1.Early on we see Emily in her own milieu of upper class new Orleans. Had she not met Martin, she would have married within that class and remained there. Knowing what we do about her headstrong character, would she have been happy there?

2.From the beginning, Emily hates Key West. At what point does her hate turn to acceptance and then to love? If she’d had no children, would she still have continued to hate it?

3.Martin is in many ways an enigma. He has many positive qualities, but do you feel these are outweighed by his faults? Is he someone you would find hard to live with? Talk about how his character evolves when he vanishes and only his spiritual presence remains. Do you think Emily is turning him into the husband she always wanted?

4.Did you guess early on what happened to Martin on Wreckers’ Cay? What did it tell you about the competition of wreckers to make money?

5.Pedro claims to adore Emily. Yet, he sleeps with prostitutes after their marriage. Does this seem incongruous to you, even knowing what we do of his appetites? When you think of Pedro, which Hollywood actor springs to mind?

6.Dorothy becomes a key character as the story moves along. She can be fun, but as we realize later, she has a dark side. Do you find you like her? Do you find her behavior forgivable? In Emily’s place, would you have found it in your heart to pardon her?

7.If Emily had married Captain Lee, what kind of life might she have had? What about Captain Peartree? Would she have been happier if she’d stayed in New York?

8.Pedro’s enthusiasm for sex --- we’d call him oversexed or addicted to sex today --- got to be really tiresome. Once she became wealthy in her own right, why do you suppose Emily stayed with him?

9.How did you feel about the ending of the book, and the way the author managed to find Ebony and integrate her into a life of her own in Key West? Did you find the resolution satisfying?