READERS GUIDE

Readers Guide for SHADOW GARDEN
Questions for Discussion

1. America is the proverbial land of opportunity, and Edward and Donna Pryor have achieved wealth and a high standing in their community. How do you think money played into the decisions they made on that fateful night? Do you see them making the same decision if they weren’t affluent?

2. Was money a hindrance or an accelerator in the Pryors’ downfall?  

3. When you met Donna Pryor in the beginning of the story, did you feel empathy for her?

4. “If a child goes wrong, look at the family.” Does that ring true to you?

5. We have all said, “I’d do anything for my child.” How would you have reacted coming upon the scene in the garage? Would you protect your child from legal consequences? How far would you go to stretch the truth? Where would you draw the line?

6. Had Donna and Edward called the police that night, how might things have played out differently for the Pryor family? Would Penelope have changed how she lived her life if she had been exonerated? Would Donna and Edward still be together?

7. Think back to the initial quote in the book by William Butler Yeats. “Why, what could she have done, being what she is?” In what ways does that quote apply to both Donna and Penelope?

8. In your opinion, who is mostly to blame for the downfall of the Pryor family? Who can you forgive most easily?

9. Did the Pryors get what they deserved? Examine the consequences for each one of them. Does the punishment match the gravity of the crime for Edward, Donna, and Penelope? 

10. Dante’s “The Divine Comedy” is a fourteenth-century poem telling of Dante’s journey through hell. What do you make of the parallels of the three parts (hell, purgatory, and heaven) of the novel? 

11. Shadow Garden is a character onto itself. What made the setting unique or important to the story? Did you know that places like Shadow Garden existed in reality?