Book Club Specials – Death Lost Dominion

Book Club Special FREEBIE Features!

If you host or participate in a book club and would like to use my first novel, DEATH LOST DOMINION, as a pick, I’m happy to offer special features!

1. Below is a list of discussion questions written by the author (me!) specifically for this novel.  Hopefully, they will give you plenty to talk about and ideas of other questions you or your group members would like to add.
2. If you would like to include the author in your discussion, please contact me at susanadairharris@gmail.com.  I will try to work out a way to attend your group meeting in person or you can submit questions for me and I will send you answers.  My Internet connection is not reliable, but I may be able to Skype from another location.
3. If you would like to offer a reading by the author, I have prepared a couple of video readings which you can download via the link below; one is the Prologue and the other is Chapter One.  Or, you can also view them on my YouTube channel – Susan Adair Harris, Author!  Or, if distance doesn’t forbid it, I can present a reading in person.  My most requested readings are the Prologue and Chapter One or the end of Chapter 15 (which sets up the identity theme).  However, I would be glad to read an excerpt of your choice.

Death Lost Dominion – Prologue

Death Lost Dominion – Chapter One

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SAMPLE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR DEATH LOST DOMINION

1. How did you react to the beginning of the book after you learned the specifics were based on actual historical accounts?
2. What part does culture play in the relationships represented in the story, and how authentic do you think the depictions of culture were?
3. Which relationships in the novel seemed to you to demonstrate the purest unconditional love?  Which represented superficial love?
4. How do Marguerite, Pia and Nick change by the end of the book?
5. What do you think the blood-stained handbag symbolized?  Did you discover other symbols?
6. Which plot points, bits of dialogue, or passages struck a chord with you as either important or improbable?  Was the book surprising or predictable?
7. How are the following themes expressed in the book and how realistic are they?
   1. Forming and maintaining personal identity.
   2. Prejudice against
      1. Victims of rape, AIDS, or PTSD.
      2. People who exhibit differences (i.e., disabilities, class distinctions).
      3. Mothers who choose abortion, adoption, or single parenting.
   3. Self-sacrifice and its motivation.
   4. Living fully after surviving.
   5. Death as a lens for understanding life.
   6. Another theme you identified.
8. What do you think would’ve happened IF…
   1. Marguerite hadn’t kept the baby?
   2. Marguerite had told Pia as a child about her real father?
   3. The baby had not been with Pia on her winter walk?
   4. Ralph had carried out his plan for Santiago Silva?
   5. Pia had brought her stepbrother home?
   6. The book continued into a sequel?
   7. Another change of your choice had happened?
9. How would you describe the morality (living according to standards of right and wrong) of these characters:
   1. Marguerite
   2. Santiago Silva
   3. Pia
   4. Nick’s mother Cynthia
   5. Ralph the Marine
   6. The Argentinian police officer
   7. Another character of your choice
10. Did you find the ending satisfying–why or why not?
11. In a movie version, who would you cast in the main roles and why?