Land of Milk and Honey Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Jian Bing and our BookBrowse Review of Land of Milk and Honey.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. C Pam Zhang's Land of Milk and Honey tells a near-future story about a chef who takes a job at a wealthy mountaintop colony, escaping her everyday troubles in a smog-filled world. How does the setting impact your understanding of the characters, their circumstances, and their views of livelihood?
2. The narrator prepares decadent meals for an enclosed elite community, while the rest of society has a scarcity of money and resources. Compare and contrast between individuals of different class and status. How are various forms of privilege manifested throughout the book?
3. In the novel, the protagonist makes a difficult career choice, one that is contrary to her mother's wishes. They fundamentally disagree about food, appetite, sustenance, and survival. What do you make of the protagonist's decision to devote her life to cooking? How do her motivations evolve as the plot develops?

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