1. Discuss your group’s knowledge of the Reconstruction Period (1865-1877) in the South and in Georgia in particular. Were any of the details from the novella a surprise for you? 

2. What were your impressions of the Ku Klux Klan before reading the novella? After? 

3. Could you sympathize with Emily’s attraction to Leroy? Discuss the relational ‘taboos’ in 21st century America.

4. Have you ever taken a stand against something that was ‘politically correct’ but ‘morally wrong’? Why What was the result? 

5. How does Emily change in the course of the novella? What precipitates that change? 

6. Consider Emily’s thoughts at the end of the novella:

There in the sanctuary of that home for that afternoon, they tasted true equality. And brotherly love. Love beyond the limits of what society imposed. 

As Emily, Thomas, and the girls turned from the fields and made their way up tot the Big House where they would share dinner with Father, Mother, and Anna, Emily prayed for the day when that kind of love and equality would be spread throughout the land. 

Had that day arrived in America? Why or why not? 

7. Have you ever had someone like a ‘Miss Lillian’ in your life who spoke truth to you? How did you respond? 

8. Have you ever experienced the type of peace that Miss Lillian describes and that Emily ultimately experiences? If so describe it. If not, is this something you desire to experience? Why or why not?