Book Club Discussion Questions
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Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
Introduction
Weaving together a
pair of remarkable stories, debut novelist Jennifer Vanderbes explores the
realms of love and anger, trust and betrayal, through the eyes of two
exceptional young women living nearly a century apart who journey to the most
remote island in the world—Easter Island. Though separated by time and
circumstance, these women experience parallel turns of fate as their passions
for knowledge draw them into all-consuming investigations of the island's
mysterious past. But what begins as scientific inquiries soon unearth
frightening, personal revelations for both women, and as they unravel the
secrets of this exotic locale, they must face their own haunting secrets. A
story about two journeys of transformation, forgiveness, and, ultimately,
redemption, Easter Island is a powerful debut and a wonderfully intriguing book
to discuss.
The questions, discussion topics, and author biography that follow are intended
to enhance your reading of Jennifer Vanderbes' Easter Island. We hope they
will enrich your experience of this captivating novel.
Reader's Guide
- Would you characterize Elsa and Greer as reflections of one another, or do
you consider them to have significantly distinct attitudes and personalities?
How might each woman's storyline have played out in the other's time period?
- Elsa's devotion to Alice is clear from the novel's first page. Do you
feel that Elsa has a realistic or naive perception of Alice's disabilities?
What does Alice represent to Elsa, besides being a devoted sister? Why do you
suppose it's important for Elsa to maintain an image of Alice as pure and
blameless?
- Elsa's tale ends with a spectacular "what if." Describe your
imagined outcome; were her final years tragic ones, or do you think she found
peace at last?
- Greer possessed keen deductive abilities as a scientist. Why do you
suppose it was so difficult for her to realize her husband's deception?
- Discuss the parallel aspects of the novel's two storylines. In what ways
are both women on a similar quest? In what ways do they both find themselves
strengthened and defeated by Easter Island?
- How did your interpretation of Easter Island's epigraph, "The Legend
of Hotu Matua," shift after you had finished reading the novel?
- Mahina is deeply religious, nurturing, and holding out impossible hope for
a reunion with her husband. In what ways do her traits enrich the novel? Are her
religion and Greer's logic mutually exclusive?
- 8. Both Greer and Elsa find themselves immersed in mostly male worlds. How
are these gender distinctions portrayed in Easter Island?
- For Elsa, the arrival of Max brings both emotional and concrete
consequences. How does your perception of him change throughout the novel,
particularly in light of the letter that comprises one of the book's opening
scenes?
- Both Elsa and Greer faced oppression by social convention. For Elsa,
British laws might have required her to institutionalize Alice. For Greer, the
role of wife versus lab assistant was difficult to navigate. Does Easter Island
provide the liberation both women are seeking?
- Why is Easter Island such an appropriate setting for these dual
narratives? In what way do its remote, rugged characteristics reflect that of
the novel's main characters? In addition to being a work of fiction that
blends historical and contemporary issues, Easter Island is also part
travelogue. What did you discover during your armchair journey to this unique
environment?
- What are the similarities between Greer's father and Elsa's? What did
each of these men teach their daughters about the world and its inhabitants?
- What is your opinion of Professor Beazley? What do you believe his
motivation in marrying Elsa was?
- Consider the theme of survival in Easter Island. What is the significance
of Greer's poisonous spider bite? How might Elsa have "survived" living in
England after her life-changing experiences on the island?
- Greer's paper, appearing in chapter twenty-nine, proposes that the
construction of the moai led to the decline of the island's indigenous
population. In what way does this irony reflect the life experiences of Elsa and
Greer? What were their self-destructive "monuments?"
Copyright Delta Publishing
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Dell.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.
