1. Gin has a premonition in which she pictures her sister Patsy and herself “stuck on a wheel. The three of us, a nightmare Ferris wheel that turns over and over and never lets us off.” Why do you think she has this particular vision? What can she do to stop the turning of the wheel?

2. Gin is terrified of having children, after years of watching her mother suffer from repeated births and miscarriages, and then die in childbirth. How does her 1920s vison of childbirth as something potentially deadly contrast with Ella’s modern pregnancy?

3. What do you make of Mrs. Marshall’s “little proposition” that Gin marry Billy? Why is she so intent on what seems to be a terrible idea? Why does Gin agree to go along with the charade? What would you have done?

4. Granny Annabel tells Ella “You always see the best in people. You can’t imagine sin because you haven’t got any inside you.... You believed [Patrick] was good and faithful because you are good and faithful.” Is this true? If we see others as we are, how do you think Gin views the world? What about Theresa Marshall? Or Aunt Julie?

5. Stefan urges Ella to tell Patrick that she’s pregnant because “...it would be a kindness to him, one he maybe does not deserve, but one which you have the power to give him. It is man’s burden, you see, to send his seed into the world, and sometimes never to know how it grows.” Is he giving her good advice?

6. Gin tells Christopher that “I’m nobody’s nice girl.” He disagrees and tells her she has a “noble soul.” Who do you agree with?

7. Why do you think Ella’s father waited so long to tell her the truth about her own paternity? Was that a mistake?

8. There are many characters in the novel who were raised by men who are not their biological fathers. What do you think the author is saying about the meaning of family and fatherhood?

9. Do you have suspicions about who might be Gin’s father? How does the mystery of his identity shape Gin’s decisions?

10. What does the future have in store for Gin and Ella? How would you like their stories to continue?