The Shining Girls
Lauren Beukes, 2013
Little, Brown & Co.
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780316216869
Summary
The girl who wouldn't die...hunts the killer who shouldn't exist.
The future is not as loud as war, but it is relentless. It has a terrible fury all its own.
Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future.
Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens on to other times.
At the urging of the House, Harper inserts himself into the lives of the shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He's the ultimate hunter, vanishing into another time after each murder, untraceable-until one of his victims survives.
Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the ex-homicide reporter, Dan Velasquez, who covered her case. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on the impossible truth . . .
The Shining Girls is a masterful twist on the serial killer tale: a violent quantum leap featuring a memorable and appealing heroine in pursuit of a deadly criminal. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—June 5, 1976
• Where—Johannesburg, South Africa
• Education—M.A., University of Cape Town
• Awards—Arthur C. Clarke Award; Kitschies Red
Tentacle Award (Best Novel)
• Currently—lives in Cape Town, South Africa
Lauren Beukes is a South African novelist, short story writer, journalist and TV scriptwriter. She was born and raised in South Africa and is of French and Dutch descent. Beukes has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town and subsequently worked as a freelance journalist for ten years, including two years in New York. She currently lives in Cape Town with her husband, television director Matthew Brown, and their daughter.
Books
Beukes is most recently the author of The Shining Girls (2013), a novel about a time-traveling serial-killer and the survivor who turns the hunt around. The TV rights have been acquired by MRC and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Her previous novel, Zoo City (2010), a hardboiled thriller about crime, magic, the music industry, refugees and redemption set in a re-imagined Johannesburg won the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the 2010 Kitschies Red Tentacle for best novel. The book was short- and long-listed for a host of other literary awards.The film rights have been optioned by South African producer, Helena Spring.
Her first novel was Moxyland (2008), a cyberpunk novel set in a future Cape Town. Her first nonfiction work, Maverick: Extraordinary Women From South Africa's Past (2005), was long-listed for the 2006 Sunday Times Alan Paton Award.
She has published short stories in several anthologies including Further Conflicts, Home Away, Touch: Stories of Contact, Open: Erotic Stories from South African Women Writers, FAB, African Road: New Writing from Southern Africa, 180 Degrees: New Fiction By South African Women Writers, and Urban 03.
Beukes is currently working on a novel called Broken Monsters, which is set in Detroit, Michigan.
Film and television
As head writer for Clockwork Zoo, she was part of the development team that created South Africa's first half-hour animated TV series, URBO: The Adventures of Pax Afrika. She also wrote 12 episodes of the Disney Playhouse show, Florrie's Dragons for Wish Films and episodes of the animated series Mouk for the French production company Millimages.
She directed a feature-length documentary on Miss Gay Western Cape called Glitterboys & Ganglands. The film has shown at various festivals including The Atlanta Film Festival, Encounters, Out in Africa and won best LGBT film at the San Diego Black Film Festival.
Beuke was also one of the writers, together with Ben Trovato and Tumiso Tsukudu on the pilot of controversial ZA News, a Spitting Image-style satire show with puppets based on the work of South African cartoonist, Zapiro. The pilot was commissioned but never broadcast.
Journalism
As a journalist, her articles have been published in a wide range of local and international magazines including The Hollywood Reporter, Nature Medicine, and Colors, as well as The Sunday Times Lifestyle, Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan and SL Magazine.
She won "Best Columnist Western Cape" in the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards in 2007 and 2008.
Comics
Beukes made her comic-writing debut with "All The Pretty Ponies" in Vertigo's Strange Adventures. She also wrote "The Hidden Kingdom," an arc of Fairest (issues #8-13), a spin-off of Bill Willingham's Eisner Award-winning Fables series. (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 12/4/13.)
Book Reviews
A triumph ... [T]he smart and spunky Kirby Mizrachi is as exciting to follow as any in recent genre fiction ... [E]ach chapter in which [Harper] appears holds a reader's attention, especially the sharply described murder scenes - some of which read as much like starkly rendered battlefield deaths out of Homer as forensic reconstructions of terrible crimes ... This book means business.
