? How do locations such as New Park serve as the focal point of multiple orbits? Provide an example of how a section title serves to foreshadow or describe the chapter's events.

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.