- What are some of the book’s themes? How important were they?
• Brothers/male friendship as depicted in Tom/Peter, Stan/Jimmy, Chad/Don; sisters/female friendship as depicted in Meg/Joan, Meg/Annie, Doreen/Betty
• Anti-Italian prejudice
• Violence against women
• The role of licit and illicit drugs
• How Australian women could enjoy the excitement of wartime life as Australian men were fighting and suffering overseas - How realistic was the characterization of Meg? Tom? Phyllis? Chad? Mrs Gangemi? Would you want to meet any of the characters? Did you like them? Hate them?
- Did the actions of the characters seem plausible? Why? Why not?
- At various times Meg made choices that had moral implications, would you have made the same decisions? Why? Why not?
- How does the setting of 1940s Perth figure into the book? Is the setting a character? Does it come to life? Did you feel you were experiencing the time and place in which the book was set?
- How would the book have been different if it had been set in a different time or place?
- Do you think that there is a happy ending for Meg and Tom?