After the Last Border Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF

For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Fairuz: The Voice of Lebanon and our BookBrowse Review of After the Last Border.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Why do you think the author chose to tell this story in this particular form, writing novelistic narrative sections interspersed with history?
2. There are many poignant scenes in the life of anyone who has gone through the intense process of resettling in a new country, and including those scenes might be necessary to fully tell their stories. Why do you think the author chose to include the scene of Mu Naw taking Pah Poe to the store? What were you thinking about while reading that scene? Did it tell you anything about Mu Naw?
3. For Mu Naw, though her young life was marked by war, upheaval, and stagnant years as a permanently displaced person, it's in the US that she experiences the moments where she feels the most "untethered" to everything she thought she was. Have you ever experienced being disconnected from the places, people, and things that remind you of who you are? Did that experience help you relate to Mu Naws journey in those tough early months?

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