16 The Giver Of Stars Book Club Questions to Get You Talking

Looking for The Giver of Stars book club questions for your next reading group meeting? Here are 15 thought-provoking discussion questions to get you guys going!

The Giver Of Stars is the 2019 novel by popular writer Jojo Moyes. Set in 1937 in rural Kentucky, it follows a group of female librarians who deliver books to remote homes in the mountains.

With a cast of interesting characters, romance, drama, grief, and heartbreak, The Giver Of Stars is a rollercoaster story about female empowerment and the importance of friendship. It’s an excellent choice for book clubs, with plenty of big themes to discuss!

If you’ve chosen this as your next book club read, the following book club questions for The Giver Of Stars can help to kickstart your group discussion.

The Giver Of Stars Book Club Questions

The book opens in 1937 with Margery O’Hare, riding home in the freezing cold. She encounters the angry and threatening Clem McCullough.

What did you think about this as an opening to the book? Did you guess, from this opening, what happened to Clem?

Alice marries Bennett not just for love but also as an opportunity to escape. Her family at home could be more supportive, and she’s bored and fed up with her life. The chance to escape to America feels like an enormous adventure for her.

Of course, things don’t work out quite the way she had planned, with her marriage becoming much more complicated than she could have imagined, particularly with the involvement of her father-in-law.

What did you think about Alice and Bennett’s relationship? Could it have worked better if Mr Van Cleve had given them more space?

The introduction of a mobile library – run by women, no less! – causes some controversy with the locals. They’re wary of women and children having access to books: ‘Families should be reading the Bible. Nothing else.’ (Page 22)

What do you think caused some men to feel wary of the mobile library? What motivated them to stop their wives and children from reading?

The library has a huge impact on the locals. From a hostile single father to a woman struggling with her husband’s illness, to hoards of suddenly-empowered housewives, the library makes a difference to many people over the course of the book.

Which locals do you think benefited the most from the mobile library? Which story touched you the most?

Margery is considered a bit of an outcast in her community. Stubborn and proud, she often refuses to ask for help, even if needed. A considerable part of her character development comes from her relationship with Sven. He wants to marry her, but she refuses.

Why do you think Margery refuses to marry Sven at first? What did you think of her character development?

There are some heartbreaking moments in the book, with grief, disaster, and imprisonment impacting many characters.

Did you connect with the characters enough for these moments to resonate with you? Which parts of the story touched you the most?

Izzy is reluctant to begin volunteering and feels particularly self-conscious that one of her legs is shorter than the other. A sudden flood later in the book gives Izzy a wake-up call.

What do you think of Izzy’s character growth? When she rescues the girls from the flood, what do you think it meant to her?

Mr Van Cleve becomes angrier and more violent as the book progresses. His actions are callous and brutal, and his personal vendetta against Margery becomes obvious.

What do you think motivates Mr Van Cleve, especially later in the book?

Sophia has a lot on her plate. She has to stay hidden in the library because of racist attacks, supporting her brother while working long hours.

What did you think of Sophia’s character? Do you think working at the library is good for her?

Alice and Fred become closer as the book progresses, and it becomes clear that their feelings go beyond friendship.

What did you think of their relationship? Were you happy with what happened to them at the end?

Margery’s imprisonment and subsequent court case become a huge event, with locals placing themselves into camps: those supporting Margery and those supporting Mr Van Cleve’s attempt to ruin her.

What did you think of the outcome? Did you guess what would happen?

One theme of the book is the early sexual empowerment of women. Women are given access to a secret book, which educates them on reproduction, sex, and how their bodies work. This has a significant impact on some couples, but some of the locals find this to be abhorrent.

This information is particularly eye-opening for Alice as she navigates a sexless marriage with her husband. Unfortunately, this backfires pretty spectacularly.

What do you think is going on with Bennett in this regard? Do you think he’s afraid, or is he distancing himself from Alice for another reason?

“And there is the bare truth of it, for her and all the women around here. Doesn’t matter how smart you are, how clever, how self-reliant – you can always be bettered by a stupid man with a gun.” (Page 3)

This book explores male violence, with many women (Margery, Alice, Sophia) having violent or intimidating encounters with men. Meanwhile, the rest of the women are reprimanded for showing their strength.

Do you think the book explored this issue well? Did it make you think about the way women are treated now?

Threading through the book is a stubborn sense of optimism. Margery says to Alice: “There is always a way out of a situation. Might be ugly. Might leave you feeling like the earth has gone and shifted under your feet. But there is always a way around.”

Do you think the women showed strength in the face of adversity? What do you think of the way they get out of difficult situations in the book?

The appearance of a mobile library rocks the town, for better or worse. Locals have access to books for the first time, and this expands their worldviews, educates them, and gives them something to look forward to.

What do you think this book is trying to say about the importance of books? Did it make you feel grateful for having access to a vast range of books today?

There was a real WPA Horseback Librarian programme, which ran in Kentucky for several years. (You can read more about this on Wikipedia – it’s a fascinating rabbit hole to dive into!)

Would you want to be a mobile librarian if you lived in a small town in Kentucky? Would it be worth the risks for you?

Hopefully, these book club questions for The Giver Of Stars will enable your next book club discussion!

Megan Bidmead

Guest writer

Megan is a freelance writer based in Somerset, England. When she’s not writing about books, video games, and pop culture, she’s running around after her two kids and trying to squeeze in the occasional walk in the countryside.