Guides and Discussions

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No Game
For A Dame

Maggie is making her way – alone – in an occupation largely dominated by men. Is she holding her own?

What abilities and personality traits help Maggie succeed? What characteristics work against her?

Should Maggie confront men more often when they show a patronizing attitude toward her? Why doesn’t she, do you think?

Do you find the character, and the historical setting, believable? Why?

The period just before WW2 is a time of change for American women. Some are dipping their toes into the water of having careers and not living with parents. Did any women in your family make that unusual step?

What did you discover about the 1930s that you didn’t know before?

Who were your favorite characters in the book?

Whiskey Tide

The Whiskey Tide poses one overarching question: Are morals absolute? It gives rise to the first four questions which follow. You also may want to consider it as an additional question in its own right.

Were you glad Joe and Kate escaped exposure as rum-runners, or should one or both have faced legal consequences for breaking the law?

Whom did you consider the most evil/immoral character in the book?

Which character did you think had the most integrity?

Which did you end up admiring the most?

Kate’s cousin Theo suffers from Survivor Guilt as well as other emotional problems as a result of his service in The Great War. Are any of those problems shared by veterans who served in Vietnam? In Iraq and Afghanistan?

How do the main characters change over the course of the book? Do they get closer to their goals or farther away?

Time travel becomes a reality for us when we read well-researched historical fiction. Did you learn anything about the 1920s and Prohibition that surprised you? What type of role do you think you would have played (social status, occupation, world view) if you had lived then?

Whose family had the stronger ties, Kate’s or Joe’s?