NPR
[Beukes is] so profusely talented—capable of wit, darkness, and emotion on a single page—that a blockbuster seems inevitable.... The Shining Girls marks her arrival as a major writer of popular fiction.
USA Today
The premise is pure Stephen King, but Beukes gives it an intricate, lyrical treatment all her own.
Time
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)
We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher.
Living the Dream
Carmen K. Glenn, 2013
Dog Ear Publising
209 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781457519420
Summary
Good-looking, educated and charming Jeremiah Cole has always had it easy with the ladies. Even at forty-two, he's still able to rival men half his age and the steady flow of women has not slowed since he was a teenager, especially now that his is a successful lawyer. Not even following his proposal of marriage to his leading lady, the beautiful and successful Judge Jasmine Pratt. Soaring in their careers and flying high on life, they are Living The Dream.
Inevitably lives so perfect do not remain unsoiled. As adversity moves in, the newly engaged couple begins to question their commitment, their dreams and their future together.
Author Bio
• Birth—August 24, 1968
• Where—Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
• Education—B.A., Central State University; M.A., Ball
State University
• Currently—lives in Indianapolis, Indiana
Carmen K. Glenn is a graduate of Central State University and Ball State University. She currently resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, with her husband and two children.
Indianapolis is the setting for Carmen's trilogy of inter-office politics: Overdrive, Ambition and Office Gossip.
Carmen has been a member of Go On Girl Book Club, for thirteen years. Her book club membership has been an inspiration for her writing. She hopes her writing will give the reader food for thought and interesting discussion. (From the author.)
Visit the author's website.
Book Reviews
In her debut effort, Glenn provides a page-turner that rivals some primetime soaps with the tension, deceit and relentless chase of external and material gratification, along with a health dose of satisfaction by the last page.
C. Denise Johnson - Pittsburgh Courier
Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the nature of Jeremiah and Jasmine's romance.
2. Discuss the impact of infidelity in relationships.
3. Can men and women in a committed relationship also have platonic friends of the opposite sex?
4. Give your thoughts on the dynamics of the Pratt sisters. Jasmine, Nicole and Toni.
5. What are you willing to forgive in a relationship?
6. What are you unwilling to forgive of your lover?
(Questions provided courtesy of the author.)
This Changes Everything (Spanners Series, I)
Sally Ember, 2013
Timult Books
334 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781310232428 (Kindle, free)
Summary
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, Ph.D., 58, is having the first of many home visits from holographic representations of five beings from the Many Worlds Collective (MWC), a consortium of planet and star systems all around the multiverse, over a thirty-year, increasingly Utopian period.
Earth is being invited to join, formally, and the December, 2012, visit is the first one allowed to be made public. Making the existence of the MWC public means many Earthers have to adjust our beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and, well, everything we think and are. Clara becomes the liaison for Earth, the Chief Communicator, between Earth and the MWC.
This Changes Everything relates the events partly from her point of view, partly from records of meetings of varying groups of the MWC governing bodies, and partly from her Media Contact, Esperanza Enlaces, employing humor, poignancy, a love story, family issues, MWC’s mistakes and blunders, history, politics, paranormalcy and hope.
This is Vol. I of the Spanners Series. Vol. II is This Changes My Family and My Life Forever (2014). Vol. III is This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things To Change (2015).
Author Bio
• Birth—1954
• Where—Clayton (St. Louis), Missouri USA
• Education—University of Massachusetts/Amherst, M.Ed. & Ed.D.
• Currently—Creve Coeur (St. Louis), Missouri USA
Sally Ember, Ed.D., has been passionate about writing since she was nine years old. She’s won prizes for her poetry, stories, songs and plays. She began meditation in her teens. Now, Sally delights fans of paranormal and romance by blurring the lines between fact and fiction in a multiverse of multiple timelines, often including exciting elements of utopian science fiction and Buddhism. Born Jewish on the cusp of Leo and Virgo, Sally's life has been infused with change.
