The Spare Room

Book Group Discussion Questions

  • What objection did Susannah overhear her mother give to her father’s idea of putting someone in the spare room?
  • At the Allen household, all of  the family members play a critical role on the farm and in their livelihood. With which aspects of  Susannah’s responsibilities do you identify? What would you enjoy about living on a farm like that of  the Allens during the nineteenth century?
  • What is different about Susannah’s sister, Janie? Why is the family concerned about her?
  • What would you miss from the twenty-first century?
  • What is different about Susannah’s sister, Janie? Why is the family concerned about her?
  • What key feature(s) did Susannah include when describing Mr. Parsons that set him apart as a Southerner in the Northern state of  Vermont?
  • What is the climate of  Vermont in the nineteenth century, based on what Susannah describes?
  • What two societies did the girls vote upon? What is the difference between them? Which society would you choose?
  • What did it mean, beyond receiving help on the farm, for Daniel Allen to take in Jacob as a paid farm hand?
  • What item was Susannah surprised to see that Jacob owns? Why was she surprised?
  • What happened to Brock? Why do you think the family members reacted the way they did to the event?
  • Who is coming to speak in Montpelier? Why is this person so important to Susannah?
  • Why did Sam take down the posters of  Fredrick Douglass? What would you have done?
  • What did Mr. Sloan do? What were the reasons given in the story as to why he did it?
  • Imagine you are in the pantry with the Allen family. Describe your experience. What do you hear? What do you see? Who is there? What are you thinking, and what are your reactions?
  • What are some possible outcomes if  Susannah’s father never took the blame for Sloan’s death?
  • What does Susannah accidentally do when she is caught snooping in Jacob’s room? Why do you think this is important?
  • Who is Jacob contacting in the South? What theories do you have about them?
  • How would the suspense change if  certain scenes were shown through another character’s perspective? Consider scenes like the trial, the incident with Sloan, or the arrival of  Jacob’s family.
  • Why do you think Susannah was able to keep a diary the entire year as opposed to the previous diary which only lasted a few entries?
  • Why do you think Jacob is so secretive about his life beyond the Allen farm?
  • How would Susannah’s view of Jacob change if he told her his story in whole the first time she asked for it? What effect did waiting till the end to reveal it all have on the plot and characters?
  • Do you think Susannah made the right choice about her opportunity to go to Boston? What choice would you have made?
  • Why is the grandmother’s role significant to the story as a whole?
  • Do you think Susannah is justified in her eavesdropping? Why or why not?
  • How would you feel if you were Kate, and your best friend was Susannah? How would you handle your differing views and expectations? Would you resolve them? How?
  • Why do you think Susannah is so fascinated by the courtship between Sam and Miranda?
  • To what degree does Susannah comment on the events going on around her? Does this change as the story progresses? If yes, then how does it change? Why do you think it changes?

Download Teacher's Guide PDF
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The Spare Room

By Jenny Land

Published by Voyage
Publication Date: Nov. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-9384060-1-0
224 pp./softcover

An imprint of
Brigantine Media
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