Chilbury Ladies' Choir (Ryan) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, please use our LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for The Chilbury Ladies' Choir...then take off on your own:

m. What are the consequences on village life of the war and the absence of so many men?

m. In the fairly large cast of characters, who are your favorites—whom do you find most engaging or most admirable, generous, or helpful, and why? Which characters do you find less so? Mrs. Brampton-Boyd, perhaps? Or Miss paltry?

m. Then there is the Brigadier. Does he surprise you?

m. What tests do the many women in this novel face? In what manner does each rise to the occasion in order to meet (or not) those challenges?

m. The book, like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, is made up of letters and diary entries, documents, and notices. Do you enjoy the insertion of these extra-textual narratives, or do you prefer straightforward storytelling with a narrator?

m. When asked if music will help strengthen the spirit of the women during the war, Prim responds:

Music takes us out of ourselves, away from our worries and tragedies…. All those cadences and beautiful chord changes, every one of them makes you feel a different splendor of life.

Do you agree? Do you, personally, find that music offers consolation? What other forms of art might do so, as well?

Discuss, also, how being part of the choir affects each of the characters. What do the members gain, individually and together?

m. Consider the symbolic and/or spiritual significance of the Chilbury choir in this story—the gathering together of people, the blending of a multiplicity of voices, and fact that many voices are more powerful than one. Think of chords and harmony. How might all that relate to the thematic concerns of the novel?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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