1. How does the imminence of World War II parallel the lives of the characters? How does it parallel the fate of the old aristocratic families on the Eastern shore?

2. Why do Simon and Sebastian have such differing feelings toward their father, Edward?

3. Why does Edward fail so miserably at the role of gentleman farmer?

4. In what ways does the house itself, the Retreat, act like a character in the novel?

5. How does Tilghman illustrate the tense race relations of 1930s Maryland? Is Sebastian's attachment to Robert, the hired hand, an exception?

6. Even though Edith loves the Retreat and Tom Hazelton, she feels compelled to follow her husband back to England, and to sacrifice her feelings to social propriety. What other literary heroines have faced the same dilemma?

7. Living in the same historical context, would you have made the same decisions Edith did?

8. Tilghman said, "Fiction is about trouble, and people who don't have a real beef with the world will never be able to write." Do you agree?

9. The frame of the novel is a story told by Simon's grown son, Harry. Why does Tilghman use this device?

10. Does place and landscape necessarily impact one's childhood? How did the place where you were raised impact yours?