1. The town of Paradise and New York State was the untamed
frontier at the time Elizabeth came from England to live with her
father. What were her expectations from this new life? How were the
personal freedoms she expected to enjoy compromised by her father
as if they were still in England? By the people of Paradise?
2. Freedom to speak her mind, having her own voice and thoughts,
is of utmost importance to Elizabeth. She aligns her beliefs with
those of Mary Wollstonecraft's as stated in her volume The
Vindication of the Rights of Women published in 1792. How does
Elizabeth's outspokenness serve her, positively and negatively?
With Dr. Todd? With Nathaniel?
3. What do the reactions of the townspeople to Elizabeth's
school make you think about schooling today? Do you understand the
local's concern that an expansive education-filling the children's
heads with philosophy, poetry, literature and the aristocracy-would
make them unsatisfied with their lots in life, i.e. the girls won't
be satisfied as a farmer's wife?
4. Why are money, land and resources important tools to the
Mohawk people, aside from the usual basic needs? Why do they hide
and guard those resources? How does that compare with the role of
money and resources as tools in your own life?
5. Money is an element in all their histories, a tool for all of
them, rich, poor, greedy, generous, in the business of trade, etc.
Women can not own land on their own; it must go into the hands of a
husband should she marry. How does control of land, resources,
wealth drive their lives? How does Elizabeths marriage to Nathaniel
affect those resources?
6. Elizabeth says she and Nathaniel have power over each other.
What evidence did you see of that mutual power? Do you feel that
this is a contemporary issue, too?
7. Questions for readers of any of Sara Donati''s
Wilderness novels:
The northern and northwestern part of New York State was
the nation's untamed frontier in the late 18th and early 19th
Century, the era of the Wilderness series. How does this frontier
experience differ from that of the traditional western or "wagons
west" description of America's wilder places? How is it the same?
Why was the settlement of upper New York State significant to
people in Canada? To England? To France? To Holland?
8. Why is settlement by Europeans significant to the Native
Peoples-and how do settlers like the Bonner family and others in
the town of Paradise both complement and conflict with them? What
roles do the slaves and the freed slaves, serve?
9. Discuss the Freeman family's activities in aiding runaway
slaves' flight to freedom. Do you think they helped these people,
or contributed to setting the stage for continuing and future
conflict for them? What role did the African Free School, and Manny
Freeman's association with it, play in the abolition of slavery? Do
you think the Gradual Manumission Act was devised in a fair
manner?
10. Most of the characters in this book have dealt with an
eminent amount of loss. How have these losses shaped the
characters' weaknesses and strengths?
11. Author Donati uses wonderful place and character names drawn
from the Native Language. Discuss the symbolism of the characters'
names (i.e. Walks-Ahead, Bone-in-Her-Back, Hawkeye, etc.). How do
these names illuminate the characters themselves? Would you choose
a descriptive name for yourself-and what would that be?