Stories worth discussing. History worth examining.

My novels are written with conversation in mind.

Set within real historical moments, they explore the personal consequences of large events—power, loyalty, love, and survival—and the moral choices people make when the ground beneath them is shifting.

Book clubs are warmly invited to use these novels as a foundation for thoughtful discussion.

Discussion Guides

Each book is accompanied by a discussion guide designed to encourage meaningful conversation, not just plot summary.

Topics include:

• Historical context and accuracy
• Character motivation and moral conflict
• Power, freedom, and social boundaries
• Love and loyalty under pressure
• Parallels between past and present

Scroll below for questions connected to each book. Also, click button for printable version.

Looking for an Author Visit?

When possible, I am happy to participate in book club discussions.

Options may include:

• In person for local groups
• Via Zoom or Meet
• An email Q&A for your group

These visits are informal, reader-focused, and accommodate your group’s interests.

To investigate making this happen, contact me at mb@mbgibsonbooks.com.

I look forward to the conversation.

1. What did you like best (or least) about AROON?
2. Who was your favorite character?
3. Do your opinions of any characters change during the story? How?
4. How might Eveleen’s feelings toward her father have affected her attraction to Richard?
5. Discuss this quote from the 18th century satirist, Jonathan Swift, paraphrased by Noreen when she advised Eveleen.
   “I must caution you particularly against my Lord’s eldest son…if he be a common rake…you will get nothing from him but a big belly or a clap, or probably both together.”
6. The hag that unnerved Maeve in town, Winnie Dunn, told her, “Yer looking at yerself in twenty years.” Later, before she was murdered, Winnie wailed about the abortion Richard’s grandfather forced upon their unborn child. Do you have any theories about who or why Winnie was beaten to death?
7. Maeve and, to a lesser extent, Tara sought to undermine Eveleen when she arrived at Duncullen. Yet, things went terribly wrong for them. Did they deserve their fate?
8. There were clear class divisions in 18th century Ireland, yet Richard fell in love with a girl far, far beneath him. What do you think were his personal opinions regarding class?
9. Concerning his relationship with his father, his future as a country squire, to say nothing of his “marriage” to Eveleen, Richard felt cornered time and again. Was he? What options did he have?
10. Both Will and Noreen Bridge explain their perceptions of what true love is. Which is closer to your own?
    Will: “Passion is what I’m talking about, Noreen. Love and hate sit side-by-side, with only the thread of a spider between them. So fragile, a breach of that thread can turn the greatest love into malignant fury, as it has done to you. But, make no mistake, the passion is the same.”
    Noreen: “There’s another kind of love better than passion. Something stronger and deeper, the kind of love I have for you. A love that comes from years of trust, knowing yer there for me through thick and thin. Not once have ye let me down, Will Bridge. Never. Not even now.”
11. Lady Nancy feared for her mental health, but what about Richard? Did he have mental health issues? Were his mystical encounters real or a manifestation of hereditary madness?
12. Sir Edward’s last words to Richard were, “Still the coward.” Was he right?
13. At his father’s wake, Richard was flanked by his maternal cousin, Thomas de Barnefort, when a man claiming to be his father’s cousin, Cornelius Lynche, barged into the parlor. What does the contrast between these two relatives tell you about Irish history?
14. Paddy Scully’s worst fears came to pass when Will brought his daughter home, defiled by those he despised. He told Will, “I got two more lasses here—good, decent girls who’ll make fine wives one day. But not with their bawd of a sister dragging them into the muck.” Discuss any irony you find in his statement. Also, considering the attitudes of the times, did he have a fair point? Include thoughts about how little power 18th century women held over their lives.
15. Richard had relationships with three people at or near his own age—Jack, Eveleen, and Alistair. What did each friendship offer the lonely heir of Duncullen?
16. What of Richard’s final confrontation with his father’s ghost? From where did Sir Edward’s power come? What do you think will become of Richard?
    For the next chapters in the lives of Richard, Alistair, Eveleen, and little Nan, leap forward fifteen years in The Duncullen Saga’s Book Two: Harps Upon the Willows.

FOR A PRINTABLE PDF FILE OF THESE QUESTIONS, GO TO https://BookHip.com/LHRNVBD

1. Did HARPS UPON THE WILLOWS strike you as accurate and authentic?
2. How was Tipperary, Ireland, in the 1760s portrayed? What did you learn that was new or interesting about the time and place of the story?
3. Which character or characters spoke to you the most?
4. Who in the story were you gunning for, and why?
5. What does it tell you about Father Alistair Moore that he challenged the bishop in such a way? Does it affect your reaction to know that Father Nicholas Sheehy, upon whom Alistair was based, was expelled from his seminary in Spain and conflicted with his superiors in the same way?
6. Describe a portion of the story that made an impact on you. Or, what happened in the book that bored you or otherwise turned you off the plot?
7. Nan says to Father Alistair of the Levellers, “These fellows could sit in front of their hearths and get old smoking their pipes, but they don’t…Some things are worth dying for, aren’t they?” Knowing the end of the story, was Alistair’s discouraging response to her hypocritical?
8. Did HARPS UPON THE WILLOWS challenge or change your perspective on the experiences of Irish peasants in the eighteenth century? Do you agree with the actions of the Levellers?
9. One reviewer has stated that the story is relevant to today’s world. Do you agree? How does this book relate to today’s issues?
10. Do you agree with the author’s resolution for Eveleen and Richard? Should the two have gotten back together with a happily-ever-after ending? Why do you think as you do?
11. Do your own twenty-first-century attitudes and experiences influence the reading of this or any other historical fiction story? Can you imagine what life was really like for the characters in the 1700s, considering the beliefs and attitudes people held then? Or do your present-day values make it harder to relate to the characters?
12. What did you like or dislike about the book that hasn’t been discussed already? Were you glad you read this book? Would you recommend it to a friend?

