When Czechoslovakia relinquishes the Sudetenland to Hitler, the powerful influence of Nazi propaganda sweeps through towns and villages like a sinister vanguard of the Reich's advancing army. A fiercely patriotic secular Jew, Pavel Bauer is helpless to prevent his world from unraveling as first his government, then his business partners, then his neighbors turn their back on his affluent, once-beloved family. Only the Bauers' adoring governess, Marta, sticks by Pavel, his wife, Anneliese, and their little son, Pepik, bound by her deep affection for her employers and friends. But when Marta learns of their impending betrayal at the hands of her lover, Ernst, Pavel's best friend, she is paralyzed by her own fear of discovery—even as the endangered family for whom she cares so deeply struggles with the most difficult decision of their lives.

Interwoven with a present-day narrative that gradually reveals the fate of the Bauer family during and after the war, Far to Go is a riveting family epic, love story, and psychological drama.

2. Far To Go is told from the perspective of Marta, who is governess to the young Pepik. Why do you think the author chose Marta as the narrator? Is she reliable or unreliable? What perspective does she offer that the Bauers themselves do not?
3. What roles do Sophie and Ernst play in the Bauers’ story? Why are they included? How are they different from the other characters? How are they the same?
4. While the vast majority of Jews are scrambling to get out of Czechoslovakia in early 1939, Pavel Bauer refuses to leave, and clings to his homeland. Why does he do this? Is it realistic? What would you do if you were him?
5. Marta reveals a secret to Ernst that ultimately costs the Bauers their lives. Why does she do this? What kind of background do you think she comes from? How does her own family history influence her actions in the present?
6. The Bauers’ story is interspersed with segments from a modern-day narrator whose identity is slowly clarified over the course of the book. Did this mediating voice add to or detract from the principal storyline? When and how did you realize who the voice belonged to?
7. The ‘Kindertransport’ section of Far To Go  is told from Pepik’s perspective. In what other ways is this section unique? How did it affect you to hear a child’s point of view so late in the book?
8. The ending of Far To Go reveals an unexpected plot twist. What was your reaction to learning that the historical events had actually been written by the modern-day narrator? Did you expect this?
9. What genre does Far To Go fall under? Mystery? Romance? Historical Fiction?
10. If Far To Go  is made into a Hollywood movie, who should play Marta? What about the other characters (Pavel, Anneliese, Pepik, Ernst, Sophie, and Lisa)?

This book is on these lists:

• April 2012 Indie Next List
• March 2012 Indie Next List
• February 2012 Indie Next List