1. Ellen’s relationship with her father is strained. How does Jacob’s past affect the way he responds to Ellen? What factors cause tension between fathers and daughters today? Do you think fathers have a more difficult time expressing their love for their children than mothers do? If so, why?
2. Ellen, Paula, and Sarah are writing buddies and friends. Paula and Sarah are younger than Ellen and move in different social circles. What are the factors that would promote and hinder friendships among people of different backgrounds and ages?
3. Paula and Sarah have troubled relationships with men. Were the problems realistic? Sarah wants to help the men she dates and change them. Anna hoped Jacob would become a Mennonite. Is it possible or desirable to change someone you love?
4. After surviving the horrors of World War II, Jacob is angry with God. How do you react to this? Other Holocaust survivors have said that their faith in God helped them get through the war, and they became even more religious. Do you think you would follow this path or Jacob’s? What part does religion play in Anna’s life? In your life? Is it a force that aids or hinders?
5. Anna feels she cannot shirk her responsibilities to God, church, and family. Jacob feels love should conquer all. What is your reaction and where do you stand?
6. Anna and Jacob fall in love in 1947 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a very conservative place. Do people look at and handle interfaith dating and marriage differently today? How would this story change if it were set in a different place and time?
7. Consider the challenges people face when they marry into a different group. How do the following affect a marriage: different religious faiths, different races, different cultures, different economic positions, different political/social views, etc. What if more than one factor is involved? How do these factors complicate a marriage and the couple’s relationships with the extended families?
8. Paula says that Jacob and Anna’s story is a 1947 Romeo and Juliet tale. Is she right? How are these two romances alike and different?
9. Jacob and Anna feel guilty about the deaths in their pasts. Is their guilt justified? How does this guilt affect them?
10. Ellen wonders how her father would have reacted if he had read Anna’s final letter. She wonders if it is good or bad that he didn’t get to read it. What do you think?
11. This is a very innocent love story. Does it work without sex? How would it have changed the story and your feelings about the novel if more acts of physical love had been added? Did the romantic acts in it seem realistic for the characters?
12. How did you feel about Matthew and Nina? Were they appropriate spouses for Anna and Jacob?
13. Jacob used his friend Joseph’s visa to come to the United States. How do you feel about this deception? Was it understandable and justified?
14. The author researched accounts of life in the Warsaw ghetto and Treblinka as well as records of the Treblinka rebellion. Much has been written about concentration camps, but people know far less about the six death camps. What is your take-away? Did you learn something you did not know before?
15. Anna’s ties to the land are explored in this story. How does protecting the family’s farm influence the choices she makes? Many Americans today are not tied to a specific place and readily move for a new job or to enjoy a better climate. How have our views of home changed? Is this good or bad? What happens to the family when relatives do not all live in one place?
16. Jacob tells Anna that he is not religious, but he still has a religious identity. He is a Jew. Does this seem contradictory to you? Judaism is often considered both a religion and a culture. Is this true for other religions as well?
17. Anna visited her family in Lancaster after her move to Ohio, but she never went to Jacob’s bookstore. Explain why you agree or disagree with her choice.
18. Much of this story is told through diary entries and letters. Are these reliable sources of information? Are people honest when they record events and emotions in diaries and letters? What type of person records daily events in a diary? Have blogs, tweets, Facebook accounts, and other social media replaced diary writing? What is gained and lost?
19. Nests were mentioned several times in the story. As a young child, Ellen thought of friendships as nests, Jacob tells Anna she is behaving like a bird afraid to leave the nest, and there is the possibility that the chain and dented bullet ended up in a nest. Are nests a symbol for homes? How do nests fit in with the themes of this story?
20. At the end of the novel, how have the characters grown and/or changed? What have Sarah, Paula, and Ellen learned from reading about Jacob and Anna’s romance?