To my family and friends for cheering me on and celebrating each small step along the way.
And with love, always, for P and E.
Discussion Questions
1. What do the chapter titles and the epigraphs at the start of many of the chapters suggest to you about the ideas at work in the book?
2. What is your initial response to the Winchesters' unconventional family arrangement? What does Rose see as the connection between their arrangement and her certainty that hers and Randolph's will be “one of the world's great love stories”?
3. Early in the novel, Sarala reflects on Abhijat's ambitions, noting that “each time he achieved one of the many goals he set for himself, he responded not with celebration and satisfaction at his own accomplishment, but by thinking, Yes, but there is more to be done.” In what ways might Abhijat's attitude be useful? In what ways might it be detrimental?
4. Books are important to many of the novel's charactersâfor Randolph and Meena it's The Secret Museum of Mankind; for Lily and Meena it's their love of encyclopedias; for Sarala, her self-improvement books. In what ways do these books reveal interesting or important information about each of the characters? Which books have been important to you as a reader in this way?
5. Early on in the novel, Abhijat notes that curiosity is the most important human quality. In what ways is curiosity important to each of the characters?
6. The novel explores the ways in which land use in Nicolet changesâfrom prairie to farmland to suburbâwith the arrival of the Lab. How does this history of changing land use and the arrival of the Lab affect the community?
7. How do you respond to Abhijat's mother's advice that “one could best find success by first finding peace and contentment”?
8. Lily argues that “sometimes letters are a better way to know someone than all of the silly, inconsequential interactions of daily life.” Why do you think she feels this way? Do you agree?
9. If you were a resident of Nicolet, where do you think you'd come down on the issue of the Superconducting Super Collider?
10. Where in the book do you encounter characters struggling to communicate successfully? How does this manifest? Is this resolved? If so, how? If not, why?
11. How does the use of physical space in each of the homes convey ideas about the characters? For example, are there rooms that seem to “belong” to certain characters? What do these rooms say about their owners? Are there ways in which these spaces reveal something about the social structures in each of the families?
12. The idea of feeling “at home” is a central focus of the book. Where do each of the characters feel most at home? Why?
13. Do you think Sarala ever really considers leaving Abhijat? If not, why? If so, what do you think changes her mind?
14. In what ways are the two families different at the end of the book than when we meet them at the beginning?
15. What are each of the characters most hoping for throughout the novel? Which of them get what they're hoping for? How do these outcomes affect each of the characters? Do you agree with Randolph's opinion at the end of the book that “it can be liberating to let go of hopes that chain one to unhappiness, dissatisfaction”?
16. What do you find likeable about each of the characters? What do you find unlikeable about them?
17. What do you imagine the future has in store for each of these characters?