Book Club Discussion Questions
For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Sitting Bull and our BookBrowse Review of The Removes.
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
Spanning the years of the first great settlement of the West,
The Removes tells the intertwining stories of fifteen-year-old Anne Cummins, frontierswoman Libbie Custer, and Libbie's husband, the Civil War hero George Armstrong Custer. When Anne survives a surprise attack on her family's homestead, she is thrust into a difficult life she never anticipatedliving among the Cheyenne as both a captive and, eventually, a member of the tribe. Libbie, too, is thrown into a brutal, unexpected life when she marries Custer. They move to the territories with the U.S. Army, where Libbie is challenged daily and her worldview expanded: the pampered daughter of a small-town judge, she transforms into a daring camp follower. But when what Anne and Libbie have come to knowself-reliance, freedom, dangeris suddenly altered through tragedy and loss, they realize how indelibly shaped they are by life on the treacherous, extraordinary American plains.
With taut, suspenseful writing, Tatjana Soli tells the exhilarating stories of Libbie and Anne, who have grown like weeds into women unwilling to be restrained by the strictures governing nineteenth-century society.
The Removes
is a powerful, transporting novel about the addictive intensity and freedom of the American frontier. We hope the following questions will enhance your reading group's experience of this electrifying book.
Questions and Topics for Discussion
- The book begins with an epigraph by Crazy Horse that says, "A very great vision is needed and
the man who has it must follow it ..." Does anyone in the novel show great vision? How does
this quote set the tone for the story to come?
- The narration moves back and forth between three charactersAnne, Libbie, and Custer. How does this affect your experience of the story? How does this affect your knowledge of that time
in history?
- Whose story do you empathize with the most? Which character do you like the most? Which one
surprised you the most?
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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 Picador.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.