Flashlight

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Which character’s story did you find the most compelling to follow? Conversely, were there ones that felt less enjoyable? Why?

2. Much like Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You, Choi’s novel centers on a mystery that interrogates cultural identity and the challenges ordinary people face from larger forces. If you’ve read Ng’s work, how would you compare the two? If you haven’t, have you read anything else with similar themes?

3. Choi’s book began as a short story, which became the Prologue. If the Prologue were a standalone piece, would you have been satisfied if the story ended there? Why or why not?

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

1. Did the way the Kangs treat each other resonate with your own experience of family life? Have you encountered emotionally distant or antagonistic relationships in your family or community?

2. The novel examines different forms of solitude, even showing how one can feel lonely in a large family, as Anne does. What is your relationship to solitude?

3. How do you relate to the characters’ experience of their flawed or limited memory? Has your understanding of an event or phenomenon ever been influenced by a false memory or misconception? How did you respond when you realized the truth?

4. How do you define identity? Where do citizenship and cultural heritage fit in? Do you agree with the novel’s assertion that cultural identity is more than official country of residence? Why or why not?

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

1. Discuss the novel’s commentary on global migration and citizenship. Should states grant lower-tier rights to certain residents on the basis of ethnic identity or country of origin? Why or why not?

2. Consider the novel’s depiction of people with disabilities. How does the novel frame Anne’s illness, its impact on her life, and the reactions of others to her symptoms?

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

1. Much like Choi’s previous novel, Trust Exercise, this novel heavily relies on elision and perspective shifts to complicate the narrative. How did these narrative jumps affect your reading experience? Does the novel actually feel like it is passing through decades of history to reach its conclusion? Why or why not?

2. What is the role of Tobias in relation to the main characters? How does he illuminate crucial character details for Louisa or Serk? What thematic undercurrents do his transformation and life play into?

3. What did you think of the novel’s use of dramatic irony—the technique of letting readers know more than the characters? Do the characters achieve satisfying emotional resolution without learning some of the things you know?

4. How does the novel tackle the question of faith? Consider different kinds of beliefs, such as the conviction of the abductees’ families, Serk’s faith that Louisa survived, the dogma he is forced to learn North Korea, and the religion he is required to espouse to leave the Reverend’s refuge house. What is the novel saying about the nature of belief?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Choose a character and make a playlist for them that uses songs from the appropriate time period. How does the musical era they live through (i.e., music from the 1940s onward for Serk and music from the 1970s onward for Louisa) relate to their personality?

2. Louisa’s sons are very minor characters in this novel. How do you imagine them reckoning with the facts of their family history? Do you think they are distant from these events, or has Louisa told them about her childhood? How would she have framed this conversation?