Long Way from Paris (Murray)

Discussion Questions
1. Murray is shocked at Jacques eating like "an eagle coming in for the kill" because she grew up with a rigid idea of acceptable table manners. How important are manners and etiquette? Do you adhere to the manners you grew up with or have you incorporated new ones?
     
2. How did Murray’s relationship with her herd change and foster her growth? As Murray reflects on her family’s behaviors, she sees some she values, some she shuns. In what way is she "re-parenting" or "reinventing" herself out on the hillside?
    
3. Murray writes, "when you have 'it'—a true spiritual connection, there’s no need to broadcast it or put it on bumper stickers." Do you think it’s important to reveal to others your spiritual beliefs? Why or why not?
   
4. George Eliot writes in Adam Bede that "people living closest to nature are the ‘purest,’" a phrase Murray mulls over. Do you think this is true? Why?  How did the books Elizabeth read influence her understanding of life with the Fontaines?
   
5. Murray reflects on losing weight saying, "I lost weight in my body, but not my mind." What does she mean by this? Do you think this is why many people gain their weight back after losing it?
   
6. A Long Way from Paris is filled with many courageous moments. What took more courage—withstanding the physical isolation; learning a new way of life; being far from friends and family? In what ways was Murray courageous and what ways was she reckless?
     
7. Murray describes her relationship with Garner as being fraught with contradictions. Have you ever found yourself in an unhealthy relationship? What did you do?
   
8. What do you think of the "back to nature" movement which captured the imagination of so many people in the seventies? How would you do living in such primitive conditions?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)

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