This I Know
Page 28
I’m right behind you. I’m right behind you. I’m right behind you. . . .
A READING GROUP GUIDE
THIS I KNOW
Eldonna Edwards
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The suggested questions are included to enhance your group’s reading of Eldonna Edwards’s This I Know!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Isaac tells Grace, “Everyone is offered this gift, but most people turn away from it at a very young age. Truth frightens people. You’re one of the brave ones.” Is the Knowing ultimately a blessing or a curse for Grace?
2. Aunt Pearl had the same upbringing as Pastor Carter but becomes Grace’s greatest ally when it comes to defending Grace’s extraordinary gift. How do you think Aunt Pearl reconciles the Knowing with her faith? Who in your life supported your dreams when others doubted you?
3. What does Aunt Pearl mean when she says, “Sorrow is the good Lord’s toll for love?”
4. Grace seemingly envies Lola’s bohemian family environment. How might Grace’s experience have been different if her family had been more supportive of her intuitive gifts? On the other hand, Lola confides that, “My parents are in love with freedom. Turns out that ‘free love’ has a price.” Why might Lola envy Grace’s more structured upbringing?
5. When Grace communicates with her deceased twin, Isaac, does she really have conversations with him or do you think it’s just her imagination? Do you believe communication with the afterlife is possible?
6. Is Grace’s friendship with an aging homeless man inappropriate? Have you ever befriended someone outside your normal circle?
7. Marilyn experiences a medical miracle while Grace is with her. Do you believe in divine healing?
8. Daddy repeatedly denies Grace’s baptism, so she eventually creates her own baptismal experience. Was this an act of defiance or a sincere desire for a meaningful ritual and blessing?
9. How does Grace ultimately reconcile her faith with her gift?
10. Do you consider yourself an intuitive person? What are your feelings about E.S.P? Has reading This I Know altered your beliefs in any way?
11. What did Grace mean when she said to her newborn child, “I’m right behind you . . . ?”
12. Which character do you most relate to and why?
13. What was your favorite scene from the book, the one that stays with you long after you reach the end?
14. Having grown up as one of seven preacher’s kids in the Midwest, the author describes her childhood as “cutting her teeth on the back of Southern Baptist pews.” After reading THIS I KNOW, how do you think the author’s upbringing added to complexity and credibility of the story?
15. What is the underlying message of This I Know?