Book Club Guide

1) How well do you think the British understood the Afghans in this story? Did the senior British officers make an effort to understand the Afghan culture and code of honor? If not, why not?

2) Could the British have acted differently toward the Afghans? How? If they had, would it have made a difference to what happened in the end? If you had been a senior British officer, what would you have done differently?

3) Do you think the British should have invaded Afghanistan? If not, why not?

4) Some of the British characters seem to love Afghanistan. What did they love about it? Did Mariana love it? Do you think she understood Afghanistan better than the senior British officers?

5) Nur Rahman is only a young boy, but he tells us alot about the Pushtun code of honor. What do you think of Pushtunwali? How does it differ from Western ideas of honor? Does the Pushtoon code of honor have something to teach us? Does it not?

6) In this story, Mariana has to choose between two men, one a British Christian and one an Indian Muslim. If the choice were yours, which of the two men would you choose? Why would you make that choice?

7) What kind of man do you think Hassan is? Do you think he loves Mariana? Do you think she would be happy living segregated from men in the upstairs quarters of Hassan's family house in Lahore? Do you feel that the company of other women and the busy life of the women's quarters would be a good or a bad thing? Would you be able to live that life?

8) Do you think Mariana would feel happy as the wife of a British army officer? How would her life differ from the life she would lead as a member of Hassan's family? Would she be lonely, or would she prize her solitude? How much independence would she really have?

9) Munshi Sahib is an unusual man. What does he think of Mariana? What does his friend Haji Khan think of her? Do you think they knew all along what would happen to everyone in the story?