Beginning Middle End

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. The novel’s structure is unconventional, using chapter headings from Pliny the Elder’s Natural History and ending with the daughter’s narrative takeover. How did this non-linear, layered storytelling affect your reading experience? Did you find it engaging or challenging, and why?

2. What was your initial reaction to the relationship between the mother and daughter? How did your perception of their dynamic shift as the daughter asserted more control over their journey and their story?

3. This novel shares some elements with Valeria Luiselli’s other work, Lost Children Archive, such as a family road trip and the blending of a child’s perspective with an adult’s. If you’ve read both, how did you find the exploration of family and storytelling to be similar or different in Beginning Middle End? If you haven’t, how did you feel about the way the child’s voice became central to the story’s conclusion?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. The mother embarks on a journey to find a new beginning after her life is upended by divorce. Can you recall a time in your life when you felt a similar need to “reinvent” your own story or start fresh? What steps did you take to find a new sense of direction?

2. The daughter uses the myth of Proteus as a guide, finding meaning in everyday objects like a swordfish head and a toothbrush. Have you ever used a story, a belief system, or even something like a horoscope to make sense of a confusing or chaotic period in your life?

3. Throughout the book, family stories about Nanna are retold and reinterpreted. Think about the stories that are passed down in your own family. How have they shaped your understanding of your history, and have you ever found yourself reinterpreting them as you’ve gotten older?

4. Manuela’s text messages are a mix of practical advice, weather reports, and classical wisdom. Who in your life has served as a source of unconventional or deep guidance? What made their perspective so memorable for you?

5. The mother feels a deep sense of anxiety about protecting her child from a world filled with dangers, both personal and global. How does the current state of the world affect your relationship with the idea of children or the next generation of humanity? Do you feel optimistic or anxious for them? Why?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Nanna’s theft of the Proteus mosaic from the Villa Romana del Casale raises complex questions about who owns history. What does the novel suggest about the unacknowledged labor that goes into archaeological discoveries and the rightful ownership of cultural artifacts? How does this connect to current debates about museums repatriating items to their countries of origin?

2. The story is set against a backdrop of modern crises, including migration, xenophobia, and climate change-fueled wildfires. How do these contemporary issues intersect with the ancient myths and histories the characters are exploring? What point do you think Luiselli is making by weaving them together?

3. The mother and daughter connect the ancient grief of Seneca’s Trojan Women to a modern feminist protest by the Chilean collective Las Tesis. Where else in the book do you see parallels drawn between ancient and modern struggles for justice or survival? What does this suggest about the lasting nature of certain human experiences?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. How does the novel use the four Mediterranean winds (Levante, Ponente, Scirocco, and Mistral) to structure the narrative and reflect the characters’ emotional journey? Which section did you feel most powerfully matched the character of its namesake wind?

2. The daughter calls Odysseus a “woman trafficker,” challenging the traditional heroic view of him. How does this book engage with and subvert classical myths, particularly when compared to the original version in a text like Homer’s Odyssey?

3. What is the role of the Polaroid camera in the novel? How does it empower the daughter to create her own narrative, distinct from her mother’s literary one, and serve as a defense against the erosion of memory?

4. The tourist is initially presented as a potential romantic interest but becomes an antagonist. What does his character represent, especially in his possessiveness over the Loeb Classical Library? What is the significance of the mother and daughter stealing his books when they escape?

5. The line between reality and fiction is constantly blurred, from the daughter’s false memory of drowning to her mother’s fear that writing about dementia could make it real. How does the novel explore the power of storytelling to both preserve and corrupt memory?

6. Think about the final reveal that the daughter has been organizing her mother’s notes and is completing the book. How did this ending change your understanding of everything you had just read? What does it say about who ultimately has the authority to tell a family’s story?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. The daughter’s final plan is to travel back in time to return the Proteus mosaic’s stones to ancient Carthage. Imagine you are writing the next chapter. What challenges and discoveries would the mother and daughter face on this mythological journey?

2. If you were to create a “soundtrack” for this novel, what kind of music would you choose for its key moments? Consider the journey to Sicily, the tense stay with the tourist, the flight across the island, and the final night waiting for the fire.

3. The daughter creates postcards that blend real events with imaginative storytelling. Choose a character from another book you’ve read and write a postcard from their perspective, capturing a key moment in their story in the same style the daughter uses.