1. Which fairy tale or legend do you most wish were true?
2. Do you prefer reading fact or fiction?
3. Is it easy or difficult for you to give people second chances? Can you think of times when you’ve been given a second chance?
4. What is your responsibility for others’ salvation?
5. If something violates your sensibilities, should it violate everyone’s sensibilities?
6. Is it possible to love a person you can’t trust?
7. After Awen claims Alix’s mystery as his own, they have this dialogue: “On the return, my lord demanded my pardon for claiming the mystery for his own. I replied to him that I understood the why of what he had done and I thanked him. For had he not claimed it, the mystery would never have been heard. By any. And he recalled to me that in all cases, it is for God the glory of such a work and not man. And this I know, and this I had intended, but it does not make the offense seem any less.” What were your own reactions to their meeting with the priest? Would you have been as understanding as Alix?
8. When Freddie contemplates her marriage with Peter, she realizes that, “I’d never before stopped to consider how very great a distance there was between believing in something and believing nothing. There may have been less of a culture clash had I been married to a Hindu or Muslim. At least we both would have been approaching life with the idea that there was some sort of higher purpose for it all.” What do you think about these statements?
9. At one point, Cranwell apologizes to Freddie for his behavior: “I’m sorry, Freddie. I had no right to do that. You always seem to be the victim when my old nature rebels against the new one.” Can you think of times when your old nature has rebelled against your new one? Who always seems to be the victim?
10. Have you ever been betrayed by someone? How?
11. How do you view marriage? As a union of bodies, hearts, minds, or souls?
12. When Freddie learns she has lost her bet with Cranwell, she states that, “Anyone could have an affair. Not everyone could use that passion to build a life in common.” Do you agree with her?
13. When addressing Freddie’s guilt, Cranwell makes this argument: “It seems to me that everyone is responsible to God for the state of their own soul. He’s left it up to each individual to make a choice-for themselves. Maybe Peter would have become a believer if you had talked to him, or maybe he wouldn’t have. Sometimes people won’t listen to those closest to them. Sometimes they need a stranger to tell them. Sometimes they don’t need words at all. God doesn’t need anybody to tell others about Him; He’s arranged the world itself to be His testimony.” Do you agree with him?
14. Do you spend more of your time living in the past, the present, or the future?
15. Freddie acknowledges one of her fears in this passage: “As the days passed, the tragedy of Sévérine’s breakdown and the shock of her betrayal shifted from the foreground of my thoughts to the background. I thought about looking for someone else to replace her, and then thought about taking a break. Considered for the first time what I would do if I didn’t have my chateau. I didn’t arrive at an answer, but at least the question itself no longer scared me.” Do you have any questions that you’re afraid to answer?