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Book clubs  •  3 June 2019

 

Hitch book club notes

Join twenty-something Amelia and her dog Lucy as they hitchhike from one end of the country to the other.

Hitch author, Kathryn Hind, is the winner of the inaugural Penguin Literary Prize. She writes with empathy and wisdom. Introduce your book club to this shining new light on the Australian literary scene.

Discussion points and questions:

  • How challenging did you find the concept of Amelia hitchhiking?
  • Hitchhiking can be a way of life, a lifestyle decision, or a way of getting from A to B. Why do you think Amelia chose to hit the road with minimal belongings and her dog Lucy?
  • There are studies that show walking can be restorative, from the basic one foot in front of the other moving forward, to the feeling of mindfulness it can evoke, to the pure joy Amelia took from hiking the Overland Track with her mother. What do you think about these ideas?
  • There are said to be seven stages of grief. How many of these do you think Amelia progresses through in Hitch?
  • Consent is one of the major hot-button issues of this moment in time. How do you feel about how the author wrestles with this question throughout the novel?
  • Until Amelia resolves to visit Sid, she seems to have no firm destination for her travels in mind. If she’s not looking to reach a particular physical location, what else is she looking for? How does she judge each place she stops along the way?
  • Early readers have found Hitch an emotional journey. What issues and themes were most dominant for you?

Feature Title

Hitch
Winner of the 2020 Betty Trask Award, the inaugural Penguin Literary Prize and a Canberra Critics Circle Award.
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