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- Which of these theories did you support at different points in your reading of Ghosts of Harvard? Did your theory change as you read, and if so, when?
- Cadence is schizophrenic.
- Cadence is experiencing a time anomaly that can be explained by quantum physics (but we don’t quite understand how or why).
- Cadence is talking to ghosts.
- Cadence is being gaslighted by her brother Eric’s murderer, who is causing her to doubt her own mental status.
- How did Cadence’s plagiarism accusation add depth to the story, if at all?
- No book is perfect. This book had elements of mystery, supernatural, and psychological thriller genres. Which aspect / genre representation do you believe was handled most skillfully by the author? Which was the most awkward?
- As a follow-up to the previous question, why do you think the author made Cadence’s mother a witness to her brother’s suicide? Some or all of these may apply:
- To prove that there is no doubt that Eric committed suicide
- To explain the reason Cadence’s mother was so extremely anxious about Cadence’s mental health
- To provide a gratuitous twist that served no purpose and was awkward and unlikely
- How would this book – and your experience of the book – have been different if the setting were different – say, a non-Ivy-League state university or a midwestern private college, or not a school at all? Maybe the military, or a research facility? Could the plotline and characters be easily dropped into another setting?
- Some might say that Ghosts of Harvard is saturated with privilege. Do you agree? If yes:
- Do you believe the privilege is acknowledged and addressed in the book? If so, was it adequately addressed?
- Do you believe the author had a moral responsibility to acknowledge the privilege more fully?
- If you were editing this book to demonstrate greater awareness of the privilege inherent in attending an Ivy-league school, what would change and how would you change it? (Setting? Characters?)
- To what reader demographic (age, gender, level of education, income) do you think this book is targeted?
Copyright 2021 Catherine Beeman