In her "other" professional life, Sally has worked as an educator and upper-level, nonprofit manager in colleges, universities and private nonprofits in many parts of the USA before returning to live in St. Louis, Missouri, in August, 2014. Sally has a BA in Elementary Education, a Master's (M.Ed.) and a doctorate in education (Ed.D.).
Her sci-fi /romance/ speculative fiction/ paranormal/ multiverse/ utopian books for New Adult/adult/YA audiences, "The Spanners Series," are getting great reviews.
Vol I, "This Changes Everything," ebook is FREE everywhere, $17.99 paperback.
Vol II, "This Changes My Family and My Life Forever," ebook as $3.99 and paperback $19.99.
Vol III, "This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change," released @$3.99 as ebook and paperback $19.99 on 12/8/15. Look for Vol IV – X in 2016-2021. From Timult Books.
Currently, she meditates, writes, swims, reads and hosts her Google+ Hangout On Air (HOA) *CHANGES*, conversations with authors, LIVE almost every Wednesday, 10 - 11 AM Eastern USA (on hiatus until January, 2016).
Sally blogs regularly on wide-ranging topics and includes reviews, interviews, guest blog posts, and excerpts from her books. (From the author.)
Visit the author's website.
Follow Sally on Facebook.
Book Reviews
This Changes Everything by Sally Ember is a well-written, complex work that is going to add a strong title to a genre that can sometimes become bogged down with the same old, same old. This Changes Everything is a book that I am very happy to have had the chance to read and I would recommend it to any sci-fi/fantasy fan.
Zach Tyo - indiebookreviewer.blogspot.com
You have created your characters very well. I feel for Clara, I imagine her alienating a lot of people because her enthusiasm and drive and ability to push herself makes her someone who doesn't suffer fools gladly. I would have liked more of the reporter's life and I didn't like Epifanio at all. He sounded arrogant and selfish. I loved that the aliens were chosen by lottery. You had so many good touches like that, which made the book a continuing surprise. I...have to say it is one of the most challenging, exciting and original books I've read.
(Mary) Josephine O'Brien - Author, Sharing Skies
You have written a wonderfully imaginative and original story with plenty of twists and turns. I really like your multiuniverse setting with different timelines and the concept of the "Many Worlds Collective."
Sophekles - Author, The Serotonin Transfer
I love your sense of humor. I literally laughed out loud when Clara said that she had given him the name 'Led.' I also like that this is an alien story where the aliens are helping, rather than trying to take over the world. It's a refreshing angle.
S.M. Koz - Author, Pangalax
[After reading 1st 20 pages only] …In a lot of ways I’m at a loss to critique this because it’s quite different than what I’m used to encountering. It’s a more immediate version of Stranger in Strange Land by Heinlein. Now, what I say next is strictly speaking off the cuff at 11 PM after a couple of rum and cokes, but as it stands I’d probably rate this either three or four stars, depending on how it develops. Once I got into the ideas behind it all, I found it personally fascinating. I’m not sure how that would translate to a broader readership, but it’s nifty stuff. I like alternate timelines and the like.
Alexander Crommich - Crommich Industries
[This Changes Everything] is highly-imaginative, but for so many different reasons, and outside of the normal scope. There are times when I felt that I was reading an actual research report of true to life events. Honestly, I’m sitting at my laptop, questioning if Clara has provided this work to Ember, or if the two are one in the same. The experience is mind-altering, and would challenge readers to think beyond the bubble that we live in. I would surely recommend This Changes Everything to anyone that enjoys a a well-written and researched Sci-Fi series. I will point out that it pushes the envelope, and toys with one’s perception. Well done! 5 Stars.
Janice G. Ross - Author
The writing is complex and done extremely well.... There were times when I almost forgot I was reading a work of fiction and not a news account of real events, and I would consider that to be skilled writing indeed.... [D]id I enjoy more of it than not? Yes. Four stars. Did I like the overall content? Most of the time. Three stars. Was the writing of good quality? Oh, definitely yes. Five stars. My overall rating: four of five stars.
