Book Club Discussion Questions
For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Real Birnam Wood and our BookBrowse Review of Birnam Wood.
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
- When we first meet Shelley Noakes, she wants out of Birnam Wood and
out of her role as Mira Bunting's "sensible, dependable, predictable
sidekick" (16 – 17). Discuss the complicated relationship that she and
Mira share. What are its strengths, its sources of tension, its imbalances
of power? Does their dynamic ever change? If so, is it a change for the
better or the worse?
- Robert Lemoine is captivated by Mira after their surprise encounter at
the farm in Thorndike. In his eyes, she's ambitious, determined, and
lies with a kind of defiant panache that suggests a "genuine enjoyment
of the practice of deception" (78). Consider Lemoine's attraction to
Mira and his interest in Birnam Wood. What do you think draws him
to her? In what ways do he and Mira share common ground? In what
ways are they very different people?
- "There comes a point," Mira says to Tony Gallo during their tense
exchange over whether Birnam Wood should join forces with Lemoine,
"where refusing to compromise basically means choosing to be
ineffectual" (120). Do you agree with Mira? Delve into this pivotal
decision for the activist collective, keeping in mind Birnam Wood's
"three Principles of Unity" (113) and the details about the offer that
Mira chooses to share with the group. What does Lemoine's proposal
look like from Mira's perspective, from Shelley's, from Tony's, from
your own? If you were at the hui that night, how would you have
voted? Do you think those present would have voted differently if
Tony had not been in attendance?
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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.