Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for White Is for Witching:
1. Why does Miranda feel responsible for her mother's death?
2. Describe the house as a character in Oyeyemi's book. Talk about its history. What is the house's metaphorical significance—the xenophobia and the urge to suffocate and entrap women? What is meant by its comment: "I can only be as good as they are. We are on the inside, and we have to stay together, and we absolutely cannot have anyone else"?
3. What does this book suggest about personal identity, or the self? Eliot and Miranda reflect each other, they see themselves in the other. Is the self real...or is self-identity merely a figment of another person's perception of you?
4. What is the symbolic significance of Miranda's food disorder? Consider the line "but all they did was make Miranda hungrier for what was not there."
5. What does the ideal of perfection mean to Miranda? Why is she so drawn to the "perfect person" and to the drawing of herself, "unmarred by human flaw" she finds in Lily's studio?
6. What does the house and its ghosts want of Miranda?
7. Does Goodlady exist or is she in Miranda's imagination?
8. Why isn't Sade frightened off, as other housekeepers have been? What changes occur as a result of her staying?
9. How would you describe the atmosphere of the book—what words, imagery, and ideas does Oyeyemi use to establish mood?
10. Oyeyemi tells her story through different voices and points of view. Why might she have used this technique? Do the shifting perspectives enhance the book for you or serve to confuse or distract you?
11. What is Miranda's fate? Is she imprisoned? Has she disappeared or died?
12. What is Ore's role in the novel? Do you find her story, with its various subplots, too digressive or do they fit into the overall direction of the novel?
13. Oyeyemi is drawn to myth and folklore. What role do those types of narrative play in her novel? How does she work to blend mythical and magical elements, including Nigerian folk tales, into realistic fiction?
14. Did you find the book difficult to get into? If so, why? Was there a point in the story where you found yourself engaged, quickly turning pages to find out what happens?
15. What is the meaning of the book's title?
16. It's been suggested by one reader that re-reading the first few pages—after you've finished the book—can be rewarding. Have you done so? And if so, did it alter your understanding of the work?
17. Are there political undertones in this book? Do you read it as a statement about Britain's rejection of its foreign population? Does that add to or detract from your reading experience?
18. Overall, what was your experience reading this book?
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