Lynda Dietz (Easy Reader) - ilovetoreadyourbooks.blogspot.com
Discussion Questions
1. HISTORICAL events ranging from Earth dates 250 BCE to 2013 are discussed in TCE. Choose one or more and discuss the pertinent Chapters' perspectives on the events, asking: is this plausible? What are the implications were this depiction to be accurate?
2. RELIGIOUS concepts, theories, and practices of Jews, Christians and Buddhists are discussed and depicted in several Chapters; the lead character, Clara Branon, is a practicing Buddhist raised Jewish. How do your own religious education, studies, practices and/or upbringing influence your opinions and understandings of the concepts and themes in This Changes Everything (TCE)? What new ideas does TCE inspire you to consider and what has your consideration led you to think?
3. BIOLOGICAL changes to humans are important parts of the Transition period that the Many Worlds Collective imposes on Earthers. Men are disproportionately affected. So are those with sexual orientation or gender identities that are considered "minority" until the Transition's events prove them to be otherwise. What do you imagine would actually occur in your own life, your family members' and colleagues' lives, were these changes to be imposed right now?
4. COMMUNICATION enhancements and improvements, such as the interspecies translator, nicknamed the "fish," make it easy for humans to connect individually and as a group with other species on Earth as well as off-planet. How would your life change if you had a fish? With whom or what would you like to communicate first and why?
5. The MULTIVERSE on-again/off-again romantic/friendship relationship between Clara Branon and Epifanio Dang occurs throughout The Spanners Series in various timelines. In TCE, readers are left believing what version prevails? Why or why not do you believe Clara and Epifanio are together as lovers/partners/spouses? What is your preference for the outcome of their relationship and why? How do you relate personally to this love story?
6. "Re-set" is a concept introduced in TCE and utilized to explain both personal and global/political/social alterations, chances to re-start and re-do decisions, events, choices for Clara and for Earth. What exact point in your life or in the planet's life would you choose for a Re-set and why?
7. What do you think of Clara's lesson on Return and ReInvolvement? How do these depictions relate to your current beliefs about death, consciousness experiences after physical death, and reincarnation?
8. If you were going to recommend that someone read or not read TCE, what would be your reasons?
9. How much of TCE do you believe is fiction, how much is fact, and how do you know? How does this affect your enjoyment of the novel?
10. Please review the annotated list of Volumes of the Spanners Series (Appendix A). What else would you like to see discussed or depicted in future Spanners Series Volumes, knowing that the time frame is the same (beginning roughly at the beginning of 2013 and ending roughly at the end of 2041, Clara's term as the Chief Communicator)? Who else would you like to have as a narrator? Please let Sally know your ideas! sallyember at yahoo
(Questions provided courtesy of the author.)
City of Lost Dreams
Magnus Flyte, 2013
Penguin Group (USA)
368 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780143123279
Summary
In this action-packed sequel to City of Dark Magic, we find musicologist Sarah Weston in Vienna in search of a cure for her friend Pollina, who is now gravely ill and who may not have much time left. Meanwhile, Nicolas Pertusato, in London in search of an ancient alchemical cure for the girl, discovers an old enemy is one step ahead of him. In Prague, Prince Max tries to unravel the strange reappearance of a long dead saint while being pursued by a seductive red-headed historian with dark motives of her own.
In the city of Beethoven, Mozart, and Freud, Sarah becomes the target in a deadly web of intrigue that involves a scientist on the run, stolen art, seductive pastries, a few surprises from long-dead alchemists, a distractingly attractive horseman who’s more than a little bloodthirsty, and a trail of secrets and lies. But nothing will be more dangerous than the brilliant and vindictive villain who seeks to bend time itself. Sarah must travel deep into an ancient mystery to save the people she loves. (From the publisher.)
The first book in this two-part series is City of Dark Magic (2012).
Author Bios
Meg Howrey
A classically trained dancer, Meg performed with the Joffrey, Los Angeles Opera, and City Ballet of Los Angeles. She made her theatrical debut at Lincoln Center, and toured with the Broadway production of Contact, for which she won the 2001 Ovation Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Her novels are Blind Sight and The Cranes Dance, and her non-fiction has appeared in Vogue. She currently lives in Los Angeles. (From the author's website.)
