|
Hannibal Free Public Library The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline January 23, 2023 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. |
Discussion Questions
1. Talk about the reasons Evangeline is first sent to
prison and then to the penal colony of Australia. How does her treatment reflect
the stature of women in the 1840s—in what was then (along with France) the most
civilized country in the world?
2. (Follow-up
to Question 1)
For fun, consider the disparity between the worlds of The
Exiles and,
say, Jane Austen's novels, which took place a couple of decades decades before
the setting of this novel. Consider, also, that Austen, like Evangeline, was
herself the daughter of a clergyman. Would her life have been as precarious as
Evangeline's?
3. Describe the conditions—the hardships—Evangelina experienced both in Newgate
Prison and on the months-long journey to Australia.
4. In light of the questions above, apply the same topics to Hazel, whom
Evangeline meets on the ship. What is Hazel's background and the reason she is
sent to Australia?
5. In an outward show of grace and charity, Lady Franklin has adopted Mathinna,
a young Aboriginal girl. What is Lady Franklin's actual purpose in bringing
Mathinna into her household? What are her true feelings toward Australia's
indigenous peoples?
6. Considering the cruelty, hardships, and death in this novel, did you find
sections difficult to read at times? If you made it through to the end, why did
you persist? What drove you to overcome those painful parts to reach the novel's
conclusion? And if you reached the end, was it satisfying?
7. All good historical fiction engages us with real history: it brings the past
alive and puts it in the context of living (albeit fictional) human beings—and
so we learn. What did you learn about the settlement of Australia that you
hadn't known previously1.
Discuss Raina and Gerda and their relationship. How do their personalities and
their relationships with each other change over the course of the novel?
Adapted from: http:// https://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/fiction/11827-the-exiles-kline?start=3