Book Club

Maia is grateful that her novels have been chosen as book club reads. Open the reading guide for discussion questions and topics for The Last Secret.

If you are interested in having Maia Zoom into your book club gathering, please email her at contact@maiacaron.com.

Book club questions and topics for discussion

  1. The Last Secret is largely told from Savka and Jeanie’s perspectives. How do their alternating points of view enrich the narrative?
  2. Secrets play a pivotal role in this story. Of all the secrets kept and revealed throughout the novel, which did you find the most impactful?
  3. The primary settings of the novel—war-torn Europe and Salt Spring Island—are dramatically different. In what ways did the contrast between these two settings affect your reading experience?
  4. The frailty of memory appears as a recurring motif throughout The Last Secret. How do Jeanie’s memory issues influence her reliability as a narrator?
  5. Savka is faced with an impossible choice: to spy on her husband to get her son back or to kill her Russian handler to prove she’s not a spy. What would you have done if you were in her situation?
  6. Jeanie is frequently made to feel like a monster by those around her. Who do you think are the real monsters in the novel, if anyone?
  7. Both Savka and Ewa must make moral compromises to survive the war. How do their choices differ? Could you see yourself betraying a friend to protect your family?
  8. At different points throughout the story, both Savka and Jeanie admit that they feel like Marionette dolls, and at the mercy of puppeteers pulling the strings. How do Savka and Jeanie’s experiences mirror each other?
  9. Imagery of caged animals appears throughout the novel, with Jeanie even referring to Pat as her “zookeeper.” To what effect do you think Maia Caron uses this imagery?
  10. As a Ukrainian woman facing a Soviet counterinsurgency, Savka is treated as if “her body (is) nothing but a hilltop in war (with) the conqueror taking his spoils.” Why do you think women’s bodies are so often used as battlegrounds during periods of war and instability?
  11. While under the thumb of Belyakov, Savka is forced to make countless sacrifices to protect her son. Was there ever a time when you didn’t agree with a choice that Savka made?
  12. Who would you cast in the screen adaptation of The Last Secret?
  13. While Marko values his duty to his country over his duty to his family, Savka values the opposite. How do their differing values fundamentally shape their relationship?
  14. How do Jeanie and Taras—two people who have been profoundly hurt and betrayed throughout their lives—learn to trust in each other? Could you see yourself trusting in a stranger after everything that they have endured?