Christina Lynch
There is an actual part of your brain ( I believe it is in the hippocampus) that keeps a record of your life story. Of course, it's not an accurate record. My hippocampus claims that I grew up mostly in Chicago, graduated from Harvard College, and have my MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles. I was at one time the Milan correspondent for W magazine, and lived in Italy for 7 years, where I ate a lot of wonderful meals and won the Tuscan Endurance Championship on my horse Camelia. I moved to L.A. to write television, which I still do, though now I spend most of my time in a small town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada with a couple of lazy horses and a very wonderful dog. I write novels and television (and too many emails), and teach writing. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
A comical, rollicking and sexy thriller.
Huffington Post
An entertaining mix of magic, mystery and romance, it’s one of the most original novels released this year.
CNN
Never fails to shimmer exotically, erotically, on the page.
Slate
(Starred review.) Musicologist Sarah Weston arrives in Vienna hoping to find a cure for her friend.... [B]iochemist Bettina Müller may have formulated a treatment...[but] proves peculiarly elusive.... Sensual, witty and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, set forth in sparkling prose and inhabited by characters well-worth getting to know. Wunderbar!
Kirkus Reviews
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)
We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher.
City of Dark Magic
Magnus Flyte, 2012
Penguin Group USa
464 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780143122685
Summary
Cosmically fast-paced, wildly imaginative, and the perfect potion of magic and suspense.
Once a city of enormous wealth and culture, Prague was home to emperors, alchemists, astronomers, and, as it’s whispered, hell portals. When music student Sarah Weston lands a summer job at Prague Castle cataloging Beethoven’s manuscripts, she has no idea how dangerous her life is about to become. Prague is a threshold, Sarah is warned, and it is steeped in blood.
Soon after Sarah arrives, strange things begin to happen. She learns that her mentor, who was working at the castle, may not have committed suicide after all. Could his cryptic notes be warnings? As Sarah parses his clues about Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved,” she manages to get arrested, to have tantric sex in a public fountain, and to discover a time-warping drug. She also catches the attention of a four-hundred-year-old dwarf, the handsome Prince Max, and a powerful U.S. senator with secrets she will do anything to hide. (From the publisher.)
The sequel to this work is City of Lost Dreams (2013).
Author Bio
Meg Howrey
A classically trained dancer, Meg performed with the Joffrey, Los Angeles Opera, and City Ballet of Los Angeles. She made her theatrical debut at Lincoln Center, and toured with the Broadway production of Contact, for which she won the 2001 Ovation Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Her novels are Blind Sight and The Cranes Dance, and her non-fiction has appeared in Vogue. She currently lives in Los Angeles. (From the author's website.)
Christina Lynch
There is an actual part of your brain ( I believe it is in the hippocampus) that keeps a record of your life story. Of course, it's not an accurate record. My hippocampus claims that I grew up mostly in Chicago, graduated from Harvard College, and have my MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles. I was at one time the Milan correspondent for W magazine, and lived in Italy for 7 years, where I ate a lot of wonderful meals and won the Tuscan Endurance Championship on my horse Camelia. I moved to L.A. to write television, which I still do, though now I spend most of my time in a small town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada with a couple of lazy horses and a very wonderful dog. I write novels and television (and too many emails), and teach writing. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
A comical, rollicking and sexy thriller.
Huffington Post
An entertaining mix of magic, mystery and romance, it’s one of the most original novels released this year.
CNN
Cleverly combining time travel, murder, history, and musical lore, this is a breezy, lighthearted novel. Sarah Weston is researching her Ph.D. in neurological musicology in Boston when a letter arrives summoning her to Prague....to establish the relationship between one of the first Lobkowicz princes and Ludwig von Beethoven. Sarah is warned that Prague is "a threshold" to "dark magic," passion and violence, and she suspects that mysteries await.... [A] story that abounds in mysterious portents, wild coincidences, violent death, and furtive but lusty sexual congress.
