Introduction

Full length audiobook unabridged on 11 CD's. Read by Kathe Mazur.

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Discussion Questions

From the Publisher:

1. The life of a woman in the nineteenth century, especially among the upper class, was fairly constricted. As a product of that culture, was Lucy justified in her actions? What part does culture play in dictating what is morally right? Does the concept of right change as culture changes? Should it? How would you have lived in that era? Could you have been happy as a woman then?

2. How much did Victor’s patients and their husbands understand about his treatment? Do you think he deliberately misled them? If he did, was he right to do so? Why? Is there ever a time when such lying is justified?

3. Victor was on the cutting edge of scientific theory in the nineteenth century. He believed that one day the continent of the mind would be fully mapped. Most scientists feel they are on a quest to find the ultimate truth. Is there such a thing? Should a search for truth trump morality?

4. Did Victor plant the suggestion that Lucy murder her husband, and was she acting on that suggestion, or upon her own desires? Were those desires conscious or unconscious? What do you feel really happened?

5. Women’s lives have changed a great deal since the late nineteenth century. In what ways have women’s lives not changed?

6. Do you think Lucy was truly ill? Why or why not? How much responsibility should Lucy take for her own behavior and illness?

7. William thought of Lucy as a child and thought of himself as a benevolent father. Do you feel this is a dynamic that can work in a marriage? How did Lucy take refuge in William’s parental role?

8. Lucy calls her inability to stop or control her emotions a “flaw.” Do you think it is? How do you think this “flaw” contributed to her dilemma and her cure?

9. Do you find Victor a likeable or sympathetic character? Why or why not? What about Lucy? William? Do you need to like characters to enjoy a book? Is there an ultimate villain in the story? Who is it? Why?

10. How does the opening quote by Carl Jung, about love being an elastic concept, relate to the theme of the story?

11. In the nineteenth century, men routinely dictated the course of women’s lives. Is William morally wrong in dictating the path for Lucy? Do you believe he truly loves her? Do his manipulations show his love as real or unreal?

12. How does the historical detail of the period support the story? Could it have been set in another time and still have the same effect? How does the author use the historical detail to enrich and deepen the story?

13. Does William deserve his fate?

14. Does the book have a happy ending? Imagine Lucy’s life after the novel. How does it unfold? What role will Victor play in that life? Is Lucy truly free at the end?

15. Women in the nineteenth century were taught that passion was an evil in any form. What part does discovering passion play in Lucy’s metamorphosis?

Weblinks

»	Publisher's Book Info
»	Book Reviews
»	Author Megan Chance's web site

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