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After a long and storied career on the silver screen, Errol Flynn spends much of the last years of his life on a small island off of Jamaica. Based on those years, this novel tells the story a local girl whose affair with Flynn produces a daughter, as it delves into the provocative history of a vanished era.

2. How does Cezair-Thompson use the concept of pirates to tell the larger political story of Jamaica's path to independence? What does this book say about Colonialism?

3. Is this a novel about race? Is it a novel about class?

4. Passions run deep in this novel, both love and hate. Do you consider this a love story? Is it a love story between couples, or a love song for Jamaica, or both? What various kinds of love fuel the plot? What kinds of hatred drive the narrative?

5. Strong mothers abound in this book, even the mothers we read about only in passing who leave Jamaica for New York to earn a living for their children. Do you think Ida is a good mother? Do you think that is a fair question, given the challenges she faced? How important are fathers, and father figures?

6. Maps play a significant role in this novel. The greatest mysteries, though, are finding ways to understand hearts and histories. What guides May in her journey toward self-discovery? How does Nigel find peace?

7. How does the story of Errol Flynn and Hollywood add to the novel?

8. How do the interplay of fact and fiction enliven the story?

9. Place is critical in this novel. How does Cezair-Thompson use different settings to advance her tale?

10. What notions of beauty shape this story?

11. Much of the novel is about seduction, but not always the literal kind. What seduces different characters, and why?

12. Movies are important to the story, but in the end May is most influenced by words and books. Why does she seem more interested in one form of media over the other?

13. How important to the novel is the theme of forgiveness?

14. Is Jamaica a character in this novel?

This book is on these lists:

The Blank's Daughter by Regulator

All lists >>

• January 2012 Indie Next List
• December 2011 Indie Next List
• November 2011 Indie Next List