This coming week, I’ll get a chance to sit down with readers and friends for a themed discussion around The River’s Daughter and I’ve been thinking about some book club questions that might spark lively discussion. My questions are primarily about love, legend, and womanhood. Here are some The River’s Daughter book club questions that might lead to layered conversations (be warned that the questions themselves contain spoilers!)

FINAL SPOILER WARNING!

1. On Love: Did you ever find yourself rooting for Tavin?

…And if you were ever Team Tavin, when did that change / what changed your perception of him?

I’ve spoken to friends and readers in real life who have shared they were initially big fans of Tavin, especially early on. Others have said they never trusted him, citing subtle control patterns from the beginning, pointing out red flags… which also raises the question of what were those red flags?

2. On Legend: Did you see any Mirza Sahiba parallels?

If you’re familiar with the Mirza Sahiba legend, did knowing that story shape how you experienced this one?

Did the Mirza Sahiba story shape your experience of the book?

3. On Womanhood: How did you experience the portrayal of womanhood in the story?

Were there there moments in Sahira’s journey that felt personally relatable for you?

The River’s Daughter explores different models of womanhood (e.g. Tharima, Nefret, Sahira, Leela, Chatti, Kaya, etc).

Each character has a distinct relationship to feminism, to womanhood, and to autonomy.

As an extension of that question: The characters of Chatti and Fateh Bibi initially appear as complete opposites to the model of womanhood presented under the Covenant. What was your take on these characters? Did they ever feel imperfect or complicated to you?

A few bonus book club questions…

1. If you had to live in one of the worlds of The River’s Daughter (Jaraan under the Covenant; Mehr’an settlements; Bakki Village), which would you pick?
   
2. The Shed scene: Different women I’ve spoken to in different age groups have had surprisingly different reads on the scene in the shed. How did you interpret that scene?
   
3. And a follow-up: Why do you think different women have read that scene differently?

What I love most about reader discussions is that no two readers interpret any same story the same way. That’s the power of myth and storytelling in general. It reflects back what we may already be wrestling with.