Choosing it
Choosing it for your group
What a reading group could argue about, how long the book is, and where to begin.
Book clubs tend to choose a novel they can argue about, and one member usually reads it first. This page is for whoever is deciding.
What the group could argue about
- Whether a village should accept money that comes with conditions.
- Who should hold a key, and what it means to say a thing belongs to the people who use it.
How long it is
252 pages in paperback, with 28 chapters and a Coda. The story is in two parts: Madina first, then Nafawol ten years later and six hundred kilometres south.
What to try first
Read the opening of chapter 1, which takes about four minutes, and then the first page of chapter 10. If you are the member who reads it first, that is enough to tell the others what the book sounds like.
When you have chosen it
A complete plan for one evening, and a guide for three meetings, are ready. The book-club kit has the evening, and the reading-group guide has the questions.
