Book Club Discussion Questions
For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of Broken Glass Park.
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
About the Book
Sascha Naimann was born in Moscow, but now lives in Berlin with her two younger siblings and, until recently, her
mother. She is precocious, independent, street-wise, and, since her stepfather murdered her mother several months
ago, an orphan. Unlike most of her companions, she doesn't dream of escaping from the tough housing project
where they live. Sascha's dreams are different: she longs to write a novel about her beautiful but naïve mother and
she wants to end the life of Vadim, the man who brutally murdered her.
Sascha's story is that of a young woman
consumed by two competing impulses, one celebrative and redemptive, the other murderous. In a voice that is
candid and self-confident, at times childlike and at others all too mature, Sascha relates the struggle between those
forces that can destroy us, and those that lead us out of sorrow and pain back to life.
- "I thought I was already old
"
Sascha is as if torn between adulthood and what remains of her
childhood. Caught in a moment balanced between youth and maturity,
Sascha is perhaps not so different from others her age. While an
American seventeen-year-old may be forced to drop out of school and
provide for his family, an Israeli teen prepares to sacrifice two years of
her life to the army, and in many parts of the world young people are
forced to face the horrors of war, the tribulations of social unrest, or
the damages wrought by domestic violence, both physical and
psychological.
When does a child become an adult? And does this passage from
childhood and adulthood occur more or less at the same age despite one's
circumstances? Can Broken Glass Park be described as a coming-of-age novel?
Can childhood survive difficult and damaging experiences, or do these necessarily
make of one an adult? Does preserving a child's innocence necessarily mean shielding
him or her from life's dark side? What are the effects of a childhood cut short?
- Her mistress's voice.
Much of the success of Broken Glass Park has been attributed to the first
person narrator's intoxicating and compelling voice. What makes this
voice so distinctive and appealing? Are we witness to an act of literary ventriloquism
or do you think that main character's voice probably is that of the author herself?
- Family
they'll %&§£ you up!
How accurate a picture of family life, albeit it a tragic one, is Bronsky's Broken Glass Park? Sascha loves her mother deeply, but is also furious with her
for what she sees as her mother's stupidity. Has Sascha made peace with the
ghost of her mother by the end of the novel?
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- How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
- What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
- Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Europa Editions.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.