Publishers Weekly
With the introduction of legends that Prague is home to portals to hell, the reader is dropped into a confusing entanglement of plots, personalities, and mysteries that involve alchemical elements.... Verdict: While this novel may well find its own niche of faithful followers, it is, unfortunately, a miss for this reviewer. Readers looking for a fast-paced, historically rich, romantic adventure with paranormal elements would be better directed to Deborah Harkness’s “All Souls Trilogy” (A Discovery of Witches; Shadow of Night).
Library Journal
Sometimes you want a book that simply entertains, and City of Dark Magic does just that. There’s a bit of everything, and when one scene seems impossible, know that the next will top it. Go with it. It’s a good ride and a great way to escape reality for a bit.
Bookreporter
The darkly charming and twisted streets of Prague provide the deliciously dramatic backdrop for this paranormal romp that fires on all cylinders, masquerading by turns as a romance, a time-travel thriller, and a tongue-in-cheek mystery.... [A] pulse-pounding adventure, as Sarah, with the aid of a powerful mind—and time-bending drug—zips through the centuries in search of clues that will unlock a timeless musical mystery. —Margaret Flanagan
Booklist
The riddle of Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved," alchemy and clandestine love fuse in this fast-paced, funny, romantic mystery.... Brilliant musicologist Sarah Weston has been summoned to Prague to catalog Beethoven manuscripts at the Lobkowicz Palace.... Yet Prague is a dangerous place, a place where the walls between worlds have thinned to precariously fragile layers.... Even the minor characters are drawn ingeniously in this exuberant, surprising gem.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Though the novel is humorous, there are some serious themes under all that fun. What are Sarah’s thoughts on the idea that some people inherit huge wealth and are considered “noble,” while others have to earn their keep, and how does Max feel about his inheritance?
2. There are people from many cultures, backgrounds, and with various physical strengths or disabilities in the book. How does this book deal with stereotypes?
3. How are the themes of loss, fatherhood, and longing explored in this novel?
4. Characters in the novel have differing religious beliefs. How does Sarah’s time in Prague affect her beliefs?
5. Sarah’s ambition puts her in the crosshairs of Charlotte Yates’s ambitions. How does the novel address issues of ambition?
6. Nicolas Pertusato claims he’s four hundred years old. In what ways does the novel explore different aspects of immortality for him, for Beethoven, and for Sherbatsky?
7. Sarah Weston is approached out of the blue to go to Prague for the summer to help catalog Beethoven’s papers. What convinces her to take the job?
8. At the castle, Sarah is introduced to her fellow housemates, most of whom are there to do their own respective research. What do her initial impressions of the other residents tell us about her, and them?
9. Sarah notices early on that Prague has a “vibe” (p. 55). How do Sarah’s feelings about things like “vibes” and magic change in the course of the novel?
10. Who is Charlotte Yates, what is her connection to the Lobkowicz family, and what does her story tell us about the history of Prague?
11. Dr. Sherbatsky is an important mentor for Sarah. What has she learned from him and what does his unfortunate death mean for her?
12. Sarah is, by her own admission, a highly sexual person. Which qualities draw her to potential partners, and how does she feel about love as it is conventionally portrayed in books and movies? Do we judge female characters that are openly sexual differently than we do male characters with the same trait?
13. Nicolas gives Sarah a strange drug. What does the drug do and what is its connection to the mysteries of the castle? What does it awaken in Sarah?
14. What is Prince Max looking for, and why? How do his and Sarah’s ambitions at first keep them apart, then bring them together?
15. Sarah and Max learn they knew each other as young children. What effect does this strange coincidence have on their relationship?
16. Sarah ultimately discovers the “truth” about Beethoven’s Immortal Beloved. What does she find out, and how does it change her feelings about the composer?
17. In the epigraph, there is a quote from Beethoven: “Of Princes there have and will be thousands—of Beethovens there is only one.” Why do you think the authors chose this quote to open the story?
(Questions issued by publisher.)