Here are some ideas to open your Book Club discussion on The Fading of the Light but do make up your own questions, too.
Find out how to set up your own book club here
Were you surprised to find how constrained women’s lives were in the 1900s? What are the advantages and disadvantages for women of then and now?
How did the author achieve a sense of time and place in the novel? Were there passages you particularly liked that demonstrate this?
What aspect of the novel did you enjoy most? And what didn’t you like?
What themes did the author explore?
Did Benedict and Tamsyn have some redeeming features?
Who was your favourite character and why?
Did any of the characters change their way of thinking as a result of their experiences by the end of the story?
If you had been Edith, what decision would you have made about Roland’s future?
Were there passages that you found insightful, amusing, poignant or sad?
What emotions did the story arouse while you were reading it? Explain why.
How did you feel about Dora’s choice when she fell in love?
Did you find the ending of the book satisfying or would you have written it differently?
I hope you find these questions stimulate an interesting discussion on The Fading of the Light.
‘Lush, romantic and full of intrigue. I loved the idyllic setting of a Cornish artists’ community in Edwardian times. A book to drift away with.‘ Tracy Rees, Richard & Judy bestselling author
1902 Spindrift House, Cornwall.
Edith Fairchild, deserted by her feckless husband Benedict eight years before, has established the thriving Spindrift artists’ community by the sea and found deep and lasting love with Pascal. They have accepted that they cannot marry but, when Benedict returns unexpectedly to Spindrift House, all Edith and Pascal’s secret hopes and dreams of a joyous life together are overturned.
Benedict’s arrival shatters the peaceful and creative atmosphere of the close-knit community. When Edith will not allow him back into her bed, the conflict escalates and he sets in motion a chain of tragic events that reverberate down the years and threatens the happiness of the community forever.