Discussion Questions
Spoiler Alert: Please note that the questions below contain spoilers.
- In Chapter Twenty-two, Sylvie wakes in an alternate reality where she is living in the Foster mansion. She doesn’t seem to remember anything from her old life and this new world is normal to her. In Chapter Twenty-six, however, when she wakes in the hospital next to her grandmother’s bed, she is confused and disoriented. She remembers her old life, not the new one. Why do you think this is?
- From Chapter Thirty-two: “We held hands the rest of the way home, and I felt an unfamiliar, almost impossible calm inside myself—like water on a windless night, reflecting the stars so perfectly that it was impossible to tell where the world ended and the universe began. I don’t believe I ever felt anything quite so tranquil before….” What do you think is meant by this passage? Why is Sylvie feeling this way?
- How did you feel about Chris’s decision to return to his wife and care for her after her cycling accident? Do you feel Sylvie’s response was appropriate? How else could she have handled it?
- In the book, there are dreams and flashbacks where Sylvie remembers the past. There are also some alternate realities where she wakes up and everything in the present is different because of something she did differently in the past. Can you identify any signals in Chapters 21, 22, 26, and 48 that indicate that she might have traveled to or from another dimension?
- Discuss the author’s use of color in the novel.
- Some people believe the purpose of living is to learn lessons and grow, so that we are wiser the next time around. What lessons, big and small, did Sylvie learn throughout her journey?
- Do you believe Sylvie’s dreams were premonitions of what was to come, or do you think she experienced a form of astral projection where she actually left her body and traveled back in time to change the future? Discuss.
- In the Epilogue, Sylvie says: “The sailboat, however, did not end up on the lawn of the Fraser House Inn. I have no explanation for that.” How would you explain this?
- Have you ever had a dream that turned out to be a premonition of something? What was it about?