1. Does your opinion of Kath change over the course of the book? How do Glyn’s “interviews” with people who knew Kath affect your opinion of her?
   

2. The past is a constant present for the characters. How do Glyn, Elaine, Nick and Polly deal with it?
   

3. How do they deal with the changed perception of the past?
   

4. Why is it significant that Glyn is a landscape historian?
   

5. Why was Kath drawn to Glyn? To Nick? Do you buy their explanations of their relationships with Kath?
   

6. Why does Lively tell the story from many points of view?
   

7. What is Mary Packard’s role?
   

8. What is at the heart of Glyn’s dissatisfaction? Elaine’s?
   

9. What has Glyn learned by the end of the book?
   

Questions compiled by Suzanne Fisher (fishers@uhls.lib.ny.us)
January 2005