Discussion Questions for When God was a Rabbit

Hi bookmates,
Below we have listed a few of the questions for this Saturday's book chat.
This month's book is Sarah Winman's novel, When God was a Rabbit, we look forward to hearing what you all thought of the book.

1. What did the title ‘When God was a Rabbit’ mean to you?
2. The book was split into 2 distinctive parts. Did you enjoy one part more than the other? If so, which?
3. What do you think happened with Mr Golan? What did you make of the note on page 274?
4. What did you think of the events that occurred around September 11th 2001? Did you expect the Twin Towers to feature in the book?
5. Some things that happened were a bit too good to be true - Charlie turning up, Joe turning up alive after 9/11, Arthur getting hit by a coconut. Were there any moments like that for you?
6. The book features a number of events with heavy themes - terrorism, death of varying types, child molestation, kidnapping, illness etc but there was also quite a bit of humour. How does the book manage to balance the humour and tragedy? Or does it?
7. Even before Golan, Elly found it difficult to have friends. Why do you think Elly ended up as such a messed up individual who found it hard to hold down a job and have a normal relationship?
8. Elly and Joe never told her parents about Golan, Sarah Penny lied about her husband’s abuse, and her neighbours knew but didn’t report it. Why do you think people don’t report abuse – is it because they will end up like Jean, not being believed?
9. Discuss Dad and Mum’s marriage and how they coped with her parents’ deaths and his guilt over Jean. Do you think they had a strong marriage even with or because of the Nancy factor?
10. Which character did you like best? Empathise with the most?
11. What was the most memorable part of the book for you?
12. Discuss how you would feel if you had a family member who couldn’t remember you?
13. What would you do if you won the pools or lotto?
14. If you were an alien visiting earth and you found this book and read it, what kind of conclusions would you reach about humans?
15. What do you rate the book out of a scale of 1 -5. Would you recommend the book to anyone else?