If you are in, or you lead, a reading group, The Year The Gypsies Came is sure to be a moving exploration of humanity and the love which binds us all that your group will cherish for long to come.

Linzi Glass is available to come and talk to your Book Club. Over the past month she has visited and met with book clubs in both New York City and Solvang. If you are interested in having Linzi meet with your Book Club please email linzi@linziglass.com.

To help you and your group expecience the full power and richness of The Year The Gypsies Came, we have provided the following discussion topics.

• How does Glass present the themes of fragmentation and wholeness? What kinds of fragmentation and wholeness does she explore? What are the causes and consequences of each kind of fragmentation and wholeness? Are individual characters associated with specific kinds of fragmentation and wholeness?

• The novel deals with parent-child relationships. What are some of the very different kinds of parent-child bonds that occur or don't occur in the story? (Emily and her parents.; Sarah and her parents; Streak and his parents; Buza and his daughter). What different themes are explored in these relationships?

• The Year the Gypsies Came deals with the theme of being an outsider. In what ways are various characters outsiders? What does this suggest about what it takes to be an outsider? How does feeling like an outsider affect ones life?

• What are the lessons learned about South Africa? How does Glass' vision about South Africa during Apartheid compare with your vision of South Africa?

• How has reading this novel made you feel? Sad? Angry? Hopeful? How has it encouraged you to act on these emotions? How has it changed the way you look at your world?

• Buza tells Emily, "Make the egg whole for there is sweetness inside." Discuss the significance of 'glue' in the novel. What is it a metaphor for and how does it evolve throughout the novel?

• How, physically and spiritually, does racism effect peoples lives in the book? How does racism effect Emily? Does the novel offer a judgment on racism? On our (American) society's attitudes towards racism?

• Emily tells us that Sarah sees the whole world brighter than it really is. Does Sarah really, or is this her way of dealing with her life? Is this a cause of her own tragic end?

• In many ways the novel is "the education of Emily Iris." What does she learn about human beings? Friendship? Family? Loneliness? Love?

• Consider the importance of water (the lake) in the novel. What do you think it symbolizes? What about the significance of the blue gum woods? How do these motifs dovetail throughout the novel? Are there any other symbols that resonate for you in the book?

• How do you imagine Emily's life after the book ends? What kind of relationship will she have with her daughter, Sarafina?

• How do you feel about Buza? Jock Mallory? What kind of parents are they, and why? In what ways do they serve as vehicles for the novel's themes of fragmentation and wholeness?

• Discuss the different Afrikaans speaking characters in the book. Miss Erasmus, Emily's history teacher; Constable de Villiers, the policeman; and Willem, the boatman. How would you describe them? What do they reveal about Afrikaans speaking people during Apartheid? Does their sense of morality differ from those of Jock Mallory's? Bob Iris'? Lily Iris'?