The Guineveres Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Concept of Sainthood and our BookBrowse Review of The Guineveres.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Discuss the tension in the novel between the individual and the group, dramatized by Vere's frequent use of first - person plural narration, as she speaks for "The Guineveres." How do the girls develop a sense of self in the convent?
2. Sister Fran tells The Guineveres: "It's an altar server, not an altar girl. There's no such thing as an altar girl." Win repeats this sentiment years later, at a dinner party, and then starts crying. What does the term "altar girls" mean to the Guineveres? How are gender norms enforced and disrupted in the novel?
3. What do you make of the saints' revival stories, in which the young women frequently deny themselves physically, inflict harm on themselves, and mutilate their bodies? How do the saints' stories complicate The Guineveres' views on their own physicality?

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