book club 5th March

Hi Everyone,
book club is at my house tomorrow night (5th) for those of you who haven't been to my place the address is
61 Monbulk-Seville Rd Seville,  first driveway on left after roundabout, lemons for sale sign on driveway.


Hope to see you all


Questions


1. Why did Sarah decide to be enclosed as an anchoress? Her reasons may be multiple.


2. What choices were available to Sarah?


3. In the book of Genesis, Eve takes and eats the forbidden fruit, traditionally represented as an apple. There are two apples in THE ANCHORESS. What is their significance?


4. Why do you think the story of St Margaret was so important to Sarah?


5.Do you think Sarah should have told Anna that she knew Thomas raped her?


6. The word “holy” is from the Old English hālig, meaning “that which must be preserved whole or intact,” and is connected with the Old English word hāl, meaning health and wholeness. In current usage it is a word layered with expectations: love of God, niceness, meekness, obedience, piety, and so on. Sarah hopes and prays that she will become holy. Does she? If she does, in what ways?


7. Isabella says very little, but Sarah says she has helped her decide to stay. What do you think Sarah means?


8. In what ways does Ranaulf change?


9. The novel is set more than seven hundred years ago; does it have any relevance to women today? How?