Introduction

What happens when the children of a murderous sociopath grow up and enter adulthood? How can they move beyond the damage of their childhood? What demons and nightmares from their traumatic past must they reconcile to become whole human beings?

THEATER OF ILLUSION is the third book in my Spirit of the River series and focuses on Sarah Perkins and her brother as the past haunts them and threatens their future. I've combined elements of mystery, history, and romance. THEATER OF ILLUSION is full of twists and secrets while it examines issues of alcoholism, suicide, and the battle to overcome gender-specific roles.

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Discussion Questions

1. When the story opens, Sarah rushes to Lost Soul's cliff to try to stop her brother from throwing himself from it. Throughout the book, how do we see Sarah's influence in her brother's life? Is there a point where involvement in another person's life is detrimental? To which parties? Where is the line?

2. In the past, Emma left her children while she rebuilt her life and faced her husband. Given the issues Tobias and Sarah face as adults, was that the right thing to do? What other options might she have taken, given women's confines during that time (1900)? How would their lives be different if the story took place today? How might they be the same?

3. We see Tobias sink into alcoholism. What can be done to prevent this growing problem in our society? How do the other characters react to Toby's drinking and how do they hurt or help?

4. Throughout the story, Sarah battles the confines of the male-dominated world of riverboats and society in 1910. Does she go about promoting her cause an effective way? What other things might she do, given the strictures of the times?

5. The story reveals much more of Henrietta than we first see. How does your view of her change? By the end of the journey, what do you think she will do? What sort of options does a woman in her position have? What sort of constraints?

6. Sarah is an adult, but still hides things from her mother. What do you think is her motivation? Is she right? Could her life (and Toby's) be easier with Emma's deeper involvement? How? When is it time for a mother to step back and allow her children to live with the consequences of their mistakes?

7. A theme of the book is illusion versus reality. What characters are not at all what they seem? Who changes during the course of the story? Who do you change the way you look at by the end of the story? What characters helped you see something or someone that differed from your first impression?

Weblinks

»	Publisher's Book Info
»	Author Kathy Steffen's web site

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