Dark Horses Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF

For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Olympic Equestrian Eventing and our BookBrowse Review of Dark Horses.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. On page 4, Roan describes her father as "conditioned to superiority since conception. Montgomerys were exceptional." In what ways is Roan exceptional? How has she carried on this legacy? How has she changed it?
2. Compartmentalization is a mental tool Roan's father taught her and is something she relies on throughout the novel. We first hear it on page 9, as she's coaching herself before competition ("Compartmentalize, I told myself in Daddy's voice. All that could wait...I had a job to do.) Later, on page 126, Roan describes leading thoughts of Will "into one of the stalls in my mind." How does this skill serve her well? What happens in the moments she doesn't compartmentalize? Do you think it's a skill that ultimately saves her, or is it a limitation?
3. On page 23, Roan laments that her father "reserved his charm for the public. It drove me crazy sometimes, the man I knew versus the man everyone else saw." In the hospital, the social worker, Mrs. Adams, asks point blank if Roan "see[s] him as different people" (pg. 126). Performance is clearly a large part of their family life, both in competition and in the regular course of a day, at school, with Will, and even with Eddie and Gertrude at home. Given this, do you think Monty is two "different people"? Is Roan? Discuss how these multiple "versions" of Monty and Roan contribute to each of their trajectories. Like compartmentalization, is performance a skill that ultimately benefits Roan as she wrests control of her life? How does she utilize it later in the novel? Is it ever a hindrance?

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