1. Do you believe in the curse Dvora describes?

2. What does the author achieve in the narrative through the use of magical realism? What is the difference between magic and superstition for the villagers? Is it an actual difference or a perceived difference?

3. What does the ritual of visiting the mikveh symbolize, both for the neighborhood women and within the context of the narrative?

4. Horn makes extensive use of natural and physical phenomenon, as symbols of life and death and as portents of good and evil. What symbols are most effective and what are their meanings? How does the author use things like women’s hair and physical features, plants and flowers, animals and bugs?

5. What are the tokens of affection in the novel, both romantic and between generations?

6. What is the changing nature of the institution of marriage in the novel? What about the notion of true love?

7. How does the novel characterize motherhood and the relationship between mothers and daughters in the book? How is it different from fatherhood and the relationships between fathers and sons or mothers and sons? How do the relationships change from generation to generation?

8. How does each woman rely on or get misled by the artifacts of her ancestors? Consider actual items that are handed down, such as photographs and other objects, but also the oral tradition passed on by each woman to her daughter.

9. What role does the nature of communication and language play in the novel?

10. How important is religion in the lives of this family? Cultural tradition? National identity?