Discussion Questions

1. How would you like to have a servant (or servants) living in your basement, attic, or guest room? Would the help be worth the loss of privacy to you?
2. If you lived a few hundred years ago, do you think it more likely you’d employ servants or be a servant? Why? If a servant, what type of work would you do best?
3. Did anything surprise you about the life of servants in the early 1800s? How well do you think you would cope if you found yourself in service in Regency England tomorrow?
4. Why do you think the author chose the opening quotation “Judge not according to the appearance”? How might that relate to the story?
5. Does Margaret change during the course of the novel, and if so, how?
6. Other than that of Nathaniel and Margaret, what relationship in the story intrigued you the most? How so?
7. If you could choose one character from the book to have over for dinner, which would you choose? What did you like about him or her?
8. Which characters, if any, would you like to know more about? What would you like to see occur in their lives after the story’s end?
9. If this book were ever made into a movie, which actors could you see in the leading roles?
10. If you had to choose one, would you prefer to live in a large country manor like Fairbourne Hall, a charming cottage like Lime Tree Lodge, or a posh London town house?