To learn how Joe and Nan fared in colonial South Carolina, read The Duncullen Saga: Book Three, Patience Can Cook a Stone.

FOR A PRINTABLE PDF FILE OF THESE QUESTIONS, GO TO https://BookHip.com/VSSBRNZ

1. How much did you know about PATIENCE CAN COOK A STONE before picking it up? What surprised you most about the book?
2. After reading the reasoning of Alden and the Patriots vs. that of Carlton and the Loyalists, what did it make you think or feel about the Revolutionary War? What side might you have taken at the time?
3. How did the author blend historical facts and fiction in the book? Did you find the setting authentic?
4. Who was/were your favorite character(s) and why?
5. Is it realistic that Anne de Barnefort kills her husband without anyone the wiser?
6. Three times in the story, an owl attacks one of the characters. What are your thoughts on that?
7. When Joe succumbs to Carlton’s threats to evict his family from Kilkenny Plantation and agrees to fight with the very soldiers he swore an oath against in Ireland, Nan erupts in fear and contempt. Joe says, “What good are beliefs if yer family’s homeless and starving?” Do you agree or disagree with Joe’s decision? Was Nan’s reaction warranted?
8. Voodoo is itself a religion, but Mama Juba practices hoodoo as a root doctor. It’s still practiced today alongside Christianity and focuses on luck, healing, or protection using herbs. Do you think there was any merit to her rootwork?
9. What was the most memorable or shocking scene in the story?
10.  The war continued for another three years after the end of the story. What do you think happens to the characters after the novel concludes?
11.  Did you find the issues of the 1780s have any parallels in today’s world?
12. Would you recommend this book to a friend?

FOR A PRINTABLE PDF FILE OF THESE QUESTIONS, GO TO https://BookHip.com/MWXLXWW

1. Did PRYOR KNOWLEDGE challenge or change your understanding of the early 19th-century South? What did you learn about the time period that you didn’t know before?
2. Discuss any difficulty in keeping our own, modern-day experiences from influencing the reading of PRYOR KNOWLEDGE. Would you rather the characters be depicted with accuracy or with a more modern and relatable belief system?
3. Ben Pryor, as a white horse trainer, worked hand-in-hand with the enslaved while also hobnobbing with the elite. How did that affect his view of the world? How did it affect your understanding of the times?
4. Which character did you most relate to? Who was your favorite and least favorite? Did any remind you of people you know?
5. Did you find the characters believable and well-developed? Were there any instances where their actions seemed unlikely?
6. Did the author’s use of language help or hinder the mood or atmosphere of the story?
7. Old Jacob said, “Not every man’s made for marriage,” which becomes one of the story’s prominent themes. Was he right? How does this play into Ben’s attitudes and actions?
8. Did the book connect to your own life experiences?
9. Colonel Bingley tells Ben to accompany him to his duel against Oliver Corbyn. This was a matter of honor among the planter class. In what ways are the characters honorable? In what ways are they not?
10. When Ben has to help with the slave sale at the Forks in the Road, what did you learn about slavery that you may not have known? Did anything shock or surprise you?
11. William Thompson (based on real-life William Johnson) was a free Black barber who owned slaves himself. He explained to Ben, “Like you, Mr. Ben, I didn’t make this world. I just do what I can to give my wife and children a comfortable life.  Make sure they have the best I can afford…And in this sinful world, becoming a successful man of business means owning slaves. The ones I own, I train them, give them a trade. If they work hard and follow the rules, they won’t find no better friend than William Thompson. But if they’re trifling or lazy or mischievous, I whip them. When I can’t do nothing else, I sell them.” What do you make of his explanation?
12. Many of the practices in Thoroughbred racing were wildly different than they are today. Horse racing professionals are often unaware of the changes over the centuries. What surprised you most about those days of the turf?
13. At a crucial point in the story, Ned tells Ben, “Why don’t you get off that high horse before you get a nosebleed? She had to choose between what was legal and what was righteous. Like we all do. Every cursed day. You took in Fran because it was the right thing to do, remember? Now you’re living like man and wife. Ain’t that against the law? But you love each other. It ain’t legal, but it’s right. And unless I don’t know you at all, you’re now going to hide them both. Which is a crime. But it’s the only thing you can do because it’s right. So it was with Delia. A newly-born baby was going to die. And a whole lot more people.” This dilemma repeats itself all throughout history. What are your thoughts on this ethical conundrum?
14. What was the most memorable passage or scene in the book?
15. Did the book affect your thinking about justice or social injustice?
16. Would you recommend this book to someone else?

FOR A PRINTABLE PDF FILE OF THESE QUESTIONS, GO TO https://BookHip.com/FZWARNQ