Discussion Questions

  1. Even though there were three characters in this story—Anna, Dorothea, and Bairn—who started together, separated, then came together again, it was essentially Bairn’s story. What did he have to come to grips with before he could move forward? Recall a time in your life when you were held captive by the past.
  2. In what ways was Dorothea different after her time at Ephrata Cloister? What had the biggest influence on her?
  3. Dorothea found something at Ephrata Cloister. How would you describe what she’d been missing?
  4. What, if anything, did you admire about newcomer Henrik Newman? What did you find less than admirable in him?
  5. Henrik Newman wasn’t all bad, nor was he all good. What do you think motivated him? Have you ever known anyone like him?
  6. Squivvers, the sailor, told Felix, “Good leaders don’t grasp it. They live a life worthy of being followed.” What does this story teach you about the importance of leadership, or lack of it?
  7. Why did Anna decide to marry Henrik Newman? How did she view him?
  8. In this day and age, with so many choices available, it might be hard to imagine the commitment Anna had to the survival of her church. Describe a time in your life when you felt a similar obligation—to your church, your community, or maybe even your family. How did your story play out?
  9. “There is nothing without trouble,” Anna told Felix. What are your thoughts about such a remark?
  10. Bairn tells Felix a bedtime Bible story on the Lady Luck about the twelve spies that went into the Promised Land and came back with tales of giants, as well as evidence of fruitful abundance from the land. The giant stories, though, loomed larger. “Fear can be like that,” Bairn said, “can take hold of a person.” And then he realized he had let a giant in the Promised Land (metaphor!) strike fear in his own heart. What did he mean? What about you? What kind of giants keep you from your own Promised Land?
  11. What surprised you most about the time period of the story? Could you imagine yourself living in it? Does anything in particular appeal to you about life in the New World of the eighteenth century? Maybe the vast wilderness, the untouched beauty?
  12. Let’s flip that around: name one or two things you learned that made you glad you’re living in the twenty-first century. Say, for example, the common practice of bloodletting has been extinguished.
  13. If you could write the next chapter in Anna and Bairn’s life, what would it be?