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Book clubs  •  29 January 2018

 

Child of Mine book club notes

Discuss the themes of motherhood and parental rights in Child of Mine with your book club.

Spanning three decades, Janita Cunnington’s Child of Mine is a deeply resonant novel about a maternal tug-of-love and the little girl caught in the middle.
 

Discussion points and questions:
 

  • Why is the dying Vera distressed by the sweet peas Maggie brings her?
  • The lattice doors of the Hill Street cottage are mentioned at various points throughout the story. Why are they important?
  • The story is told from two contrasting points of view — Maggie’s and Donna’s — and its driving force is their rivalry over the child. How does Maggie’s relationship with the child evolve? How does Donna’s?
  • Who is in the right, Maggie or Donna?
  • Maggie and Phyllis are very different characters. What do they have in common that would account for their friendship?
  • In what way are the minor characters — Gwen Trimmer, her son Lance and Spencer — important to the story?
  • Why do Maggie and Flora quarrel when they meet again?
  • What lesson does Donna have for Maggie in the end?

Feature Title

Child of Mine
Spanning three decades, Child of Mine is a deeply resonant novel about a maternal tug-of-love and the little girl caught in the middle.
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