A lyrical, deeply moving story to read with your book club.
Sisters Eleanor and Maggie have been running the Lyrebird Lake Ladies Choir for fifteen years. It has become a haven for the lost and lonely women who have found their home in the stately federation house by the lake.
When single mum, Hannah, arrives in Lyrebird Lake, homeless after being widowed and hoping for a new start, her angelic voice and soothing lullaby transport Eleanor back to a traumatic past.
Will Hannah’s arrival mend old wounds, or will the secret she unknowingly carries tear the sisters apart?
Discussion points and questions
- Hannah moves to Lyrebird Lake on a whim, inspired by her childhood lullaby. Have you ever made a big decision from gut feeling alone?
- When Maggie and Eleanor move to Australia, Eleanor is awed by the different landscape in her new home. Have elements of nature ever made you feel homesick for somewhere else, or welcomed to somewhere new?
- Do you think that Wayne truly loved Eleanor? Why/why not?
- Both Hannah and Maggie are victims of Australia’s forced adoption policies that were in place during the 1970s. Did you know about these before reading this story? How did they make you feel?
- Hannah struggles to forgive her mother, Kathleen, for her part in Hannah’s forced adoption. Do you think Kathleen is at fault, or is she a victim too?
- Do you believe that Eleanor shoulders some of the blame for Maggie losing her baby? Should she have told Maggie what she saw?
- The choir is a source of companionship for many of the women in this novel. Do you think finding a sense of belonging can be difficult in contemporary life? How so?
- Music is very important to many of the characters in this story. What does music mean to you?
- Hannah is still grieving Noah when she begins a relationship with Benjamin. Do you believe she has space for both grief and love?
- Through Hannah and Leo’s story, the author wished to shed light on rising rates of women’s homelessness. How did their experiences at the various shelters make you feel?
- Discuss the notion of home as it is explored in the novel. What does it mean to different characters and at different times?
- How does this novel compare to other books by Sandie Docker that you have read?
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