Whistler Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Tibetan Book of the Dead and our BookBrowse Review of Whistler.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

These are original discussion questions written by BookBrowse.

1. When Daphne and Eddie meet at the museum, they haven't seen each other in nearly forty-five years. Why do you suppose neither tried to contact the other in all that time? Is there anyone you've lost touch with whom you've attempted to contact (or research)? If so, why did you feel compelled to look them up?
2. Within days of reconnecting, Eddie takes Daphne to an anniversary party where he introduces her as his daughter. Daphne asks him, "Isn't there something, I don't know, combative about introducing me to people as your daughter when they all know you don't have a daughter?" Do you agree it was combative? Why do you suppose he takes this route?
3. Leda tells Daphne they had a good childhood: "We were loved, not passionately, but enough, and we were largely ignored, which allowed for our healthy separation from the primary family. Necessity made us resourceful and brave. We were left to solve our own problems and so we did. The children you should worry about are the ones who are the singular light of their parents' lives." What do you think of this scene? Do you agree with Leda, or were you, like Daphne, surprised by her remarks?

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