by Simon Mawer
Reading Group Questions and Topics for Discussion
Climbing is at the center of this novel, but human relationships present much larger obstacles for the central characters than do mountains. Can climbing be considered a simple metaphor in The Fall, or does its importance transcend its allusions to the difficulties of life?
The novel never really resolves the deaths of Guy and Jamie. Do you think either of them intended to die?
Did you expect that Guy would eventually be reunited with Diana? Would it have been possible for them to meet and not become involved again?
Did Caroline know about Diana and Guy’s reunion? Do you think her seduction of Rob was a form of revenge?
Rob and Jamie grow into adulthood in a more peaceful time, at least at home, than their parents did. How might their pursuit of climbing be considered a search for the meaning and urgency that their parents experienced during the war?
Discuss the similarities between Caroline and Ruth. How does each of them handle her desires in the face of commitment and aging?
In this novel the past seems to be both irrevocable and, in the light of constant revelations, ever-changing. Do you consider the past to be entirely fixed and concrete, or do you think it reflects the shared perceptions of those who experienced it?
Eve, Ruth, and James are all biblical names and the names of those Rob loves. What do you think Mawer is trying to reveal about Rob’s character by choosing these names?
At the end of the novel, we learn that both Rob and Jamie were trying to connect with men who weren’t actually their fathers. Do you think their pursuits were misguided, and would they have lived differently had they known about their paternity all along?
Did Jamie ever truly love Ruth? What role did Ruth play in allowing Jamie to deny his love for Rob? Would Rob and Jamie have been able to love each other had they had the chance?
What led Diana to break off her correspondence with Guy? Is it necessary for Guy ever to learn about her abortion?
Why was Rob able to settle down in a way that Jamie never could? Do you think he was ultimately happy with his decision?
Legend and myth play a central part in The Fall. Discuss how the characters’ consciousness of the Arthurian legends and the Norse gods play a part in shaping their experiences.
Discuss the way in which the characters’ ideas about duty and morals change during the London blitz in World War II. How are Diana’s decision to get an abortion and Guy’s decision to join the army affected by the realities of life during wartime?
ALSO BY SIMON MAWER
THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS
“Powerful…An eloquent novel…. The characters are compelling and the story is riveting.”
—Andrew Nagorski, Newsweek
“Luminous…. The Gospel of Judas establishes Simon Mawer as a world-class novelist…. The novel’s themes are fully embodied in story, and the story in particular characters. At times, the reader feels physically wrenched by the events in the novel. The spareness of the prose and the unresolvable tension of the situations can catch your breath…. Mawer’s use of the novel to explore social, political, intimate, and religious history reveals the power of this genre to redeem the present.”
—Thomas D’Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor
“Simon Mawer’s prose is admirably lyrical, playful, and precise. His greatest strength, however, is in crafting probing, puzzlelike narratives that yield compelling dramas of the mind and heart.”
—Michael Upchurch, Atlantic Monthly
“Mawer draws us into a classic plot, set in both Rome and Israel, about high figures who fall to low places even as some of the most devoutly held beliefs of the church come under great pragmatic assault. This combination is nearly irresistible for anyone seeking a thriller with intellectual (and in this case, theological) undertones.”
—Alan Cheuse, Dallas Morning News
“A gripping, utterly compelling story…. It keeps the reader mesmerized.”
—Lisa Jardine, The Sunday Times (London)
“An intellectual thriller of uncommon substance…. Rome and Jerusalem are vividly evoked without an excess of description. And the rich vein of expert biblical and scientific knowledge that runs through the story serves not to display the author’s erudition but to figure upon the problems of the characters. What makes all this work so well is Mawer’s beautifully rendered prose. Clean and straightforward, it is incredibly nuanced in capturing the emotional response to faith, love, and sex. Mawer seems to inhabit the deepest reaches of Leo Newman’s humanity…. A noteworthy achievement.”
—Chauncey Mabe, Boston Globe
“The Gospel of Judas deals with virtually every large issue that life has to offer: identity, mortality, love, and the existence of God…. Many readers will finish the novel only to pick it up once more and peel off another layer.”
—Ilene Cooper, Booklist
“An excellent novel…. Tightly constructed is not the right term; try seamless. Mawer has produced tightly woven, brilliantly matching narrative threads that make up a splendid cloth.”
—Roger K. Miller, BookPage
“Compelling…. The Gospel of Judas is a traditional thriller. It respects conventions—surprises and other page-turning incentives keep on coming—as it stretches them with scholarly subject matter, theological argument, and superb writing…. Atmospheric, moving, and entertaining, this is a novel that simultaneously challenges and reaffirms faith in literary fiction, if nothing else.”
—Kevin Riordan, Courier-Post
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Available in paperback wherever books are sold
Brownsville
Stories by Oscar Casares
“What Casares has achieved is rare…. His fine first collection creates a lively and memorable community of Mexican Americans living on the Texas border…. This author loves his characters and their home, and readers will too.”
—Sandra Scofield, Chicago Tribune
Versailles
A novel by Kathryn Davis
“A splendid novel…. It is rapturous, like an aria. Indeed, it is a kind of aria, being the story of Marie Antoinette’s life…. She’s very much alive here, and she’s magnificent.”
—Stacey D’Erasmo, New York Times Book Review
Forever
A novel by Pete Hamill
“A New York fantasy: big, extravagant, untrammeled, and as hugely readable as it must have been hugely entertaining to write. … Forever is old-fashioned storytelling at a gallop.”
—Frances Taliaferro, Washington Post Book World
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A Winter Marriage
A novel by Kerry Hardie
“A Winter Marriage is an amazement. Kerry Hardie achieves a deep and authoritative portrait of the harms we do each other when trust and love go lacking, and provides us with a heroine whose claim on a reader’s heart is both aching and relentless.”
—Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones
The Black Veil
A memoir by Rick Moody
“Compulsively readable…. A profound meditation on madness, shame, and history…. One of the finest memoirs in recent years.”
—Jeffery Smith, Washington Post Book World
The Tapestries
A novel by Kien Nguyen
“It’s been a long time since I’ve read a novel as richly satisfying…. The Tapestries is rooted in the particulars of history. Yet it weaves a vivid picture of emotions and motives familiar to everyone on Earth: greed, honor, family loyalty, power, love, revenge…. Nguyen is such a skillful storyteller.”
—Polly Shulman, Newsday
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Tourmaline
A novel by Joanna Scott
“One of the most gifted writers at work today, Joanna Scott is brilliant, huge-hearted, devastating. In Tourmaline, she’s at
the top of her form.”
—Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours
All He Ever Wanted
A novel by Anita Shreve
“There’s something addictive about Shreve’s literary tales of love and lust…. She is a master at depicting passion’s ferocious grip.”
—Jocelyn McClurg, USA Today
In the Hand of Dante
A novel by Nick Tosches
“An incendiary novel…. A blindingly brilliant and joltingly weird work of art…. The most audacious thing about In the Hand of Dante is the author’s delivery of rare aesthetic bliss.”
—Troy Patterson, Entertainment Weekly
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