1. Zulé's father, Papa Luc, has an uncanny nose for news: he seems to get information before anyone else, and senses the truths that no one will tell him. "Each day in the batey Papa Luc learned something different. And that night he had learned that great secrets did not exist in the lives of men, only small snares waiting at each step, the bait lying right there on the ground." What is the difference between a secret and a snare? How does this comment on destiny prophesize what would become Zulé's fate? Why do you think Zulé repeatedly utters the line, "What have you heard about Similá Bolosse?"

2. "Coridón had taught her that Gagá wars can be very good. Good when you make an alliance and the Societé fattens like a maja snake in the shade and the men are barely bruised by an unlucky stone. But who ever heard of firearms in Gagá battles? It needed Similá Bolosse with his evil tonton macoute ways for things in the Dominican Republic to stop being what they had been." What does this passage tell you about how modern-day realities of drugs and weapons have affected the Voudon religion? Without the impact of these factors, how might Zulé's life -- and the lives of her Societé -- been different?

3. In her author's note, Montero points out that the novel is based on true events that the Dominican police dismissed as "a simple 'crime of passion.'" What does this fact lend to the story?

4. On one level, The Red of His Shadow is a classic battle of wills between two powerful leaders intent on dominating each other. How does Montero "tweak" this archetypal plot to make it her own? Is Zulé a heroine? A martyr? A scorned lover? Do you think she should have heeded the advice of her elders and taken a different route from Similá's Gagá? What impact does the fact that Similá and Zulé used to be lovers have on the story?

5. Without the religious details -- the ceremonies, songs and spells -- Zulé's story is about a young woman protecting her family from outside forces. How does Voudon transform this story into something more epochal and mysterious? How did this novel educate you about the Voudon religion?