Reading My Father the Whale with your book group? Here’s some questions to get the discussion going. You can download a .pdf version too.
1. Mitch certainly wouldn’t win a Father of the Year Award, but what qualities and skills do you think he gave Ruby?
2. Is it better to lie or avoid the truth entirely?
3. What do you think was Ruby’s most troubling experience?
4. Where would you go if you were living out of a Kombi? And where wouldn’t you go?
5. Why do you think the Stanleys took Ruby in? Are they relics of another time?
6. At the end of the novel, what do you think Ruby will do next?
7. Were you surprised by the changes in Mitch in part two? Why?
8. Who was your favourite character and why?
9. A major theme in the novel is grief. Do you think the way the text explores grief is universal or uniquely Australian?
10. Ruby’s love of horses and whales persists from childhood to her adult life. Why do you think she gravitates towards these creatures?
Share your answers with me here or via socials.
