For those of you who are members of one of the many book clubs across our wonderful country you may enjoy these reading group questions for Wild Lands.

 

  1. What is the common bond that brings Kate and Adam together?
  2. Who is your favourite character and why?
  3. Displacement and dispossession are major themes in the novel. Discuss how this relates to Bidjia and his clan.
  4. Raised in two worlds and yet belonging to neither, Adam is untouched by white man’s materialism and attune to the natural world. Discuss his strengths and weaknesses.
  5. As a female Kate is hampered by her sex and curtailed by the prevailing attitudes of the time. What is the driving force behind the major decisions that she makes? Survival or independence?
  6. Winston Lycett’s single, shocking lie changes Adam’s life forever. Discuss the importance of trust in the narrative.
  7. Compare and contrast the beliefs of the indigenous Australian aboriginal with regards to land management techniques and ownership to that of the white settlers of the period.
  8. Kate’s journey into the wild lands of Australia’s frontier country is also a journey of self- discovery. Discuss.
  9. George Southerland, Samuel Hardy and Major Shaw are all adventurers of a sort, but each is driven by different needs. Of these three who is the more complicated character?
  10. Isolation and deprivation in the lands beyond the outer limits made for a difficult life. Do you think Mrs Hardy could have been kinder towards Kate or was her adherence to class hierarchy a way of preserving some semblance of normality.
  11. The Australian landscape, its beauty and harshness is an integral part of Wild Lands. How well has the author succeeded in capturing both time and place?